The big football codes have held discussions with giant multi-national digital companies such as Netflix, Fetch TV and Google over joining the race for broadcast rights as a bold new era of sports broadcasting beckons.

Both the AFL and NRL are understood to have met with the online steaming services and digital companies in recent weeks, adding them to the list of likely bidders for broadcast rights later in the year alongside free-to-air and pay-television networks and the big telcos.

South Sydney Rabbitohs celebrate their 2014 grand final win. Credit:Christopher Chan

The AFL and NRL are both in the market for huge new broadcast deals, with each set to reap somewhere between $1.5 billion to $2 billion for five-year contracts thanks to unprecedented levels of interest in live sport, highlights on demand and digital content.

Talks are expected to formally heat up in the second half of the season, after several media and football executives take midwinter holidays, with both the AFL and NRL hopeful of resolving new deals by Christmas.