At 2:30pm this afternoon, the AFL is expected to announce its most lucrative payday, ever. The AFL is expected to announce the finalized sale of its new TV rights – for the next five seasons – worth more than $1 billion.
The exact details of the deal, which we see Foxtel, Channel Seven and Telstra control the AFL Broadcast rights until 2016, are not yet fully known.
However, the basic breakdown of the agreement is:
But enough with astronomical numbers. The real question is, what does this all mean for footy fans?
The most obvious talking point is that due to having the controlling stake in the rights, Foxtel will now be able to show every single AFL game live, except for the grand final.
This has led Foxtel to announce a new station – Foxtel AFL – which will be a dedicated AFL channel, allowing customers to watch every single game of the AFL Season, live.
Channel Seven, meanwhile, will control the broadcast of four games each week, with plans to sell as many as two of those contests, either to Channel Nine or Ten.
However, Channel Seven executives have been adamant in their comments that they will only sell games for the right price, and if a substantial offer is not made, they will be more than happy to broadcast all four games.
The biggest change to Channel Seven’s telecast, will be that Friday night football will now be shown live, each week on the network.
The delayed telecast of Friday Night Football has been an issue of much contention, but it appears a compromise has been reached. The AFL has agreed to push the first bounce back slightly to accommodate Channel Seven, but has done so on the back of contractual obligations stating the network must show the match live.
This is a massive change from the current AFL programming set-up.
The announcement of the new broadcast deal, comes on the back of an absolute bumper round, in terms of AFL broadcast figures.
The ANZAC Day blockbuster between Collingwood and Essendon drew almost 1.5 million viewers, a jump of over 300,000 from last year’s clash. Also, it is reported that the Geelong-Hawthorn clash drew over one million viewers nationally.
After some pundits had recently claimed that AFL ratings were in a steady decline, these most recent figures clearly rebut any claims of a downturn.
Yet another important element of the new rights deal is how it will affect the negotiations between the AFL and its players, as they work towards a new collective bargaining agreement. It would seem that players are well within their rights to expect to receive a windfall from this bumper day for the AFL, and have reported requested that they receive 27 per cent of all future AFL revenue, a number which will surely jump on the back of this new deal.
However, one thing remains clear in the wake of the deal.
AFL is, and will almost certainly continue to be, the biggest game in town.
The new TV rights deal will only further saturate the market, with broadcasters striving to maximize the return from their purchase. Expect to see masses of Foxtel AFL advertisements, as the pay TV broadcaster will attempt to use this new trump card, to bring in more subscribers.
But ultimately, I think it is a good deal for fans.
The days of waiting until 8:45pm on a Friday night for the first bounce will be long gone, and all fans will have the ability to watch every game of the round, without delay and with unprecedented coverage.
Sounds like win-win to me.
Boomshanka
Guest
Those 2 of 6 markets account for 55% of the population and we haven't even added NZ yet. The AFL is dominant only in Victoria and the minor states with no international appeal.
yewonk
Guest
they do have higher ratings the nrl ,it wont be negotiated with complete arrogance, sponsors enjoy exposing their product to higher rating audiences. i dont think they will get over 850 though. paying for wives?
Liam
Guest
Many NRL fans would argue that they have greater mass appeal than the AFL. However, if I were to put myself in the role of a TV exec, I wouldn't be worried about mortgages and "paying for my wife" as they are part of my personal life, not my corporate responsibilities. With those corporate responsibilities in mind, it would clearly be in the best interest of my network to ensure that I could cover one of the top two sports (sorry A League and Union) in Australia, rather than potentially allow a rival network to gain control of the rights. I think us Victorians don't seem to fully appreciate how massive the NRL rights decision could be.
The recalcitrant
Guest
So, put yourself in the role of a tv exec. You have a mortgage to pay, a wife(possibly good looking who likes expensive clothes), kids in private schools. So, you have big money concerns at home in other words. Now, why would you pay a lot of money for a product you can only stick on in 2 markets and risk losing your good paying job to look after this game which has not ever grown? That is only 2 out of 6 tv markets in Oz. So you shell out this small fortune for NRL and then you have to buy another set of programming for the other 4 markets. Just does not make sense to me. I would be buying shows for the 6 markets and just ignore the 2 hold out NRL areas. I wouldn't bid a single penny on NRL if I owned a network. Lowball them, they will take whatever you offer them.
Redb
Roar Guru
GrantS, Not a concern at all. Kim Williams CEO of Foxtel clearly stated in the presser today that the AFL will be telecast/simulcast "siren to siren" without Ads. (qtr & half time excluded I'd imagine). It's Foxtel's big selling point, one they will not jeopardise.
Liam
Guest
It would seem logical that whichever station completely misses out on the AFL, will then pay big money to get the NRL, they wouldn't want to be left without either of the main sporting codes in Australia. Another big point was that AFL games will be beamed live into home states for non-victorian teams, an obvious move to strengthen the non-vic fan bases.
Liam
Guest
I believe Foxtel said this afternoon that they will still show games, siren to siren, without ads. But I may be wrong on that one.
The Cattery
Guest
I disagree with this statement. Nine remains ready to splash some cash, even if they pay out for one or two AFL games, they will have plenty to buy the NRL rights, they won't let those go, they remain very valuable. I can see the value of the NRL TV rights approaching $700 mill, which would be an excellent outcome for the NRL.
The recalcitrant
Guest
You forgot to mention, will there be any cash left over to continue the propping up of the NRL? What's the betting in hearing the NRL jokers down in Canberra lobbying to get hand outs like the soccer clowns?
Boomshanka
Guest
The devil is in the detail. Why would Channel Seven pay top dollar to show a game that is to be simulcast on subscription TV? Remember that FOX have paid serious money to encourage southern subscriptions. Given this level of commitment to get people across it is likely to happen. ie serious football fans in Victoria will pay up so who is left watching on free to air. The advertisers aren't dumb and they will not pay good money for a demographic that cannot afford subscription TV. The ads will likely come across. Under the proposed anti siphoning laws (changes to which still require parliamentary approval) Seven own the Friday night and the other three games which are shown in delay. In fact given the current precarious nature of the anti siphoning laws and this government (having a slim majority) one could argue the AFL TV deal is not cast in concrete yet.
Boomshanka I don't understand your comment regarding Foxtel including Sevens' adverts. As one former politician said "please explain". I haven't seen anything that acknowledges a change in Foxtels' procedure of ad free games. If this does change it will certainly upset people (me included.)
Liam
Guest
Well that's clearly the problem, extra cost, but the AFL would surely justify its move by saying that all have have the option to choose to get foxtel, but as we all know not all can afford it.
Boomshanka
Guest
I agree with; The new TV rights deal will only further saturate the market, with broadcasters striving to maximize the return from their purchase. Expect to see masses of Foxtel AFL advertisements, as the pay TV broadcaster will attempt to use this new trump card, to bring in more subscribers. Even the Friday night game on Foxtel looks to include Seven's ads. It will turn people more people off.
blueboy
Guest
"all fans will have the ability to watch every game of the round, without delay and with unprecedented coverage"? by "all fans" do you mean "all fans who can afford to buy foxtel"?