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V8 Supercars boss Tony Cochrane has taken a shot at under-siege Australian soccer, saying it is not a “fair dinkum sport” unless it secures a free-to-air television rights deal.
As both sports, along with the National Rugby League, chase new television rights agreements over the next 12 months, Cochrane fired a shot across the bows of the FFA and the A-League.
It has spent the past seven years exclusively on pay-television network Fox Sports and the pay-TV network is front-runner to maintain its association with Australian football beyond 2013.
The V8 Supercars currently have a deal with the Seven Network, but Cochrane says there are two free-to-air networks vying for rights from next season onwards.
Cochrane dismissed the A-League as any threat to what his sport can achieve in terms of television rights dollars – including a jibe at the sport’s difficult fortnight as it dealt with the lurchings of maverick Gold Coast United owner Clive Palmer.
“Any fair dinkum sport in this country has to be on free-to-air TV. You can be on all those other platforms, but if you’re not on free-to-air, you’re simply not a fair dinkum sport,” Cochrane said of Australian footbal.
“For that reason, I don’t think we’re sitting here worrying too much about what the A-League are going to do – whichever A-League it is this week.”
Palmer had also criticised Football Federation Australia’s Fox Sports television deal and argued he could secure a better one during a fortnight on the rampage.
The mining magnate had attempted to form a breakaway footbal organisation, had his licence to run Gold Coast United revoked, then lost a court battle late on Friday night to stay in charge.
Gold Coast’s demise once it plays out the season means the A-League’s structure for next year is unclear.
The FFA needs a 10th club – with the Gold Coast or western Sydney the two most likely options – to secure a TV rights deal lucrative enough to stop A-League club owners bleeding money.
New V8 Supercars chief executive officer David Malone – a former Fox Sports chief executive who helped secure Fox’s A-League deal – also believes a mix of free-to-air and pay-TV is the right way forward for Australian sports.
“In any rights deal we’ll be doing, we’ll aim to get a sensible mix of coverage,” Malone said.
“Obviously a strong free-to-air presence like we have now gives us tremendous reach, and it’s good for our sponsors.
“But the things subscription TV or a digital partner can do in terms of broadening out your content – we’re on the cusp of a deal like that.”
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