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A-League pay TV deal could be announced this week

David Gallop (AFP Photo/Peter Parks)
19th December, 2016
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Football Federation Australia could announce its improved $50 million a year A-League TV deal with Fox Sports as early as Tuesday, as club owners seek assurances they’ll get a bigger slice of the pie.

The governing body and its major broadcaster have reportedly agreed to renew the rights on a four-year contract worth around $200 million.

But a free-to-air deal taking in Saturday night’s match of the round is unlikely to be done until the Big Bash rights are purchased early next year.

Channels Seven, Nine and Ten are prioritising the highly popular T20 competition but all are believed to be keen on broadcasting the A-League should they miss out.

While FFA’s exact revenue won’t be known until all components are in place, News Corp reports the free-to-air and digital rights will bump the total figure up to around $65 million.

It’s an increase of nearly two-thirds on the current $40 million a year deal but short of the $80 million former FFA chairman Frank Lowy had ambitiously targeted.

The rise in revenue is set to push the salary cap up substantially from $2.6 million, with clubs expecting to receive a greater share of cash in surplus to their required player payments.

FFA chief executive David Gallop was cagey when asked about broadcast rights on Monday.

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“It’s too early to be speculating about the TV rights deal now,” Gallop said.

“It’s an important part of the sport’s future, not much more we can say about it.”

It came as the players’ union warned there was no guarantee the salary cap would remain in place when a new collective bargaining agreement is negotiated in 2018.

Many clubs already spend well beyond the cap given marquee wages are unrestricted, but to scrap it altogether would open the door for a rush of high-profile foreign players.

“An agreement to a salary cap in football is never an absolute and cannot be taken for granted,” Professional Footballers Australia chief executive John Didulica said.

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