Channel Seven has loomed as an unlikely bidder to broadcast the A-League, but will a free-to-air home on a major network take football in Australia to the next level?
Lost amid much of the fanfare surrounding the recent grand final was the fact that after four years, SBS quietly wrapped up their coverage of the A-League.
It was coverage that attracted its fair share of criticism, from the choice of commentators to the fact it was shunted on to SBS Viceland, and at times it felt like many fans forgot the A-League was even broadcast on a free-to-air network.
That’s not a huge surprise given that the majority of A-League fans have got an active Fox Sports subscription, with the days of SBS being known as the ‘Soccer Broadcasting Service’ sadly long gone.
And while Friday night footy might be a marquee event in other codes, it didn’t help that Football Federation Australia never scheduled the match of the round on the opening night of the weekend.
It didn’t stop them from actively shopping around the free-to-air rights barely two years into the last broadcast deal, to the understandable chagrin of SBS.
Now FFA is once again looking for a free-to-air partner, and according to a report by Dom Bossi in the Sydney Morning Herald, that partner could potentially be Channel Seven.
But would they be a decent fit for the game? And how come FFA is having so much trouble selling the free-to-air broadcast rights anyway?
It’s an understatement to suggest football fans in Australia have long memories, and any discussion around Channel Seven broadcasting the world game tends to start and end with the network’s shameful coverage of the National Soccer League.
After signing a 10-year deal in 1998 to broadcast NSL and Socceroos matches on its pay-TV arm C7 Sport – a component of which was supposed to be concurrent free-to-air broadcasts – Seven soon relegated NSL coverage to a late-night one-hour highlights show, allegedly as a favour to the AFL.
It spawned the unforgettable “Nobody screws soccer like Seven” bumper sticker and ensured that, nearly two decades later, football fans still remind the network they would rather anyone else broadcast the game.
But given that FFA has clearly failed to sell the free-to-air broadcast rights for next season and beyond – no mean feat given that Channel Ten was assumed to have the deal sewn up months ago – just how picky can the A-League afford to be?
There are a few factors that continue to work against a free-to-air broadcast deal, not least the fact it’s extremely difficult to schedule commercial breaks during play.
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There’s also the fact that the three commercial networks have already spent vast sums of money to acquire the broadcast rights to the NRL and AFL respectively, and will soon break the bank to screen the Big Bash League.
Yet A-League rights are reasonably cheap in the grand scheme of things, and there’s surely a demand to fill long summer hours with content – especially on a channel like 7mate.
If beggars can’t be choosy, then surely having the A-League broadcast on one of Seven’s secondary channels can’t be a bad thing?
There’s a tendency to underestimate the importance of Fox Sports in all of this, and it shouldn’t be forgotten that they’re paying a minimum of $57 million a year to broadcast the A-League from next season.
Often the online chatter surrounding A-League broadcast rights treats Fox Sports’ investment as an act of charity, with the network seemingly expected to cough up huge sums of money to produce A-League coverage, and then hand it over for virtually nothing to a free-to-air network.
Similar sentiment exists around streaming – which sounds nice, but relies on someone actually filming the football in question.
All of which makes one of Seven’s secondary channels now seem like the only viable option.
But even if they swoop in, the question remains: will it convert casual sport watchers into genuine A-League fans?
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AR
Guest
"They are PRO AFL which means by default they are anti-football." and "the Ch 7 network are Melburnian private school graduates with an ingrain Aussie Rules doctrine..." Gentlemen, thank you both for proving my point beautifully.
Cadfael
Roar Guru
FTA brings more advertising monies for sponsors both of the game and team. It may not be a game changer but it can make a difference.
Nemesis
Guest
Pretty sure I read the Terms & Conditions for Bet365 and it stated ALeague matches are Geoblocked in Australia. Do you watch via your own VPN?
Nemesis
Guest
Top 20. The Derbies will be Top 10, or Top 5. May even grab #1 spot.
MarkfromCroydon
Roar Pro
Advertising, that's the key. Any deal struck MUST include a clause that the A League is advertised during some of the top rating shows and that there are a certain quota of sports reports on the league during the nightly news. That's where you generate the hype thats worked so well for other sports. Advertising actually works. As i said above, 1% of a million is better than 5% of 100k, and that is the actual difference between 7News and SBS news ratings.
Agent11
Guest
I think you may be right. I know FTA ratings for NRL are really starting to slip, i'm guessing its similar for AFL. However NRL has had an increase in fox ratings over the last couple of years and no one knows how many are watching on the online app. The Weekly Ch.9 ratings have been pretty underwhelming for NRL though...
Footoverhand
Guest
I know, the biggest sporting event in the world and their highest rated show/event they have ever had, then they traded it for a few EPL games.
Caltex & SBS support Australian Football
Guest
“geez we should really buy some ALeague games – they’d make a motza – but dammit we can’t because we just hate soccer too damn much.” Precisely, you said it, the Ch 7 network are Melburnian private school graduates with an ingrain Aussie Rules doctrine tattooed to the inside of their craniums, very simular to you AR. Look at the people they employ, the likes of David Koch and other 7 TV hosts.
Chris
Guest
I still can't believe SBS sold out like that. Streaming WC games is not going to be fun!
Chris
Guest
They are PRO AFL which means by default they are anti-football. Ch 7 are AFL and tennis. Anyway it wont matter much soon as they are all going broke. They don't have the billions (even hundreds of millions) to splash out anymore so will be interesting to see what their next TV deals are worth.
Footoverhand
Guest
Maybe if the contra deal had been agreed to, as it would've been cross promoted, got news time and maybe a highlights show, even better Santo Sam and Ed. If it's just one game a week, with little promotion, I can't see it sorry, but I hope I'm wrong.
punter
Guest
Over us all!!!
Grobbelaar
Roar Guru
Football fans should never forget
Arto
Guest
Exactly, Nemesis, but it's the 'foot-in-the-door' moment and THAT's what so important about it... Once it becomes a part of mainstream FTA, it then gains access to a much wider audience and variety of advertising/promotional channels which then again snowballs such that it becomes more popular. It's not likely to happen at warp speed, but that's the evolutionary path at least. The major unknown moving forward is how much relevance programmed television (ie: non-streaming or non on-demand tv) will have in most people's lives moving forward. The irony being that sport, being a fixed-time event, will actually a tool whereby programmed TV (& especially FTA Networks) can prioritise their Resources towards in order to remain relevant!