Saturday rugby league matches could return to free-to-air television for the first time in two decades under a bold proposal from the Seven Network.

Seven is one of the many parties currently in discussions with the NRL about the next broadcast deal and is determined not to walk away from the negotiating table empty-handed.

Saturday a target: Kurt Gidley scores during Saturday's NRL match between the Newcastle Knights and the Gold Coast Titans at Hunter Stadium.

Fairfax Media has been told the two products of particular interest are the Thursday night and Saturday timeslots. The league is considering spreading its regular-season fixtures across five nights a week, effectively ending the practice of showing two Friday night games on free-to-air - one streamed live into Sydney live and the other Brisbane.

Only a handful of competition games are currently shown on Thursday nights, but Seven wants to take them from Nine when the timeslot is permanently up for grabs.