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.
clipper
Roar Rookie
I do think Dr Disnick does make a valid point about the increased risk of violence when the crowd gets near the 100k range. That's why there's no violence at NRL matches - by the time you've found someone to pick a fight with you're too exhausted to follow through. I do also think there is a double standard in the media with Football and AFL fans when reporting violence. There's been a few matches with pretty large crowds and a couple of people misbehave and it's back to all the cliches. I also would much prefer a Hyundai to a BMW - they're much better built and more reliable now, although don't think they're on the same prestige level.
Martyn50
Roar Rookie
Amazing that for the past 10 years there has been a steady stream of knockers of FTA TV. And how all sport should be on pay TV or streamed on google etc etc. How they never watch FTA TV and that it was dead. As soon as the A- League goes to the ABC then FTA is the bee's nees. Turncoats.
Snoopy
Guest
I didn't realise Speed was so multi skilled, with his commentary he now has managed to ruin the A-League, NRL, AFL, basketball etc. That is some effort.
Nemesis
Guest
"The hundreds of millions of dollars that Foxtel has poured into keeping the ALeague alive since it’s inception." So, your hypothesis is that Foxtel pours money into the A-League like a wealthy benefactor deposits money into a bank account? What utter nonsense. Foxtel has invested $X to buy A-League content. It does this in the hope that it will sell the content to retail customers for more than $X. They're the only bidder for the content so, if they don't know what the content is worth to them, they're incompetent business negotiators. This is business 101. If I have a business selling widgets to the public, I'll source widgets from various widget-makers. I will pay the price that I think will allow me to make a profit from the widgets when I sell them to my customers. Utter nonsense to suggest: I'm buying the widgets to keep the Widget Maker alive. I'm buying them to keep my business alive. Without the widgets, I can't get revenue. So, the people keeping the A-League alive are: a) the fans: who buy tickets, who buy PayTV subscriptions, who buy merchandis b) the sponsors: who sink money to get exposure for their brands. c) the equity owners: who sink whatever money is required to pay expenses not covered by revenue from (a) & (b).
Nemesis
Guest
"Will Fox be desperate and pay more to try and keep some sports knowing that is the only thing people are still paying their subscription for or will they play hard ball." It should all come down to revenue & returns on investment. At the core: what is the revenue being generated by each sport. Perhaps, some people watch multiple sports, so identify what is the content that's Key for each sports subscriber. For me, the answer is A-League. Not National Team matches, not W-League, not ACL. I only buy Foxtel for A-League. If Foxtel cuts A-League, then Foxtel I'll cut Foxtel. The same would apply to each sports fans. For some the Key content will be: AFL, or NRL, or Rugby, or SuperCars. The fact Foxtel cut NBL, it suggests to me, NBL viewers on Foxtel were mainly existing viewers who buy Foxtel to watch AFL/Cricket/NRL/Rugby. NBL didn't pull in significant new subscribers, so Foxtel cut the content. From what is reported & looking at Foxtel's financial statements, it looks like BBL & cricket is the same. It gets massive viewing on Foxtel, but it hasn't pulled in massive subscribers. They're all existing subscribers. I'd suggest the huge Cricket investment was the final nail hammered into the Foxtel coffin.
Lionheart
Roar Rookie
That would be akin to how the EPL operates, which I'd say would be a great move for the A League. See various rights separately - Sunday and Saturday afternoon games separate to Friday night or Sunday night. It works well elsewhere.
Lionheart
Roar Rookie
ABC iView is streaming. It's their catch-up, and it's digital. Thus it opens to more viewers.
con
id be more concerned if i was AFL or NRL who are more reliant on this money where as we survive on the smell of an oily rag :thumbup:
con
why would it show its matches on ABC Comedy
Maximus insight
Guest
Well, NRL might be debatable but certainly not the AFL. The afl's deal is about $420m including contra....the afl's 2018 revenue was $780m....the 18 clubs had annual revenues around $60m of which only about 25% on average came from the AFL
Nemesis
Guest
On ABCTv which is ABC1. It's broadcast in HD. ABC1 signal goes to every dwelling, every every hotel room, every pub, every farm house, every holiday home. It's also being broadcast LIVE on ABCiView. Everywhere in Australia between 5pm-7pm every Saturday from October to May, the ABCTv screens will be broadcasting football.
Paul2
Guest
"Of course the A league has far less to lose as they haven’t had to factor in such a huge proportion of their income from TV rights." Really? I would have thought the FFA gets a bigger share of its revenue from broadcast rights (around 50%) than either the AFL or NRL.
AR
Guest
“Fox Sports have no interest in helping the game prosper imo.” Oh totally. The hundreds of millions of dollars that Foxtel has poured into keeping the ALeague alive since it’s inception is conclusive proof they are an enemy of football.
Atawhai Drive
Roar Guru
Will the ABC show its matches in HD on ABC1, or in SD on ABC Comedy, the former ABC2? What is the nature of the deal struck between the ABC and the A-League? Is the ABC paying for the right to show matches, or is the A-League paying the ABC?
Midfielder
Roar Guru
yep
deucer
Roar Rookie
It will certainly be interesting. Will Fox be desperate and pay more to try and keep some sports knowing that is the only thing people are still paying their subscription for or will they play hard ball. It may hit both NRL and AFL hard, as they get a large proportion of their income from FTA and Foxtel, although AFL may get more from attendance as they seem to get bigger crowds. AFL has gone backwards on Foxtel, NRL has gone backwards on 9. Of course the A league has far less to lose as they haven't had to factor in such a huge proportion of their income from TV rights. Bet both codes wish they could've started negotiations earlier - the longer they wait the worse it may be.
Punter
Roar Rookie
Here is another Mid!!! Why are these people here :angry:
At work
Roar Rookie
I think this is great news, as ABC will undoubtably show it on their main channel, which has a larger viewership then the SBS channels and quite often Ch.10 . I know for me ABC is the only FTA channel I watch, although I have Foxtel so will catch the games through that medium.
Nemesis
Guest
More than likely Foxtel will be dead before the next A-League TV deal is negotiated. And, over the 14 seasons, A-League fans have invested more money into the A-League Tv broadcast than Fox Sports. If we haven't it further demonstrates how utterly inept the Fox Sports executives are. If no one else is bidding for A-League & they're paying too much it's the sign that the executives don't understand their business.
Mark
Guest
I think you’re spot on beach. Fox have made a decision that they are not renewing beyond the current contract, and are now doing the bare minimum to comply with the existing one. I expect they are now telling the A-League clubs that if they want any promotion on Fox they have to pay for it themselves. I have to say I don’t blame them. When you see football fans like posters on this page bag Fox, which has put hundreds of millions into the game in Australia, and sing the praises of another broadcaster who hasn’t invested a single dollar in the game domestically, I don’t blame Fox for telling those fans to go jump.