Australian Rugby Union CEO Bill Pulver said that the ARU will announce within "about 60 days" the details of a new broadcast deal that will "alleviate much of the financial pain the sport has been suffering," according to Jon Stensholt of the SYDNEY MORNING HERALD. The ARU and its counterparts in New Zealand and South Africa are "on the verge of a new television deal that should double the amount Australia receives for broadcasters" to between A$35M ($27M) and A$40M ($31M) annually for five years from '16. Sources have confirmed the deal will see Fox Sports Australia "retain all live rights to Wallabies matches and Super Rugby." Network Ten will simulcast the Wallabies games and "show one Super Rugby game on replay each weekend." Pulver said that he had been "pretty damn nervous, with good reason" a year ago when faced with "looming budgetary issues in the sport, but said his fears have largely been allayed by the looming broadcast deal and a cost-cutting program" that has found A$10M in savings out of the ARU. Pulver: "Australian rugby will be in a much better shape from 2016 through to 2020." However, he said the ARU and the five Australian Super Rugby franchises face a "difficult 2015 and admitted the game has been close to insolvency," with the governing body headed for a A$5M-A$10M loss from revenue of A$75M (SMH, 2/16).
