Sharks may be circling and the Rugby World Cup has been lost, but Sky has moved quickly to ensure no more cracks appear in its broadcast empire by locking in the rights for the All Blacks end of year tour.
The beleaguered broadcaster has endured a tough few months where it has been forced to slash prices in the face of mounting speculation a number of major players are preparing to bid for the long term rights to show All Blacks tests when the existing deal owned by Sky finishes at the end of 2020.
The first signs that the market pressure is real came this week when a joint bid by Spark and TVNZ won the rights to broadcast next year's Rugby World Cup.
That victory for Spark/TVNZ led to some murmuring that the former state telecoms company may also try to buy the rights to show the All Blacks end of year tour as those games are not covered in the five-year agreement Sky signed with NZ Rugby in 2016.
Sky and NZR have historically negotiated year to year around the November tests and in some cases have left discussions until just weeks before.