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A-League fans should be pleased the competition’s immediate future has been sorted out, even if the sums on offer aren’t quite what was first imagined.
Make no mistake – without Fox Sports, there’s no A-League. Or certainly not one where the pay TV rights alone are worth $57.6 million per season.
Critics who fixate on the fact that the figure is short of the $80 million hypothesised by Football Federation Australia chairman David Gallop back in February are overlooking a couple of key points.
Firstly, the focus shouldn’t be on the fact that the $346 million, six-year deal falls short of Gallop’s original figure. It should be on the fact that a broadcaster is willing to pay so much for A-League rights in such a competitive market.
Secondly, the figure paid not only represents an improvement on the previous broadcast deal, it also helps keeps the A-League in business when it looks like there wasn’t exactly an endless array of suitors.
The free-to-air component of the deal – yet to be finalised – will bring even more funds into the coffers.
More importantly, though, it will hopefully give the A-League a free-to-air home on a commercial network that might actually be watched by potential new followers.
Despite yesterday’s announcement largely representing good news, it still comes with a couple of caveats.
The sight of several A-League chairmen venting their astonishment on Twitter proves that not every stakeholder was kept up to date with developments.
Meanwhile, the terse media release from the Australian Professional Football Clubs Association that landed in inboxes around the country, which said the APFCA had not been “directly involved in the negotiations”, begs the question of just exactly who was.
Nevertheless, it’s clear this deal is a good one for Fox Sports. Not only did they retain the broadcast rights to a key subscription driver at a time when TV audiences are fragmenting, but they arguably paid less than many expected them to do.
Despite a few grey areas, it should also be seen as a good deal for Football Federation Australia.
Generating a substantial increase in the value of broadcast rights is no mean feat – particularly in such a competitive market.
There are legitimate concerns about the length of the deal, but even that can be viewed through the prism of ‘stability’ and the notion that at least we know where we’ll be in a few years’ time.
Those who complain that the deal fails to match the sort of money paid to broadcast the AFL and NRL fail to take into account that broadcasters arguably paid over the odds for products increasingly boasting diminishing returns.
And if you want a lesson in how to pay too much for something few people watch, look no further than Optus – which in hindsight did the A-League a huge favour by poaching the English Premier League.
It was no surprise to see Fox Sports CEO Patrick Delany claim the EPL is now “invisible” – funny that – although he’s right to try and target football fans in Australia looking for a dose of local action.
Fans fretting that expansion is now suddenly off the table needn’t worry either. It has been made crystal clear to FFA that viewers expect to see new clubs on their TV screens, and no doubt that desire was part of the discussion, even if Gallop was coy on any plans.
An increase to the marquee fund will help bring bigger stars to the league, while the fact Socceroos, Matildas, W-League and FFA Cup games will all stay on Fox Sports is an added bonus for subscribers.
SBS used to call itself the “home of football”, but that mantle passed to Fox Sports long ago.
And while some Aussies still struggle with the concept of pay TV, we should have no qualms about how much Fox Sports is willing to pay to broadcast the A-League.