When Optus first announced its capture of English Premier League rights from next season onwards, Australia’s biggest sport broadcaster, Foxtel, was facing an uncertain future when it came to showcasing the round ball.
Fans announced their intention to cancel subscriptions, there was scepticism about the A-League’s ability to solely pull subscriptions, and forecasts were made that Australia’s premier football division could soon find itself a new home.
Yet in the face of a new competitor in the sporting scene, a scene Foxtel have dominated throughout the new millennium, the pay TV giant has kickstarted what could be an incredible fightback.
On Thursday, Foxtel announced they would now be offering customers – both new and old – essentially free access to beIN Sports, formally Setanta Sports, which had been previously available as an extra for between $10-$20 a month over the past few years.
Now, Foxtel will provide beIN Sports with three new channels to showcase more live football than it can probably handle. Outgoing is the Premier League, but incoming is the Bundesliga, La Liga, Serie A, Ligue 1, the Scottish Premier League and England’s second tier, the Championship. It is a heavyweight line-up.
Clubs in these leagues alone boast about 15 active Australian players, giving Socceroos fans a greater chance to follow the progression of both regular squad members and upcoming talents. That number could bulge with a couple of A-League players tipped for off-season moves to Europe.
Socceroos such as Mat Ryan, Tom Rogic, Robbie Kruse, Mathew Leckie, Massimo Luongo and Bailey Wright are featuring weekly for their clubs, and Australian fans should savour being able to witness their talents on a regular basis.
It will also be great to witness the progress of our Asian rivals’ top players, with a number contracted to German clubs.
Then there is the mouthwatering proposition of watching Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Robert Lewandowski, Gigi Buffon et al enter the pitch for some of Europe’s biggest clubs.
This is a massive win for the football-loving public.
It is also a chance for Australia to move away from its Premier League obsession, and become more immersed in non-Anglo styles of football. While Australia has moved incredibly quickly under the overriding guidance of Ange Postecoglou, there is still a long way to go in shunning English roots.
Many fans will already be avid followers of Europe’s ‘other’ top leagues, but for many it will be an opportunity to devour a new football culture for the first time.
Not since the 12-hour-odd Sunday binge sessions once offered by The World Game on SBS has the Australian public had such a rich, accessible source of content. It is an exciting prospect, and it should also assist the country’s next generation.
Being exposed weekly, if lucky enough to have generous parents, to the best in the world in leagues outside the Premier League can only help inspire our next bunch of football stars and coaches to not only adopt styles, but also to pursue challenges outside the status quo.
Moving to England has been a preference for many of our brightest talents, understandable in some ways due to the common language, yet that is slowly changing. Watching La Liga and Bundesliga weekly will show some EPL-obsessed grommets that there is life outside England.
Watching the technical abilities within almost every Spanish club, the raw talent that emerges in France, the tactical systems in Italy or the perfect mixture of skill and physicality in the Bundesliga can only help our youngsters’ development.
Some may say this outlook is overblowing Foxtel’s move to diversify its football content, but I see exciting positives in the access to Europe’s top leagues. TV has a big influence on kids, and finding idols outside the EPL can only be beneficial.
Instead of getting excited about Francis Jeffers, Robbie Fowler, Emile Heskey, Benito Carbone and William Gallas coming Down Under, due to their association with English football, fans will be able to appreciate the arrival of players such as Diego Castro, Corona, Matthieu Delpierre and Thomas Broich with a degree of knowledge. The guesswork will partially be banished.
Lastly, Foxtel’s reiteration that it is not content in dumping football, despite its stranglehold on NRL and AFL broadcasts through Fox Sports, is promising for Football Federation Australia’s upcoming negotiations for A-League and Socceroos rights.
This deal could prove defining for the game, and Foxtel’s desire to avoid losing football subscribers bodes well for their intention to aggressively pursue the A-League. Similarly, after making a statement with their capture of EPL rights and deal with SBS for the 2018 World Cup, Optus will not want to make a hasty retreat.
The telecom will be forced to up their game in their quest to challenge Foxtel’s hold on sport broadcasts, while Fox Sports will not be willing to budge any further.
This could be the first bidding war the FFA are part of, and the opportunity cannot be passed up.
Jets Fan
Guest
Fantastic news, now all we need is some decent commentators!
Tom
Guest
the word is "soar" not "sore"
Tom
Guest
It has been independently established that Ch's 7, 9 and 10 and FoxSports ALL paid WAY too much for Cricket, NRL and AFL................................................so what is your point again??
Tom
Guest
"In the 9 months I have been a subscriber I haven’t seen them. Suspect those sports were included because of Setanta’s Irish ownership." I think that you are right there
Jean Summers
Guest
I agree with the previous writer. Why advertise other codes, we are watching the soccer, do they advertise the soccer in the Rugby games? My husband agrees with you Andy harper is always saying what he would have done or what they should have done just tell us what they are doing and leave it. We also watch one team in the EPL from where we are from many years ago (Norwich City) and I reckon Brisbane Roar would run rings round them in fact I think the Matildas would as well not all EPL are the greatest. Go the HAL!! We would like to mute the commentators and just hear the crowd sometimes too.
Jets Fan
Guest
Two things spring to mind. How is it that the AFL are allowed to indulge in ambush marketing during Football shows. Every A-League or Premier league show on fox features advertising for the AFL and sometimes for the ARL as well. Hopefully FFA will ad a clause to prevent this in their next contract. Secondly, the standard of FOX's commentary team is abysmal! How Andy Harper gets a gig is unknown. He spends most of his time on air trying to educate the audience to his way of thinking rather than just inform. He constantly gives opinions on what was or wasn't a free kick, what should or shouldn't have been a card, thats the referees job, just tell what is happening not what you think should have happened. As for Ned Zelic he carries on like a drunken game show host. It would be nice if Bozza could give some insight instead of just opinions and ridicule. I have asked Fox to provide a red button option so we could mute the commentary but still have the crowd noise to watch the games. Currently my only option is to mute the sound altogether, something I find myself doing more and more often,. The Optus option is looking better and better!
Punter
Guest
Go Kevin, another insightful comment!
Uncle Junior
Guest
What state of delusion are you living if you think A-League viewers, who pay $1000+ per year to subscribe to Foxtel to watch A-League, will not move and pay much much less to watch A-League on Optus? For many people the cost will be $0 on Optus. For people who are not Optus customers, the cost is reported to be around $15-20/ month; or around $140 per year to watch Optus Foootball. This has nothing to do with FetchTV. As far as I know, FetchTV doesn't buy content. FetchTV is a platform that is used by broadcasters: ESPN, MTv, Disney, beIN Sports, Optus, etc. etc. FetchTV is just one platform which will be used to watch EPL next season. Given Optus has 9 million customers, the majority of EPL fans will be watching via the Optus app, or streaming online.
Ian
Guest
Actually Peter you may be wrong. There is an idea. Have Liverpool play Brisbane every week or Adelaide/Victory etc… and see how many people turn up in round 27. Don't worry about those ratings figures. My knickers aren't twisted either. Go Brisbane
Ian
Guest
Another unvaluable contribution - as only you can Good luck with getting your banner into the match you attend today
kevin dustby
Guest
dont disagree with Fuss AR
kevin dustby
Guest
you tell them Fuss i mean uncle junior
Ben of Phnom Penh
Roar Guru
Sadly, Fuss, for much of Asia watching football is about gambling as they find it adds interest. Interestingly, this appears to be a primarily for the EPL and far less for their domestic competitions where the normal tribalism kicks in.
Freddie
Guest
So what? If people wanted to be on that bandwagon, they would. Fact is, the Spanish League doesn't resonate here (with the exception of Barcelona and Real Madrid, and that's mainly because of Messi & Ronaldo). What is this cultural superiority you people keep preaching? A reminder. This is SPORT. More people watch the Premier League because its the most popular league in the world. That's why Optus paid top dollar for it. By all means, keep waffling on about the quality of Spanish football. You and at least ten others can nod at each other sagely about how wise you all are. Meantime, in the real world, football in Australia has to engage with Premier League fans, not try to convert them to being Spanish League aficionados.
Neil
Guest
I have Bein sports as well as foxtel predominantly for the A League. Regarded the EPL as a bonus and only recorded what I thought would be good games. Bein is great, you get to see more overseas Australians in their various leagues. Now picking up Bein with no extra cost is great. Thw world cup could be a problem though as i take the month off to watch all the matches.
AR
Guest
"A-League viewers will move to where A-League is being broadcast." Disagree. Some certainly will, but some won't. Your argument basically infers that Fetch will attract as many viewers/subscribers as Foxtel currently does. That is not rooted in any sort of reality.
Frank
Guest
La Liga really is superior to any other League in the world. From top to bottom. The Spaniards won 6 UEFA CUP and 5 Champions League titles in the last 10 years.
Uncle Junior
Guest
"I’ve followed the Serie A all of my life, and I can confirm that much of it is absolutely dire." Does that matter? Only in Australia it seems there are swathes of people expecting sport to be like going to the cinema, or a concert. For most of the world, watching sport is about watching a contest. It's about a sense of belonging to a common cause. People don't care if it's high quality, or low quality. All they care about is "my team is playing, so I'm going to watch". If the only reason you're watching sport is to be entertained, you're better off buying a ticket to the cinema and trying the the latest Hollywood film. If I get up in the early hours of the morning to watch Celtic, or Leverkusen, or Valencia, etc. I'm doing it to watch Tommy Rogic, Robbie Kruse, Maty Ryan. It's because I feel a bond with these lads since I watched them start their professional careers in the A-League. When I watched Craig Johsnton playing for Middlesbrough against Bolton, I didn't care if the quality was poor and the match played on a bog heap. I watched because Craig Johnston was an Aussie and he was playing in the top league of England.
Mister Football
Roar Guru
I've followed the Serie A all of my life, and I can confirm that much of it is absolutely dire. In fact, the corrupt officiating at least adds an element of interest.
Freddie
Guest
There's a reason the EPL is the most highly-exposed league in Australia. The most important reason is it's the only overseas competition that draws any sort of ratings on TV. You think people will tune in in huge numbers at 2am in the morning to watch Valladolid versus Celta Vigo? You're having a laugh. Next, the largest demographic by quite a distance is those of Anglo heritage. Thirdly, it is not just an Australian phenomenon. Whatever you think of the EPL, it's the most popular league in the world by a considerable margin, so these patterns are repeated in lots of places. Fourthly, the EPL may not be the most technically advanced league, but it's certainly one of the most interesting. Far better seeing Leicester and Spurs go for a rare Championship than watching Barcelona and Real Madrid exchange titles every other year. Lastly, there appears to be a misconception that all other European leagues produce dazzling football from top to bottom. As someone who's seen a fair bit of Italian football down the years, I assure you this is not the case. AC Milan versus Juventus, sure, but Chievo v Atalanta? I get sick and tired of this culturally superior rubbish. Sometimes I wonder if these Euro snobs would actually prefer kids to grow up watching Rugby League or AFL in preference to the Premier League. What football in Australia needs to do is engage these people more, not turn their noses up at them.