You're listening to a podcast from News Talks EDB. Follow this and our wide range of podcasts now on iHeartRadio. This is Sportsfix Howard by News Talk SEDB.
Hello there, and welcome to the back end of your working week, probably the front end of your working weeks, the front end of the sportscaster's working weekends. I'm Jason Pine on the Sports Fix podcast for Friday, February twenty one.
Non as farsty water Grave, I suppose I do work over the weekend reviews. Count's sitting around on the couch, rotting and yelling at the television's work, which I kind of do. Yep, hard weekend in front of me.
I know that a lot of people would swap with us in a heartbeat in terms of the way we spend our working weeks, our working weekends. But there is a heck of a lot of sport on and speaking of watching the game, the game of cricket has a new home, well, it will soon have a new home, Sky Sport and New Zealand Cricket agreeing to a six year deal.
Revolution, isn't it as in rolling round and around, not as in we're gonna stick you up on a guillotine. It's gone from Spark through the TV and Z now back to Sky again. So Scott when it joins us short to talk about that process, how it operated in what happens next for the great ownash which just us.
Yeah, the ones who don't have Sky, what do they watch their cricket on? I'm interested their hair from Scott Wenneck, I got some thoughts. You has some thoughts as well. Derby tomorrow as well in the A League, So a lot to get through, Darcy. I wonder what you're doing up here, mate, I'm here looking apart from wanting to spend time being this close proximity to you, I'm here for the derby. We're here for sports fixed. Let's get into it.
In other news, let's start, as always, with a look at the big sports stories around today.
The Talk Blacks have started the third window of the Asia Cup basketball qualifiers, beating hosts Hong Kong ninety two fifty one. His coach jud Flavel, we.
Really wanted to make sure that our defense was going to get the job done, and looking at the stats, and you know, we able to pause twenty four turnovers I think, and really capitalize on that and basically, I think that's probably really game with one.
Key we go for Ryan Fox has sunk the longest part of this season on the PGA Tour, a ninety one footer on the par three fifth hole at the Mexican Open. Ryan Fox at the fifth name you one feed a little bit of change.
I'm trying to getting close, trying to keep it on the green.
Right the key weed is a magician?
How about that? And India of Chase down two hundred and twenty nine to eat Bangladesh with twenty one balls to spare in Crickets Champions Trophee, what it's make.
To finish this up?
Shut up on put into the road, finish off with a six rigged quin dan to the Champions Trougby.
This is Sportsfix, your daily dose of sports news and by News talksb and.
If you're welcoming that to the podcast. To the CEO of n Z Cricket, mister got weaning, Hi, Scott, Hi Darthy. I trust you're well and absolutely stoked at your new deal with sky TV came out today. Tell us all about that, the pleasure behind it, and I suppose the mechanics behind that deal.
Scott, Yes, thrilled, thrilled to close that deal overnight. You know, Sky have been obviously a long term partner of New Zealand Cricket, previously a very experience experience broadcasts of cricket, so we're really really comfortable from that point of view. TV and Z have also been a fabulous partner and we've really enjoyed and been appreciative of the free to
wear that Television New Zealand has provided. So as part of this deal, one of the key elements was to ensure there would continue to be free to wear aspects to it. So each eat, the first game of each T twenty series will be will be free to wear, and we're also going to continue to show super Smash.
On free to wear.
So no, we're really really delighted. You know, it's a tough broadcast market, so to lock in a long term deal at this stage gives New Zealand Cricket you know, some some real certainty around commercials, but also reach ensuring we maintain some free to wear.
So how long is the deal for Scott So we've got the remainder of this year and then next season with TV and Z and then from twenty six to twenty.
Seven, we will move to Sky for the six years following.
Tell us about the Super Smash situation. So that's purely going to be free to wear. Is it going to actually be on the Sky platform as well? Just sharing out and that's that's the whole competition itself.
No, So what we what we what we carved out, Kelly, was as I say, one T international T twenty of each series together with the Super Smash that we plan to package up together to then you know, to then potentially provide to TV and Z or another free to wear provider. So the Super Smash won't be shown on Sky, it'll be a free to wear provider.
Right and you're not sure where that's going to go yet, still negotiating. Is that open for everybody? Scott?
Yes, absolutely, yep. So this the deal with Sky was purely we we agree to just before international matches and that we would deal with the Super Smash separately. You know, it was really important to us to ensure that the Super Smash stays free to wear because of that, you know that that fan engagement aspect to it. And look,
the numbers have been fantastic this year. The quality of cricketers obviously been incredible and the numbers that tv Z have sort of shown as on service smash had been great.
So that's been a huge takeaway out of this delance away from Sky over the last few years. What you went to Sparkman TV and Z now back again. That free do we actually works for eyeballs. This is something you need to be engaged with.
Yeah, it works for eyeballs.
Obviously, it doesn't work quite.
So well for the commercial aspects, and so that's why you need to balance it up because ultimately the New Zealand cricket financial model is still heavily reliant on broadcast fees and in particular domestic broadcast fees. So it's a case of balancing up getting those commercial broadcast fees by having some cricket behind a paywall while trying to maintain some free to wear to kind of continue to generate
fan engagement. So it is a difficult balancing act. If we could, we'd have absolutely everything free to but that's just unrealistic from a commercial model.
Scott, was there much of a fight? Did you have to challenge anyone else to get these rights? You just roll in and go TV and he can't afford it. Here's our offer. Even how did that and end up working through?
No, Look, we've been in discussions with both TV and Z and Sky about our future rights for probably about nine months, and so this was just a unique opportunity came up with Sky. You know, they made a very compelling offer to us, and it made sense to look at that now. But as I say, one of the key elements to it was to ensure that we still maintained the free to wear element.
What are they paying for it?
Oh well, I.
Couldn't tell you.
But I couldn't tell you. No, it's commercially sensitive. But you know, look it's a fair deal. Look, we're obviously really pleased, but it's a good deal for Sky too, because you know, the Black Caps and White Fern's brands are absolutely humming at the moment, and you know, we expect to partners together to really drive the Sky business
as well. So so look, I think they are really pleased to have us back, and we're obviously really pleased with the with the you know, with the commercials and been able to kind of get some certainty for revenue streams sort of long term.
Scott Way, thanks for your time, mate, you go well of a great weekend thanks.
To ARCI Sports perfects.
The Third A League New Zealand Derby tomorrow Auckland f C against Wellington Phoenix, and the contrasting current fortunes could hardly be any starker between the two and the new Boys, Auckland f C charging into the competition, boisterous fan base there up at the top of the table. By comparison, Wellington Phoenix clinging on really the hopes of a top six finish and desperate really to break out of a goal scoring drought which is really affected them in recent weeks.
But when it comes to the derby, any derby, I feel like all bets are off. The form book just goes out the window. When you come up against your fiercest rivals. You might have a bit of momentum or not. You might be high on confidence or not. You might have bragging rights as Auckland FC do from earlier meetings, or you might not have those bragging rights as Wellington
Phoenix don't. But none of that matters tomorrow because when those twenty two players walk out of the tunnel at a jam packed go Media stadium, some of them in blue and black the other half in bright yellow history becomes entirely irrelevant because funny things happen on days like these. Players thrive under the pressure or they wilt under that pressure. Mistakes are magnified, flashes of brilliance are accentuated, and matches like these are often decided on very small moments, even
might moments within moments. And I get the feeling that is what's going to happen tomorrow. So who will taste a bit of Darby delight and who will face Darby despair on a day to stand up and be counted? Who's going to rise the highest?
The chamber is now in session on Sportsfix.
Let us pop into the chamber, the room of discussion when it comes to the Sports Fixed podcast.
To this said, the ruin of disgust of what's going on in this chamber.
Brother, that's a different podcast. You've seen my episode lists on my podcast feed. We digress. The chamber is where we talk about authors sport. Interested to hear from Scott Weenink, there has to be a free to wear element, not just for cricket these days, disk, but for all professional sport. Yes, the broadcast revenue is important, and yes you get less of that if you put some of your sport on free to wear. But you have to do it, don't you.
It's about engaging people, it's about getting them in front. I like to call it a lost leader and you would have heard that from the supermarket speak if you will say, Okay, we're not making any money at that, but man, we're going to get people through the door.
And that's the key thing with this. And they've seen the numbers go and I think with Spark and it was brave at the time when they did it, but I understand why they did and moving into TV and Z, it's like, Okay, people actually do want to see this game. And I don't know if they thought that was the case. So it was almost like it was an occurrence that they didn't think was going to happen, but it did. And now they've worked with it and they've capitalized on it,
which is really really important. What do they say, put the fan at the center of.
The room, that's at the center of the conversation, and that means every fan, not just a fan who can afford Sky sport. But you know, like if you take it back to our childhood, dost that the sports that we grew to love were the ones we could see, and most of the time that was on television.
Right, you can't be it if you can't see it. It's really really someone. I love the way it's reverting to that. I mean, I'm a fan of that's going back to sky Use. I like the fact that it's all on that. I love my new Skybox. It's so cool, i'd say new. I'm a very late developer before I got it, but I like it all on pretty much the same platform. That's all the international stuff anyway, And when it comes to Super Smash, that's up, free to wear it, fantastic watch that.
You're still getting to watch cricket on TV. You're right, so that's important. All right, let's talk some super rugby. Round two is underway tonight. A couple of unbeaten sides, Chiefs Crusaders. How you feeling in Red and Black Country.
Well, this is always a really nervous fixture and it used to be about Auckland Canterbury, but I think that disappeared years ago. The whole Chiefs Crusaders rivalry. Now there's actually a bit of anguish, a bit of aggression, a bit of it's quite tough, and I like that from both of those places. So we're looking at it. A lot of people involved in Super Rugby fantasy, they've all pitched Namie McKenzie to hope that he tears it a part again. As a Crusaders fan, there was no way
I can pick a chieved it, tear it up. He must collapse. This has got so much on it because if the Crusaders end up going two on the bounce and they beat the Chiefs, who in that second half was lucky enough to be eating Park last week they rolled on their bomb squad, if you will, that was quite something to behold. So if the Crusaders can stop them in their tracks, that'll say a whole lot about
their prospects this season. And that looked the second week in and already there's these key matchups right across the board. I don't even think they thought it'd go so well at the start.
Right, There's no way they did. There's no way they did it. And look high scoring close encounters last week. You know, biggest margin the game he just talked about eleven points between the Chiefs and the Blues. All of the other games were in single digits, but so many tries. I don't think we're going to see a triyfes tonight. This ain't a forty five forty four game. But I am so intrigued, in particular from a Crusader's point of view,
but also from a Chiefs point of view. Chiefs, probably the best team two seasons ago, lost in the Grand Final. Probably with the Blues the best team last year lost in the Grand Final. You have to lose two to win one.
I thought you just had to lose one.
That's what I thought too, So I turned over by the Blues last season in the final.
Well the Blues did to them last year what the Crusaders did the Blues the year before. Yes, Also, what's going to happen this time around? It's going to be a I don't know who's going to be in the final? Who's going to be?
Do?
I still think the Chiefs are favorites to win the whole thing. I watched the Blues last week against the Chiefs, and it's one game, it's a small sample size, but I still think the Chiefs have the best roster and with Damien McKenzie, look, oh i'll give you tonight. I don't want him to run over the top of your crusaders tonight. But he is a very very very important super rugby player for the Chiefs, but.
For me and looking toward All Black representation, which is where all this funnels into, you need to see consistency from Damien McKenzie. You need to know that he's going to provide. He's going to be the man every time he goes on them, and you is the keyword. You trust him to make the right decisions and do the right thing. It's super level, yep. At All Black level. Maybe not, but he needs to set that platform and
now he knows it's between him and Bowden Barrett. This is going to do a lot for his game and Boden's game. It's it's mouth watering.
Quick word on the derby. I've already given you my thoughts on the podcast, but will you take an interest in the derby tomorrow? Wellington still wearing yellow and black when it comes to football.
Yeah, I am, I am, I'm not, haven't got it on today, but I do have that shirt at home. It's another sell out. It's astonishing and we spoke about the nature of the NRL and how to be nice to have something similar with the Warriors versus someone else and Cameron George from the No No, No five, ten, fifteen years. I'll stop it. I get they want to protect their patch. I completely understand that, but it needs to look out his window tomorrow at Go Media Stadium
and go wow, because I think it lifts everybody. And that's what we've seen. It's another sell out game. Kraka, A bit of fighting talk going on there. We want to go through on the bounce. We're going to roll you right the way through. And of course makarrothas back off the bench for the Phoenix, so that's that's huge for them.
Yeah, what a what a what a game? And Prospect can't wait to be among the sold outcrowd there at I'll be.
Listening because I can't go through in a yellow jump because I might not get out, So I'll be watching it from the comfort and safety of my own living room.
Neutral colors for me tomorrow at Go Media. It's a very busy sporting weekend. We can't wait to wrap it for you.
Oh you've forgot the supercars. I'll shut up now.
We can't wait to wrap it for you right across the weekend on News Talks heed.
Be dissecting the sporting agenda. It's Sportsfix with Jason Vine and Darcy Watergrave.
And that is us for the Sports Fix podcast for today. But speaking of news Talks heed B, we've got you covered. As far as news talks HEADB, sport is concerned across the weekend and across the week Yeah.
Well, Jason of course has got week in sport from at midday three o'clock both Saturday and Sunday. Then we job share from Monday through till Friday seven to eight at night with Sports Talk, always keen to bring you the best when we can how we can, with the best guests as well. Interestingly, had Joe Parker on the show yesterday. I'm glad we got on then because of course overnight it all change. So this weekend is no
longer fighting for that belt. That's the nature, the movable feast that is sport, and if you want to keep up with that, you need to listen to this podcast. And of course Piney and myself on News Talks B.
I thought you were trying to edge us back into the chamber there for a second. Another with another discussion point. There's no time.
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