For an extra game per week from 2018, Nine will pay $185 million per year, more than double the $90 million the network pays under the current free-to-air deal. All encompassing: State of Origin will dominate the news cycle. Credit:Getty Images With only one Friday night match each week, the four games broadcast by Nine - Thursday night, Friday night, Saturday night and Sunday afternoon - will all be shown live. Importantly, the NRL will decide the scheduling of those 85 matches per season - although fans can still expect the likes of Brisbane, South Sydney, Canterbury and Parramatta to dominate the free-to-air coverage because of their popularity with viewers. More significant than the money is the fact that for the first time since the Super League war of 20 years ago - and possibly even before then - the game is now in control of its own destiny as the NRL has the power to determine the full calendar for each season, from pre-season events to the scheduling of every premiership match and representative fixtures.

Audiences of up to 1 million for live premiership matches on free-to-air will expose the NRL to more potential fans as there are now four live games per week broadcast on four nights in an indication of how valuable Nine considers the NRL is to the future viability of television. The deal has also provided an insight into the future of rugby league and fans can also expect to see a greater emphasis on the international game, as the NRL believes the code needs virtual year-round exposure. The standalone representative weekend, which this year featured the ANZAC Test on Friday night, a Pacific Test double-header on Saturday night and City-Country on Sunday, will now be headlined by Origin II and may include a New Zealand-England Test on Friday night and Tests between the Pacific nations on other nights. What that means for the future of City-Country is unclear and the deal has also confirmed that expansion is on the backburner as it is believed that the game needs to produce more NRL-quality players by improving pathways and the standard of the second-tier NSW and Queensland Cup competitions before extra teams can be added.

The fact that the NRL owns a stake in three clubs, Newcastle, Wests Tigers and Gold Coast, and has provided financial assistance to St George Illawarra is also a major concern and it would appear that the only way there will be a second Brisbane team, or teams in Perth or Wellington, is if an existing club relocates. The Dragons, Tigers, Knights and Titans have all renewed their licence agreements with the NRL but other clubs are holding out for a bigger slice of the game's revenue after the next broadcast deal is finalised, with the amount of money Nine has now committed sparking speculation that the overall value of the rights could be up to $2 billion. While some suggest the announcement of the free-to-air component of the deal weakens the NRL bargaining power with Fox Sports over the remaining four matches per week, others argue that the pay-TV broadcaster could not afford to forego the NRL rights as subscriptions are already impacted by the emergence of streaming networks such as Netflix and Stan. In fact, it is likely that Foxtel subscribers will be able to watch all eight NRL matches live through a simulcast deal that enables the network to also show the games on Nine at the same time and have exclusive rights to the other four matches. Fairfax Media has been told that Nine has already agreed to that during negotiations of the $925 million free-to-air deal but Fox Sports will also have to pay significantly more than $550 million ($110 million per year) they paid for five live games per week under the current five-year deal for the simulcast rights.

The key to the NRL taking the whip hand in negotiations with broadcasters was convincing News Ltd to forego the first and last right of refusal on future deals when the current agreement was negotiated over a night of pizza and beer in 2012, and the new deal with Nine puts the game in a powerful position to head off any thought of a Super League-type rebellion from clubs. Although unlikely, there has been speculation the 12 clubs yet to sign participation deals would refuse to do so in a move that would leave open the possibility of breaking away from the NRL unless they were promised a $12 million-per-year grant once the new television deal was done. Canterbury, Sydney Roosters and Penrith have been reported as the clubs leading the way in the fight but, with Nine CEO David Gyngell enjoying close personal and working relationships with Roosters supremo Nick Politis and Panthers boss Phil Gould, it is difficult to imagine they would do anything to jeopardise the deal.