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A-League locks in free-to-air TV deal with ABC

3rd October, 2019
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3rd October, 2019
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Just a week before the 2019-20 season gets underway, Football Federation Australia have secured a deal with the ABC that will see the national broadcaster show one game of the A-League per week.

The two-year agreement will see the Saturday evening game each round, and 29 matches total, shown on free-to-air TV and on iview, as well as one fixture per week of the finals, albeit on a one-hour delay.

Under the partnership, the ABC will also show 14 Sunday-afternoon matches and each final of the W-League season live, every Socceroos match Fox Sports holds broadcast rights to, and Matildas matches, including the two upcoming friendlies in November against Chile and next year’s Olympic qualifiers.

While the national broadcaster has carried radio commentary of the A-League for some time now, 2019-20 will mark the first time they’ve shown the competition on TV. The ABC did, however, telecast the W-League from its inception in 2008 until 2017.

The new agreement won’t have any impact on Fox Sports’ existing broadcast arrangements, with the pay-TV provider to continue showing all A-League, W-League, Socceroos and Matildas matches live on their various platforms.

“The ABC has been long-term supporter of football on both television and radio, and we are delighted that our partnership will grow further over the next two years,” FFA chairman Chris Nikou said.

“We are also extremely excited about the network-wide support ABC will bring to football. ABC is the home of iconic programming that Australians have grown up consuming and we look forward to working with the network to deliver more football content and cross-promotion.”

The A-League kicks off next Friday when Adelaide host defending champions Sydney FC, while the first match shown by the ABC will be the Wanderers’ season opener at Bankwest Stadium against Central Coast the following day.

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