I only met Murray Shaw for the first time a few months back as we sat on a panel at the Football Writer’s Festival in Jamberoo.
He spoke about Foxtel’s commitment to football and the substantial investment it had already made in attempting to help the round ball game build its audience in Australia. He seemed both a nice and impressive man.
Along with motor giant Hyundai, Shaw’s former employer has been there from the very start of the latest incarnation of Australia’s national competition. That support also embraced the FFA Cup when it began in 2014.
Now it seems, after recent years of falling metrics, Foxtel is jockeying into position to free itself of at least some of the burden that football appears to have become.
Shaw’s departure from his role as executive producer of football is one of the early steps taken by News Corp to address the $417 million loss made by its pay television arm in 2018.
Now rumours are abound that Fox Sports’ coverage of the FFA Cup competition from the Round of 32 onward could be in jeopardy, with on-sold rights to another network the most likely method to achieve the savings that Foxtel is after.
With its intention to target ‘non-marquee’ sports in an attempt to re-balance the books, football becomes a logical target within Foxtel’s content. Along with the National Rugby Championship, the cup appears likely to be one of the first casualties of the cut-backs.
That move stands to disappoint many and perhaps please others.
Considering the categorical direction that Australian football’s cable television host is taking, it appears likely that fan’s viewing of the FFA Cup will be changing in the not too distant future.
What that will look like is anyone’s guess and the effect it may have on the competition is unclear and concerning.
Some would no doubt suggest that broader exposure on a commercial network could be a boon for the FFA and their cup. Others may fear the competition could be pushed into anonymity if housed on an ill-defined sister channel without adequate levels of exposure and promotion.
Moreover, Foxtel’s commitment to its weekly, five match A-League coverage also appears to be waning, with Network Ten rumoured to be interested in expanding its coverage.
The current broadcast deal with Fox Sports remains intact until 2023, yet with FFA permission, on-selling of the free-to-air component is a realistic and immediate possibility.
In 2018-19, Ten’s digital channel ONE broadcast a single Saturday night fixture during the regular season and despite proving anything but a ratings bonanza, the executives have obviously sniffed some value.
That arrangement was separate from the A-League or the FFA. It was a deal where Foxtel purchased the time slot, claimed any associated advertising revenue and Ten merely housed the content.
With a considerable hole in its summer schedule thanks to the loss of the carnival that is the Big Bash, Ten has expressed interest in expanding its A-League commitment next season.
No doubt their intention will be to provide an entertaining alternative to rival the ‘Bash’, Test and ODI Cricket, as well the Nine Networks’ tennis coverage.
Roly Bonevacia of the Wanderers. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)
Should rumour become reality, a potential off-loading to Ten of at least two of the five weekly A-League matches might prove beneficial to all parties.
Foxtel would be unloading some of its financial burden, Ten would add a much needed national summer competition to its schedule and a significantly broader portion of the viewing public would have access to more free-to-air A-League matches.
FFA Chief Executive David Gallop has been tight lipped about the potential changes, “We are considering our free-to-air options”, he is obviously mindful of the four years still to run on the current deal.
However, the mere utterance of that sentence suggests that change is afoot and sooner rather than later.
The financial problems being experienced by the cable television provider may in fact have a silver lining for Australian football.
Despite their long term commitment to the game – a commitment that was vital in the growth and development of the A-League – Foxtel’s football face became less defined when the English Premier League rights were snatched away by Optus.
That appears to have impacted the domestic competition and the media giant’s interest in football may not extend beyond the current deal.
Where that leaves A-League and FFA broadcast rights in the long term future is unclear, yet if Network Ten does pounce in the short term, it might provide a nice shot in the arm of the upcoming season.
chris
Guest
Totally agree. They should give up the AFL channel in Sydney as well as no one watches it up here. And same goes for ch 7 and their AFL ratings in Sydney (and Brisbane). Just show a product where the audience is and where the audience decides which platform they want to view it on. Time to get rid of the fat, if only to delay the inevitable sinking of these dinosaur platforms like Foxtel and msm.
Jimmy
Roar Guru
Only true to a point, with diminishing audiences comes diminishing value.
Nemesis
Guest
You obviously don't have any knowledge of the Law of Contract.
Hayden Wilson
Guest
Foxtel would be wise to give up the Australian Soccer rights even if they had to pay $10 Million Dollars a year for the rest of current broadcasting rights agreement.
Nemesis
Guest
When entering any commercial contract, there's a bit of useful advice, from when Caesar was a boy: Caveat Emptor
Jimmy
Roar Guru
If I was a Foxtel director I would be furious at the FFA, they have offered very little value for their product and taken no responsibility that no one is watching. Ratings that barely scrape past five figures can’t wven justify the cost of production. The FFA seemed to do very little in working with Fox to drive up viewerships.
Tyke
Roar Rookie
I think we should ban rugby union and AFL!! Problem solved
Tyke
Roar Rookie
Streaming is the future, and it’s a win win for us fans, they will have to play more games to make more money, and I think it would help the eventual second division stand up too. You won’t have to deal with Foxtel telling the FFA how to run the league either. So yeah less immediate income, but I see growth in the long term.
rolland
Guest
the basketball is on nine digital channel its given to nine for free for exposure to their game .but the ratings are pretty low on the nine digital channel .soccer still rates better on ten than basketball does on nine .
Munro Mike
Roar Rookie
#Nemesis Looking at the numbers that Stuart has present - it's interesting to note the volatility - such that there have been individual years of substantial growth (2006/07 32%; 2007/08 26% and 2011/12 46%). Then there have been 2 separate instances of 3 successive years of decline. 2008/09 through 2010/11 drops of 9%, 15% and 17%. And then again 2013/14 through 2015/16 with drops of 13%, 8% and 8%. Granted the rock bottom of 2010/11 was 45K followed by a 46% rebound. The low point of 2015/16 was 55.2K followed by a rebound of 15% but to a level lower than 2011/12 through 2013/14. It suggests to me there are many factors. One could simply look at timings and suggest that entering a FIFA WC year actually reduces HAL viewing. Perhaps that's a silly thing to say - - but.....the numbers support it!! Anyway - maybe the EPL co-existing on Foxtel actually drew eyeballs away from the HAL which I would expect - having always asserted the biggest competition for the HAL is international soccer (matches/leagues). But - - anyone can put forward a theory here. After all - the peak season for viewers was the debut of the WSW in 2013/2014 (74.7K). Perhaps there just needs to be more 'fresh blood'......
chris
Guest
"Catastrophic!" Your shrilling is becoming louder by the day
Timothy Richardson
Guest
What happened to basketball? If Ten wanted something to fill in the Big Bash gap, there may be more potential in basketball than soccer.
Buddy
Roar Rookie
I’m trying to wean my wife away so I can cancel my Foxtel and I’ve had it since it was Galaxy!
Waz
Roar Rookie
There’s plenty of research that under pins this
Onside
Guest
Spending the bulk of their money instead of a little on a loss leader, makes me wonder at the time what product Foxtel had in mind as its main profit generator.
anon
Roar Pro
It's going to be catastrophic for the A-League when Foxtel bids half or doesn't bid at all for the rights next time around. Teams will fold overnight. There's just no money in broadcasting the A-League. There were games getting 20k viewers last season. You can get 20k viewers with an iPhone, gimbal on Youtube. You don't need to fly commentators and equipment all over the country to achieve that. Interest in professional sports has waned over the past 10 years worldwide, Australia has one of if not the most competitive sports landscape in the world with four national football codes, cricket, basketball, etc. Their will be victims. Soccer, Rugby, V8 Supercars all facing massive financial trouble.
Onside
Guest
If you watched a game on FTA maybe the kids would join you . I remember when my kids and mates were young, they would only watch a game for a short time before going outside and kicking a ball around.
Beni Iniesta
Guest
I know you're being sarcastic there Midfielder but the threat is real.
Beni Iniesta
Guest
Exactly right. It's time the FFA cleared out the dinosaurs from its board and got some new blood in there before it's too late!!
DL2191
Guest
If Fox had the appetite they could save it by buying back the EPL rights and combined with A-League creating a dedicated football channel like the cricket, NRL and AFL ones. I suspect football might be worth more (proportionally) to their subscription numbers than even the marquee sports, precisely because you can still get solid doses of those sports on FTA whereas you cant currently with football (and to a lesser extent Rugby) Whilst I would love to see A League on FTA its effectively proprietary content for Foxtel so from their perspective on-selling some of it might end up being a bit of an own goal (!)