The A-League will be screened on mainstream commercial free-to-air television for the first time after Channel Ten secured a deal to show select games for the next two years.
Football Federation Australia had a tender process to find a free-to-air partner after Fox Sports had signed on to continue broadcasting all A-League games.
Channel Ten will simulcast the Fox Sports broadcast each Saturday night which includes use of the commentary team.
As well as the regular Saturday games, Channel Ten will also broadcast all finals and will also have coverage of Socceroo friendlies.
The network will initially use its ONE channel but that could change depending on the number of viewers tuning in.
“We’ve been talking to the FFA for quite some time because we believe the A-League needs to be on free-to-air, and people need to be able to find it,” Ten CEO Paul Anderson told the Daily Telegraph.
By using the simulcast model Foxtel will be able to promote their coverage to a wider audience and ultimately boost subscription sales.
The loss of the A-League rights is a blow for SBS which also saw a major reduction to its cycling coverage this year due to circumstances beyond its control.
As well as the main broadcast, football fans will also be able to watch the Saturday night fixtures on the run with Ten Play to screen the matches alongside the current Foxtel Go option.
At one stage Channel Seven and the ABC were believed to be contention for the rights.
It’s not known if ABC’s heavily criticised coverage of the Liverpool vs Sydney FC exhibition played a part in swaying the deal, however, the ABC not being able to broadcast advertisements would also have been an issue.
In the wake of the ABC football flop, Channel Ten has already gone on the front foot about its coverage explaining that it plans to give football ‘the respect it deserves.’
“We want to give it a regular timeslot, and give it the chance to grow. We can promote it through our news bulletins, through programs like The Project,” Anderson said.
Latanya
Guest
Where to order 11 Steve johnson jersey? Collect 12 Aaron Rodgers Jersey varous sizes, which is crazy fashion now.
Rolland
Guest
One is ten sports channel and it broadcasts in HD
Rolland
Guest
Your a laugh and a half ,it's not rugby we are talking about by the way.
Rolland
Guest
Anything is better than SBS . The were hopeless especially when they moved their game to their secondary channel they lost half their viewers .channel one rates well for ten ,it's a good move by FFA..FTA TV is needed deseperatey by the. A League
clipper
Guest
The AFL is more or less paying for the Sydney/Bris games to be broadcast and can do so because of the large fee it's getting. I don't think this deal will have the same leeway to allow this.
Neil
Guest
Rick I am trying to understand your narrative, do you dislike football or just the FFA. Football has had its struggles and there has been a lot of two steps forward, one step back at times, but there is a will amongst a lot of Australians to keep it going. As an ardent Australian football supporter i accept it probably will only be a 3rd/4th professional code in Australia, but hey I love football, I am Australian and love football so I am happy to be able to watch it on any forum. I am old enough to remember when I lived in Central QLD not having access to hardly any televised football, so I am happy with Foxtel, FTA, Internet coverage and radio. Would the sport like more money, probably yes but we all live in the reaal world and compete in an eviroment which is hostile to the sport, on top of this we can now view football from some of the most expensive football competitions in the world, so I believe it is a credit to Australian fans to support the local product in the face of all these challenges.
bryan
Guest
I,for one won't hold my breath! My argument for going to some other FTA instead of SBS was that the Commercials ( & to a lesser extent the ABC), still have some presence in the other Cities besides Sydney. SBS has always been sourced from Sydney, via delay centres in those Cities in different time zones. Although this is the "ideal " of the "wise men from the East", TV Stations in , say, Perth, or Adelaide source much of their Advertising revenue from those Cities, so it is important to be part of the community. Being involved in the promotion of the local sporting teams is a large part of that. When Foxtel first got the AFL rights, either the Seven Network, or the AFL, or both ( depending upon who you talk to), ensured that the non-Victorian Cities would have FTA broadcasts of their local teams each week. In my naivety, I thought a Commercial outlet for the "A" League would do the same. From the News release, however, it looks like just "more of the same", with maybe one or two Glory "away" games being on FTA over the whole season,just like SBS. Imagine this scenario:- Say Adelaide is away to Brisbane, & The Glory to Newcastle, on the same weekend that the "Sydney Derby " is on. Adelaide & Perth fans have to watch SFC & WSW play a no doubt, great game, when what they really want to do is watch their own team. Watching two other teams is not going to do much to build support for either Adelaide United, or Perth Glory! Added to this is that CH10 have form for "shooting themselves in the foot" .( They were less than impressive when they took over the NBL rights, & very average when they shared the AFL with CH9) Then there was the time when someone thought it would be great to change the logo to a Roman numeral ("X"). That quietly disappeared----not enough Ancient Romans in the viewing area? :)
tom
Guest
People who use the word "eurosnob" are uneducated bogans ;)
tom
Guest
David Gallop is a complete failure in Football. He should run a Fish and Chip shop or something.
Nath Hitcheson
Guest
You Leaguies are so insecure! What are you blokes issues? Why cant Rugby League expand and get interest outside of QLD and parts of NSW after 120 years existence Agent?? Pathetic it must be Unions fault
Agent11
Guest
You people said that 20 years ago though, must be a "40 year plan" for Rugby to kill of League then. Keep trying...
Nemesis
Guest
"I guess you have a source to back that up?" Absolutely. The data is publicly available. But valuation analysis requires an understanding of general business principles.
Hunter
Guest
I guess you have a source to back that up?
chris
Guest
Whats funnier are people like you hanging around for no particular reason.
The_Wookie
Roar Guru
nvm.
toomuchsenseforoz
Guest
Wrong approach. You need fans in the stadium and you don't get that with the A-League on free to air. You will get empty stadiums. To get fans in the stadium you need an OPEN competition, promotion - relegation. That will massively increase the crowds on grass roots level, NPL clubs, because finally they can express themselves in the true spirit of FOOTBALL and work themselves UP to the A-League. And a massive increase of fans at grass roots level will translate to the A-League. Of course you need to have 18 teams, not 10. Rugby League has no spectators in the stadium, only people watching on TV, big mistake. But what else could you expect from David Gallop, the ex eggball man. He's got no clue about Football whatsoever. He's copying the same mistakes from eggball. Whoever hired Gallop should be sent to the desert.
Lionheart
Guest
all A League matches are shown live in the UK on BeIn Sports, and have been for a few seasons now. Also live through Europe, US, and many other countries. It's not high rating, more a filler, and wouldn't earn big $, but it is growing in viewers.
Nemesis
Guest
The FFA's current Broadcast deal has a value that's close enough to $100m/yr. But, to understand this value, you need to have business intelligence beyond High School level. So, I'm not surprised if ignorant posers won't work it out.
Hunter
Guest
Those that thought the FFA would get $100 p/a were kidding themselves/ living in fantasy land. Maybe in 6 years time?
AR
Guest
How your predictions going? Are we at $100M yet?