Fox League Launches 2023 NRL Season Coverage With Kayo
Fox League launched the 2023 National Rugby League’s (NRL) season with a blast yesterday, with an all-star event and talent line-up ahead of the NRL Telstra Premiership Season covered on Foxtel and Kayo Sports.
Fox league talent included Mal Meninga and Matty Johns, hosted by Yvonne Sampson to witness Braith Anasta and Michael Ennis kick off the season on water-powered jet-packs.
In an exclusive interview with Ministry of Sport, executive director of Kayo Sports, Cate Hefele discussed the future of women in sports media and how Kayo Sports is promoting the new season.
NRL Coverage:
Fox League and Kayo sports will broadcast 120 exclusive home and away season games, including every game of every round live and ad-break free during play on.
Additionally, an extended 90-minute Thursday night pre-game show will be available before the first game of the round this year.
This season’s ad campaign was focused on targeting casual fans, that can easily watch sports with their hectic lifestyles.
Commenting on their coverage, Hefele, said: “When sport is everything, Kayo is the place to be… we are also focused on our team coverage and so we target geographical and digital ad campaigns so that fans know where they’re team is, when they’re watching and when.”
NRLW:
On the NRLW and the platform’s growth, Hefele said Kayo Sports has seen growth each year, in subscribers and viewership.
“I am so excited for the new teams that have entered the NRLW competition so there are 10 teams who are playing so it’s always great to continue to build that competition,” Hefele said.
Hefele believes the growth will continue to put women on the same pedestal as men as more people are tuning in to the National Women’s Rugby League (NRLW).
“Seeing that growth, we have actually started doing Kayo minis, which are the highlight packages, the cut downs of the games for every NRLW match…. Which I think is a reflection of the overall movement to watching more women’s sport,” she said.
Kayo Sports released a study this year in women’s sport viewership, and it was reported that over 70% of men are watching women’s sport, contributing to the two-thirds of the viewership of the NRLW and NRL on the platform.
“It is so good to see women’s sport growing in popularity and it not needing to be just women’s sport,” Hefele said.
“It helps to have amazing commentators like Jess Yates, Hannah Hollis and Yvonne, they are the ones who are talking about the sport and so we’ve got these professional women who know the sport and can showcase it quite well,” she said
Sponsorship:
Kayo has also expanded their reach into sponsorship, where the latest expansion team, the Dolphins, have partnered with the platform, giving them the naming rights to what is now called Kayo Stadium.
The team’s home venue was previously known as Moreton Daily Stadium as part of a deal with local not-for-profit group Moreton Bay Region Industry and Tourism, until the Australian National Rugby League agreed a stadium naming rights deal with Kayo Sports.
Commenting on the partnership, Hefele, said: “There’s the addition of the Redcliffe Dolphins to the competition, which is great for Kayo cause we’ve taken on and out sponsoring the stadium and so when fans show up, live in person, the whole stadium is green-which really involves the community and have Kayo as a part.”
