Channel Ten are reportedly in negotiations with Fox Sports to secure the free-to-air A-League broadcast rights for the next six seasons.
It is believed both Nine and Seven are also interested in purchasing the rights, however it seems Ten are in the box seat.
The deal would see Ten broadcast Saturday night A-League fixtures, which would also remain on Fox Sports. While other time slots would remain exclusively with the Pay TV giant.
“Negotiations continue with interest from all parties on the free-to-air deal,” said a spokesperson for the Football Federation Australia.
The result of the talks will not be known until April, it is believed, owing to the fact that resecuring the rights to cricket’s Big Bash League is currently a higher priority for free-to-air channels.
The FFA will receive $57.6 million from Fox Sports in the A-League broadcasting deal signed in 2016, which will span the next six campaigns. However, any free-to-air deal would be unlikely to bolster that figure by a significant amount.
Clubs are allegedly unhappy with their current slice of the pie from the A-League’s broadcast deal and this move would likely disenchant them further.
The FFA is also yet to find a home for the A-League on televisions internationally – another factor which could bring in more money for the league.
Any increase in club funding will not be known for months, until both the free-to-air and international TV rights deals are finalised. Clubs have already been informed of the salary cap for next season, which is believed to stand at just under three million dollars.
The A-League Marquee Player Fund will reportedly also receive a big boost, with the figure set aside to help clubs sign players who would raise the league’s profile tripling to approximately three million dollars in season 2017/18. About half of this year’s kitty went towards Melbourne City’s signing of Socceroo Tim Cahill.
Daveo
Guest
I believe Ten be okay for the A-League but if teams dont expand it is almost "dead in the water". A better fta channel will work to viewers who watch it. BBL will work on Nine because it is a cricket channel always been. And nine may gain a few good commentators for not only bbl but internationals as well.
pauly
Guest
Had been. They've been less committed since Les retired.
Nemesis
Guest
That's a bit unfair. I wouldn't call Mr AFL a distorter of facts; rather he's not very good at analysing facts. That's not a criticism. Some people are good at data input. Others at analysing data that has been inputted. Data input requires people who are willing to do the grunt work.
Caltex & SBS support Australian Football
Guest
Agree...
Jeff milton
Guest
you are a great distorter of stats. good to see you rate higher than replays of 1993 irish darts
Jeff milton
Guest
the problem is fuss/nemesis
Jeff milton
Guest
channel 3 on my tv
Caltex & SBS support Australian Football
Guest
"Don’t try that on us" @ Mr AR. Speak for yourself, not for Australian football.
Nemesis
Guest
We don't yet know who will be given the Digital Rights. If it goes to Youtube we will then factor in the Direct Advertising. If it goes to Telstra or Optus they wouldn't have the capabilities to facilitate Direct Advertising. My article relating to this was to explore possible ways to generate revenue from online broadcasts. The concept of direct advertising should not be considered extraordinary. It's pretty standard for anyone delivering online content. But you have to partner with online providers who have the tech capabilities to match viewers with advertisers. If the FFA were to partner with Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, etc. and make content available for free to anyone on the planet with an internet device, we will have more people viewing Aleague each season than view AFL or NRL combined. So, for sure... if you have content that has global appeal, FTA Tv is dead. Not dying. It's dead.
Mister Football
Roar Guru
Yeh sure. Are we forgetting the coupons and vouchers revenue bonanza from the FFA streaming? What about the riches which were meant to flow in from Optus, Twitter, Facebook, Netflix and Youtube, because commercial FTA was dead?
Nemesis
Guest
The articles I've written have referenced $80m/yr revenue derived from football content. As things currently stand, the $80m/yr figure, which I'm relying on, is right on target. There is a chance I'm way off the mark and the figure approaches $92m/yr, but it's my nature to be conservative with my valuations. PayTv = $57m Asian Football Confederation TV = $8-10m/yr depending how many WCQs, or Asian Cup involvement International rights = $5-10m/yr Digital rights = $5-10m/yr FTA Tv = $5m/yr Total = $80-92m/yr
Mister Football
Roar Guru
Don't try that on us now after what you have written about the impending broadcast deal over the last few months. It would be impossible to imagine anyone being as far off the mark as you managed to be. Impossible.
Nemesis
Guest
If you ever get to the stage in life where you have the wherewithal to engage in major commercial deals you will appreciate the vagaries of the market. In 2007, the board of directors at Seven West Media were expecting $15.60 when they went to the equity markets to raise capital. Then the Board of Directors decided to aggressively bid for AFL TV rights. Now in 2017, when the board of directors at SWM ask equity markets for cash injections they only expect 80 cents for their shares. What was once worth $15.60 is now worth 80c. It could be a coincidental that this catastrophic devaluation of Seven West Media coincides with their involvement with AFL broadcasting. Valuations change. What is valuable today, may not be valuable tomorrow. And, vice versa.
Mister Football
Roar Guru
Some soccer fans on this board were expecting a $20 mill per annum deal from FTA, with all three FTAs clamouring for the A-League (part of a total package that was going to reach $100 mill per annum). It wasn't just Fußball ist unser Leben who made that bold prediction, other soccer fans on this very board have continued with that bold claim, coming up with ever more bizarre claims as to how the magical number will be reached.
Nemesis
Guest
You are the only person who seems to be amazed by the ALeague TV ratings. ALeague fans are not surprised at all. Having said that, those FoxSports ratings are fantastic. It means the ALeague matches are ranked within the Top 1% of all sports programmes on PayTV. Not bad for a low-quality, crap football competition that Casual Sports Fans don't regard highly. For 7 months of the year, FoxSports knows ALeague will consistently deliver content that pulls more viewers than 99% of the other content it broadcasts.
Mister Football
Roar Guru
If people are struggling to come to terms with why commercial FTA is not showing any interest in the A-League, we need only look at the latest soccer ratings for the last three games: Mediaweek @MediaweekAUS Sat STV #ALeague #FoxSports #WELvBRI 40k Mediaweek @MediaweekAUS Sat STV #ALeague #FoxSports #PERvMVC 50k Fri STV #ALeague #FoxSports #SYDvADL 59k Note that the Friday night game was against the top team, one of the three big clubs, playing the reigning champion. Even the Saturday night game featured the biggest club in the land, firmly ensconced in 2nd place. The thing is, these low ratings are no secret, everyone knows about them, especially the TV execs. By comparison, when the BBL was on Fox, they were regularly getting over 300k ratings, and even then, TEN reluctantly offered CA $20 mill per annum.
Mister Football
Roar Guru
SBS has been promoting soccer for 35 years now.
Pauly
Guest
Maybe we've approached this all wrong. SBS might have been more willing to promote the A-League..... if we made it more hipster-friendly. That means: - Every player must grow a beard and moustache that is finely twined every 5 minutes during play - Half-time cooking shows with Adam Liaw - Affirmative action to recruit transgender vegan feminists as sideline reporters - Kevin Muscat to become an ambassador for animal welfare - Players interviewed post-match to be drinking kale smoothies from a jar
Pauly
Guest
7 - never ever!
Nemesis
Guest
Same here, Middy. You & I know that the TV viewing numbers on SBS2 do not in any way reflect the true interest in ALeague. So, any valuation that is based on OzTAM viewing numbers from SBS2 broadcasts will hugely undervalue the true worth of ALeague marquee matches. There is a clear disconnect between the crowd numbers for ALeague (i.e. real & verifiable data) and the viewing numbers on SBS2 (data that is open to bias through selective sampling). If I were the buyer (broadcaster) I'd want to pay the lowest possible price. The FFA should be confident that it is selling a product that will attract an average of 300-400k viewers on Saturday nights (Top 20 nationally) for 7 months of the year.