Moneyball - The Business of Sport

Just over a week before Anthony de Ceglie stepped down as CEO of the Perth Bears, he joined Scott Keenan on Moneyball for an in-depth conversation about building the NRL’s newest club from scratch. What was originally a discussion about launching a professional sports franchise in AFL-mad Perth now offers a fascinating snapshot of de Ceglie’s priorities and mindset immediately before his departure...

Fox Sports is disappearing, Kayo is becoming the main sports brand, and DAZN is trying to build a much bigger business around the sports fans who watch it. Scott Keenan is joined by sports industry advisor Murray Barnett from 26West Sports to unpack why the economics of sports broadcasting are changing — and why subscriptions and advertising alone may no longer be enough to justify the enormous co...

The Newcastle Knights are back in the NRL Grand Final for the first time in 25 years — but this isn’t a Grand Final preview. It’s a conversation about belonging and why the relationship between Newcastle and its rugby league team feels different. Moneyball host Scott Keenan is joined by 1997 premiership winner Steve Crowe , Triple M Newcastle Breakfast co-host Tanya Wilks , and The Knighted creato...

Has the NRL got its Grand Final entertainment strategy completely wrong? The NRL is heading into its biggest game of the year without a headline entertainment act after talks with Tones and I fell apart. Peter V’landys has questioned whether spending around $1 million on 11 minutes of entertainment represents value — but is that looking at the whole thing the wrong way? Moneyball host Scott Keenan...

NFL Melbourne worked. More than 100,000 people packed the MCG for the NFL's first regular-season game in Australia — but the bigger question is what happens next. Can the NFL turn one enormous event into a genuine Australian market? And if it does, could its sheer commercial scale eventually become a threat to the AFL, NRL and other Australian sports? Scott Keenan is joined by AJ Maestas, founder...

Could NBL27 be the season Australian basketball gets significantly bigger? With the new NBL season tipping off on September 19, Saturday night basketball is coming live and free to Nine and 9Now — giving the league a major opportunity to reach new and casual fans. Geoff Dyer, Director of Programming for 9Network & 9Now , joins Scott Keenan on Moneyball – The Business of Sport to explain why Ni...

The NFL has finally arrived in Australia — but could Australia actually be getting the better deal? Scott Keenan looks at how the NFL’s enormous content ecosystem is showcasing Melbourne and Australia to an American audience, why the San Francisco 49ers have spent the week behaving like a local club, and whether the Los Angeles Rams’ late-arrival strategy makes sense commercially as well as compet...

Sports teams are becoming one of the hottest assets in global investment. The LA Lakers have been valued at an extraordinary US$12.5 billion. Private equity giant EQT has agreed to become the majority shareholder in Melbourne Storm. And all 17 existing NRL clubs have reportedly proposed helping to build and own the competition’s 20th team before potentially selling it. So why does everyone suddenl...

Manchester City spent years building a club capable of attracting Pep Guardiola. Now that he's gone, we're about to find out whether they built something capable of succeeding without him. After 10 years, six Premier League titles and a Champions League triumph, Guardiola leaves Manchester City as much more than its most successful manager. Sky Sports reporter Ben Ransom had a front-row seat for t...

Brian To’o is going to the PNG Chiefs — and his signing is bringing the real value of PNG’s tax-free recruitment concessions into sharp focus. The Chiefs will enter the NRL in 2028 under the same salary-cap system as every other club. But eligible players and staff will be able to earn their employment income tax-free under arrangements involving the Australian and Papua New Guinean governments. S...

How does an independent sports podcast become a media company? Charlie White and former NRL player James Graham started The Bye Round as an independent rugby league podcast. Today, it has grown into an independent sports media business producing ESPN League Central for Disney+ . In this episode of Moneyball: The Business of Sport , Charlie joins Scott Keenan to explain how the opportunity came abo...

The Warriors are becoming one of the most commercially interesting clubs in world sport. And it's becoming cool to follow them as well. At NRL Magic Round, Warriors fans transformed Brisbane into a home away from home, while the club's pop-up store generated more than half a million dollars in sales. But the bigger story isn't merchandise—it's culture, identity and the way the Warriors are buildin...

David Beckham retired more than a decade ago—so why was he still one of the biggest commercial stars of the 2026 FIFA World Cup? That question reveals something much bigger than one footballer's career. In this episode of Moneyball , we explore why Beckham remains one of the most valuable commercial brands in world sport, how he reinvented himself after retirement, and why football is still search...

The NRL got its record media rights deal. But signing the contract was the easy part. Now DAZN has to make the economics work. Former DAZN executive Murray Barnett joins Moneyball – The Business of Sport to explain what happens after one of the biggest sports broadcasting agreements in Australian history is signed. How do you justify paying billions of dollars for one competition? Will Kayo Sports...

A trademark fight between FIFA and the owners of the Ballon d'Or has opened up a much bigger question: who gets to define greatness in world football? FIFA is seeking trademark protection for FIFA GOLDEN BALL around the world, including in Australia, but the move has been challenged by the owners of the Ballon d'Or — football's most prestigious individual award. The complication? Ballon d'Or liter...

Exclusive: Rugby League Players Association CEO Clint Newton joins Moneyball to discuss player power, the NRL’s new $5 billion TV rights deal and who gets to shape rugby league’s billion-dollar future. This episode was recorded recently, but before the NRL announced the full details of its new TV deal with Nine Entertainment, DAZN and Sky Sport New Zealand. Clint Newton joins Scott Keenan for a wi...

Inside Story: How did the NRL land the biggest broadcast deal in its history? The headlines told us what happened. This episode is about understanding why it happened. Australian Financial Review media and marketing reporter Sam Buckingham-Jones spent months covering every twist and turn of the NRL's $5 billion media rights negotiations. In this episode of Moneyball – The Business of Sport , Scott...

Is the NRLW schedule broken? More than 50,000 women and girls are now playing rugby league across Australia, TV audiences are growing and Women's State of Origin has become one of the biggest events on the sporting calendar. So why does the NRLW still face challenges getting more people through the gates and watching the game? On this episode of Moneyball , Scott Keenan is joined by SEN sports bro...

Emergency Episode: Reports suggest the NRL has agreed in principle to a new media rights deal worth around $5 billion over seven years from 2028 , potentially making it the biggest media rights agreement in Australian sporting history. If confirmed, Nine would retain State of Origin, the Grand Final and three games per week, while DAZN-owned Foxtel and Kayo would continue as the home of every matc...

The NRL media rights battle is entering its final stages, and for the first time in decades, State of Origin could potentially leave the Nine Network. With Peter V'landys chasing a $4 billion broadcast deal, the biggest sports media rights negotiation in Australian history has become far more than a simple contest between Nine and Foxtel. Seven Network has emerged as a genuine contender, Amazon Pr...

State of Origin is Australia's biggest television event. And there is huge pressure for the broadcast team, especially the play-by-play commentator. More than four million Australians tune in. Hundreds of people work behind the scenes. And for Channel Nine's lead NRL commentator Mathew Thompson, every game brings the pressure of calling moments that become part of rugby league history. In this epi...

After nearly three decades away from football's biggest stage, Scotland is heading back to the FIFA World Cup. Former Scottish footballer and Australian football coach and commentator Charles Samushonga joins Moneyball to discuss Scotland's resurgence under Steve Clarke, the players driving this generation's success, and why supporters are more optimistic than they have been in decades. We explore...

Australia prides itself on being a sporting nation. But in a market of just 26 million people, a small number of dominant men’s competitions continue to consume most of the attention, airtime and commercial investment. In this episode of Moneyball: The Business of Sport , host Scott Keenan sits down with Dr Bridie O’Donnell — broadcaster, former elite cyclist and advocate for women’s sport and gen...

The NRL’s broadcast rights negotiations are heating up — and Amazon Prime is now reportedly preparing a bid for rugby league rights in Australia. In this episode of Moneyball, Scott Keenan is joined by Australian Financial Review media reporter Sam Buckingham-Jones to break down the biggest developments in the NRL media rights race, including Andrew Abdo leaving the NRL for Tennis Australia, Peter...

For the first time in 40 years, Scottish football has had something different: hope. In this episode of Moneyball: The Business of Sport, Scott Keenan breaks down the incredible Scottish Premiership title race between Hearts of Midlothian, Celtic and Rangers — and why Hearts’ shock challenge may have changed Scottish football forever. From Ted Lasso’s iconic “Believe” message to the commercial rea...