Rugby -Australia's National Rugby League seals A$1.8bn TV deal

SYDNEY, Nov 27 (Reuters) - Australia's National Rugby League (NRL) announced a new broadcast and media rights deal worth A$1.8 billion ($1.3 billion) over five years with broadcasters Channel Nine and Foxtel on Friday. The league said the agreement represented a 70 percent improvement on the previous deal and would commence in 2018, confirming rugby league's status as the second most popular football code in the country behind Australian Rules. The Australian Football League (AFL), which runs the indigenous Australian Rules code, in August sealed a A$2.508 billion 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." With the later sale of international and radio rights, the NRL hope to earn $1.9 billion over the five years. 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. Soccer, the world's most popular football code, is gaining in popularity but still lags behind in commercial muscle, netting just A$160 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 A$200 million. That figure may rise, however, after the Wallabies reached the Rugby World Cup final in October. Cricket dominates summer sport in Australia and attracted a domestic television deal for 2013/14-2017/18 in June 2013 worth A$590 million. 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. (Reporting by Nick Mulvenney, editing by Peter Rutherford)