27 Nov 2015

Warriors begin 2016 on the road

6:45 pm on 27 November 2015

The Warriors will open the 2016 National Rugby League season with two away games.

They're away to Wests Tigers on March 5th before playing at Brisbane with their first home game against Melbourne on March 20th.

The Warriors will also play three NRL games in other New Zealand cities.

They'll meet Canterbury in Wellington on April 16th, Penrith in Christchurch on May 14th and Canberra in New Plymouth on May 21st.

Will the Warriors flag be flying high this weekend as they try to overcome a humiliating loss to South Sydney?

Will the Warriors flag be flying high this weekend as they try to overcome a humiliating loss to South Sydney? Photo: Photosport

Meanwhile the National Rugby League has also announced a new broadcast deal worth 2 billion dollars.

The league said the five year deal with Channel Nine and Foxtel represented a 70 percent improvement on the previous deal and would start in 2018, confirming rugby league's status as the second most popular football code in the country behind Australian Rules.

Matthew Scott and Johnathan Thurston Cowboys co-captains with the trophy
Broncos v Cowboys NRL Grand Final. 2015.

Matthew Scott and Johnathan Thurston Cowboys co-captains with the trophy Broncos v Cowboys NRL Grand Final. 2015. Photo: PHOTOSPORT

The Australian Football League (AFL), which runs the indigenous Australian Rules code, in August sealed a 2.6 billion dollar deal with Foxtel, Telstra and Seven Network to run for six years from 2017.

"We have delivered the very best outcome for the game as a whole," Australian Rugby League Commission Chairman John Grant said in a news release.

"Compared to our current schedule, this result still means more games live and free for our fans and gives grass roots and elite clubs and organisations immense financial benefits."

Rugby league is the dominant football code in New South Wales and Queensland, while Australian Rules is the most popular sport played in winter in Victoria, South and Western Australia.

Football, the world's most popular code, is gaining in popularity but still lags behind in commercial muscle, netting just 176 million from the current four-year deal for the Australia national team and A-League matches.

The Australian Rugby Union will announce a deal for the national team and Super Rugby matches this year, which the Australian Financial Review estimated would be worth up to 220 million.

Cricket dominates summer sport in Australia and attracted a domestic television deal for 2013/14-2017/18 in June 2013 worth 650 million dollars.

Pay television broadcaster Foxtel is a joint venture between News Corp and telecommunications giant Telstra, who have retained naming rights for the league and will broadcast matches online and highlights on a new television platform to be launched next year.

Every National Rugby League game is shown live in New Zealand on Sky Sports.