Once a year, a little magic happens, and no, we're not talking about Christmas. In the world of the National Rugby League (NRL), the Magic Round is an annual event where every NRL game for one round is played in a single location: Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane, QLD.
This year's Magic Round is coming in hot. Here's everything you need to know about how, why and when to stream it live.
Where can I stream NRL's Magic Round 2026?
Magic Round will be streamed both live and on-demand via Foxtel's sports channels and its streaming service, Kayo Sports.
Kayo Sports is renowned for its vast sports collection and rights to live and on-demand NRL games, with the exception of State of Origin live matches. It also comes with a seven-day free trial for new customers.
Yes, new customers are eligible for a seven-day free trial to try Kayo before they buy.
However, if you want to lock in a reduced price for Kayo that'll last longer than a week, check out our Kayo deals guide for an updated list of price-slashing discounts.
Besides Kayo, the OG NRL rights holder Foxtel is another way to stream Magic Round this May. However, it isn't the most affordable option of the two. With traditional Foxtel Now, you're looking at a minimum $84 per month with Sports included compared Kayo's $29.99 per month pricetag. Nevertheless, if you think you'll need it for State of Origin later this month or Foxtel's vast movie collection, here's how Foxtel Now's sports packages compare:
| Inclusions | Details | |
|---|---|---|
|
Foxtel Now
 |
|
|
|
Foxtel Now
|
|
If you'd like to stream Magic Round 2026 for free, Channel Nine will also be broadcasting select games over all four days of the QLD event. Otherwise you can catch up later via the 9Now app.
What is NRL's Magic Round?
NRL Magic Round was introduced in 2019 as a way to grow live attendance numbers at the NRL games while also giving fans of all participating teams a greater chance to witness their team play in the flesh.
Tickets to the games can be purchased either individually or in bundles at a discounted rate, since some days feature multiple games played back-to-back. Attendance has seen a positive spike at these live events, usually around the 140k mark over the three to four day period.
Suncorp Stadium itself is renowned for its large capacity, able to hold up to 52,500 people in a single game with 75% undercover.
Friday May 15th
- Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks vs. Canterbury Bulldogs at 6pm AEST - Foxtel, Kayo
- South Sydney Rabbitohs vs. Dolphins at 8pm AEST - Foxtel, Kayo, Nine/9Now
Saturday May 16th
- Wests Tigers v Manly Sea Eagles at 3.00pm AEST - Foxtel, Kayo
- Sydney Roosters v North Queensland Cowboys at 5.30pm AEST - Foxtel, Kayo
- Parramatta Eels v Melbourne Storm at 7.45pm AEST - Foxtel, Kayo, Nine/9Now
Sunday May 17th
- Gold Coast Titans v Newcastle Knights at 2.00pm AEST - Foxtel, Kayo
- New Zealand Warriors v Brisbane Broncos at 4.05pm AEST - Foxtel, Kayo, Nine/9Now
- Penrith Panthers v St. George Illawarra Dragons at 6.25pm AEST - Foxtel, Kayo
Bye: Canberra Raiders
Where can I stream other NRL matches?
Kayo and Foxtel have exclusive broadcast rights for all NRL games, however you can catch many NRL games on free-to-air Channel Nine or on-demand via the 9Now app.
What is Kayo Sports?
Kayo Sports is an advanced standalone version of the Sports add-on that Foxtel Now offers. With a Kayo Sport subscription, you'll get access to the greatest number of sports in Australia, including AFL, NRL, cricket, tennis, and American sports like NFL, basketball, and baseball, as well as various advanced features, like SplitView, live stats and 4K streaming on the Premium tier.
How does Kayo Sports compare?
Kayo is still the best sports streaming service in Australia if you're after a vast quantity of bot popular and niche sports. While Kayo's price continues creeping up, it is the only place to watch the vast majority of AFL, NRL, and cricket matches in Australia.
It's improved since launch, offering a mix of live channels – including dedicated options for popular sports – individually highlighted live matches and replays. For popular sports, the replays are typically available as full matches or shorter 'Minis' (highlights packages). If you miss a live match that you're keen to experience fresh, Kayo has a no-spoilers toggle that's well worth enabling. Alternatively, skip to key match moments on longer replays.
Most Kayo content streams at Full HD resolution, but more 4K content is appearing for Kayo Premium subscribers, most notably for AFL and NRL matches. Like Netflix and other entertainment streaming services, Kayo also offers use profiles, which helps personalise the sports you're being fed on the homepage. And if you've got a compatible device, Kayo also offers SplitView so you can stream multiple sports at the same time on the one screen.
Compare Kayo Sports to other popular sports streaming services and their monthly prices below:
| Inclusions | Details | |
|---|---|---|
|
Paramount+
|
|
|
|
Prime Video
|
|
|
|
Disney+
 |
|
|
|
Stan
|
|
Link not supplied
|
|
Binge
 |
|
|
|
beIN Sports Monthly Plan
 |
|
Link not supplied
|
|
DAZN
 |
|
|
|
Apple TV
|
|
|
|
Kayo Sports 
|
|
|
|
Foxtel Now
|
|
Editor's pick: Great NBN 100 plans for streaming
Kayo requires up to 25Mbps of available download speed to stream at 4K resolution. On Kayo you can stream to multiple devices with the highest-tier respective subscriptions, so you could get away with an NBN 50 plan.
However, that leaves little to nothing left for anyone else in your household. In light of this, we recommend using an NBN 100 plan as a minimum for sports streaming at home in up to 4K fidelity (even if UFC fights are rarely broadcast at 4K resolution).
Here's a list of popular NBN 100 plans from our database.
|
#1
|
Superloop
FTTN, FTTB, FTTC
Family nbn100/20
$74/mth
Min. cost $74
|
|
#2
|
iiNet
FTTN, FTTB, FTTC
nbn Home Fast Liimitless
$69.99/mth
+ $10 Upfront
Min. cost $79.99
Link not supplied
|
|
#3
|
TPG
FTTN, FTTB, FTTC
nbn Home Fast Unlimited Plan
$74.99/mth
Min. cost $74.99
Link not supplied
|
|
#4
|
Aussie Broadband
FTTN, FTTB, FTTC
Fast nbn - Unlimited
$79/mth
Min. cost $79
Link not supplied
|
|
#5
|
Optus
FTTN, FTTB, FTTC
Optus Fast nbn®
$84/mth
Min. cost $84
Link not supplied
|
Is Kayo Sports compatible with my device?
Kayo Sports has a good selection of compatible streaming devices, but it doesn't support every platform. For a full breakdown of device compatibility on sports streaming services in Australia, check out the table below:
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
| Apple TV (2015+) | * | ||||||||||||
| Fetch TV | |||||||||||||
| Chromecast | ** | *** | |||||||||||
| Hubbl | |||||||||||||
| Amazon Fire devices | |||||||||||||
| PlayStation 4 | |||||||||||||
| PlayStation 5 | |||||||||||||
| Xbox One | **** | ||||||||||||
| Xbox Series X | **** | ||||||||||||
| Xbox Series S | **** |
* Foxtel Now is only available through Airplay, and not as a standalone app.
** Chromecast 1st Generation is no longer supported by Kayo. For optimal streaming using Chromecast, Kayo recommends Chromecast Ultra and latest 3rd generation.
*** Foxtel Now is streamed through the Foxtel GO app.
**** Kayo Sport is only available on Xbox One S (2016), Xbox One X (2017), Xbox Series S (2020), and Xbox Series X (2020) models.
Legend
Streaming Device Compatibility
 |
 |
|
 |
|
| Apple TV (2015+) | ||||
| Telstra TV 3 | ||||
| Fetch TV | ||||
| Chromecast | ||||
| Hubbl | ||||
| Amazon Fire devices | ||||
| PlayStation 4 | ||||
| PlayStation 5 | ||||
| Xbox One | ||||
| Xbox Series X |
Legend
-
Netflix
-
Stan
-
Amazon Prime Video
-
Disney +
More streaming deals
Looking for something to stream tonight but don't want to pay full price? We've rounded up the best deals from Australia's major streaming services.
- Apple TV Plus deals: Get 30% off
- Binge deals: Stream Binge from less than $7 per month
- Disney Plus deals: Get 12 months for the price of 10
- Foxtel packages and deals: Save up to $55 per month
- Netflix deals: Free Netflix with Foxtel
- Paramount Plus deals: Save over $40 per year
- Prime Video deals: Score a 30-day free trial
Christie Graham
Digital Content Editor
Related Articles
Find a Better Pay TV Package
Compare options from Foxtel, Fetch TV, Netflix, Stan and more.
