10 wanted the entire rights though, and the AFL were right not to take that offer. Even though the AFL isn’t the A league, look at what happened to the A league since they took over the rights. The only way 10 could possibly get the AFL rights is if they’re an addition to channel 7, not the exclusive broadcaster. So that alone would drastically change their bid (even if they’re interested). So let’s say Fox drops everything, then the entire rights would have to be renegotiated because fox also airs 7’s coverage while 7 airs Fox’s coverage for their interstate markets. 7 pays a lot because they get thursday, friday, sunday and marquee games. And they also get interstate games live on their channel. If 10 got the rights, 7 wouldn’t be able to air a fox coverage of Brisbane V Sydney on their channel, so essentially they’re losing games. 7 also relies on SA and WA teams on their arvo programs to boost their news ratings. However, they would lose that as well, because there’s no way 10 would let 7 air their broadcast. The biggest benefit would be that 7 wouldn’t have Fox and Kayo viewers stealing their primetime ratings, so ratings for AFL games would skyrocket, however, that wouldn’t be more valuable to them then airing interstate teams on their channel. So 7 would probably ask to pay less given their deal wouldn’t be as valuable. The other problem is that DAZN pays a lot more than 7, but they get a lesser coverage. There’s no way 10/Paramount would justify paying anywhere near DAZN’s money if they can’t get thursday or friday night games. Unless the AFL gives them Saturday night and Sunday night, or twilight, they would be paying a lot more, and getting a lot less. The current AFL broadcast deal only works because 7 and DAZN/Fox are on opposite platforms. 7 and 10 are not. And the whole thing would have to be scrapped and it would have to start over again.
7 absolutely cares about local matches. Think about it. There’s 8 interstate AFL teams, and if they’re not part of the national coverage, 7 gets a free shot at them. 7 airs 3 games per week, but in Perth, they will get 5 games. Adelaide will get 4. 7 would lose the showdown, the WA derby, the Sydney derby, the QLD derby. 7 would lose out on a huge chunk of ratings. Also, WA teams always play on a sunday arvo, which gives 7 mega ratings for their news bulletin. Even if 7 did get thursday, friday, and sunday arvo as exclusives, that is nowhere close to being as valuable as having access to every interstate team on your network. Likewise, I don’t think the AFL would want to have their interstate viewers lose access to live FTA games on their network. So whoever comes in has to air every interstate game live on their network. The problem is, 9 can’t promise that, because they would dump AFL games in favour of NRL games in northern states (Which the AFL won’t like) so that basically only leaves 10. The AFL seems intent on having every interstate game live on FTA, so realistically, only 10 could get the rights.
I’m saying Saturday exclusive to 10/Paramount or 9/Stan etc.
What I’m saying is
• 7 keeps their Thursday, Friday, Sunday & Marquee games.
• The paid streaming of 9 or 10 gets to simulcast those matches that are also on 7 nationally
• Saturday is exclusive to 10/Paramount or 9/Stan
• Sunday matches are all on paid streaming with 7 keeping the Sunday local matches + their 3:15pm match.
So pretty much 7 keeps everything same expect local games Saturday. new Fox replacement gets every game on paid streaming (same as before) but gets to air Saturday games in their FTA (which is new) & gets full exclusive (which is new)
But as I said, this means that if a another FTA takes over the Fox part of the broadcast while 7 keeps about 90% of what they already have then they would definitely pay less that what Fox paid. AFL getting a paid streamer only would help then get a closer pay to what Fox paid & also keep 7 happy
Again I think any of this happening is very unlikley
Suddenly an unthinkable doesn’t seem so far fetched… Could DAZN sit down with the AFL, Seven and Telstra and all parties come to a mutual negotiation legally and financially?
Wonder if it opens the door, again, sales wise to a Nine (via Stan) or 10 (via Paramount) agreement 
This would be earth shattering, probably even more than Nine taking the tennis from Seven and Seven picking up cricket from Nine in 2018, simply because of Foxtel’s legacy, let alone the $ billions contract.
The only way this could work is for the rights to be completely rewritten, and I also can’t see how 9 can get into this deal as well, because northern AFL teams would be relegated on 9’s channel. If I was the AFL, I would scrap the deal, I would get 5 games FTA on 7, and I would get Netflix involved. Alternatively, I would scrap the deal, give 7 (thurs, fri, sunday arvo and all the marquee matches and GF) and i would give 10, Early Sunday arvo, Sunday twilight, Saturday arvo, saturday twilight, and sat night x2
Simply put it, 7 losing the saturday and sunday interstate games would be a huge loss to them. So they would have to ask for less money. Likewise, if 10 got involved, the AFL would have to give them something considering Fox pays more than 7, so unless 10 wants to pay less than 7 (Which would mean the AFL would take a huge financial windfall) the afl would have to essentially create a sunday twilight or night slot just for them. 9 can’t get involved, because they have the NRL rights.
If Nine got any of a revised deal they wouldn’t even be able to show AFL on the main channel in Melbourne if there was a NRL Storm game on at the same time.
The NRL have been pushing nine to air storm matches live into melbourne on nine, while the AFL is doing the same with northern teams. Imagine a Brisbane V Richmond friday night game. 9 would bump the AFL game into gem (frustrating the AFL) and they would bump the NRL game if the storm were playing (frustrating the NRL). It’s not 2001 anymore. 9 can’t get away with what they used to do with their old broadcast of the AFL, and they simply cannot fullfil what the AFL and NRL want from them. The only way Nine could get into the AFL is if 10 and Nine did a joint bid, and Nine was given a Saturday night game (which wouldn’t clash with league)
I can’t see Seven giving up rights - my guess if DAZN can’t negotiate either Nine or Paramount pick up all paid streaming rights and Seven retain their current matches, with Nine/Paramount potentially putting the Saturday night game on FTA.
Hypothetically this would mean Seven have Thursday/Friday Night and Sunday Afternoon matches as they already do and all finals, with Nine/Ten airing Saturday night matches during the regular season and Stan/Paramount having all matches live (except the grand final). Unfortunately for Nine in this situation if they got it it would be similar to 2002-2006 where Ten had all finals including the grand final and they have nothing.
A more likely scenario I see however is DAZN potentially onselling certain games such as the Saturday Night game to Nine/Paramount whilst they keep the rest.
Have Foxtel lost the rights? What are you all talking about? I can’t find any news stories to backup what you are all saying in here.
These kinds of discussions happen in the first year of any TV rights deal. Highly unlikely anything is gooing to change. I know this is Media Spy but lets keep a tiny bit of perpective… 
In that case I kindly request the mods to close this thread unless there is news or changes to the current AFL broadcast agreement please.
No.
It’s also combined with new owners looking to stamp their mark on the business and finding efficiencies. I don’t think it’s quite nothing to see here, but it’s pretty close - at least until something more substantial than one line from Eddie.
Yeah that’s pretty much what I thought would be happening given I can’t see 7 giving up the rights. It would be the AFL having to accept a lower contract from 9/stan or 10/paramount to get all the paid streaming and potentially some Saturday FTA.
But I don’t see anything happening. Even if DAZN gives up the rights it will probably be towards the later in the contract maybe like 2029-30 and not next year or this year
I can see that happening. Its similar with Optus Sports and Stan with EPL rights.
The other problems with the rights is that due to anti-siphoning, Foxtel couldn’t possibly broadcast the grand final, so that was always going to stay a 7 exclusive. Theoretically speaking, if Ten/Paramount take over DAZN’s contract, wouldn’t they ask themselves “Why are we paying more than 7, but we’re getting significantly less? We also aren’t getting finals or the grand final”. This is why the rights have to be completely renegotiated, because the current TV Rights deal only work because it benefits both parties. 7 gets the primetime games and the finals and GF, and Foxtel gets every game, so they’re able to buildup their subscriptions. 10/Paramount and 9/Stan have completely different goals to DAZN/Fox, because those companies compete with 7 and have their own FTA network. The easiest thing for DAZN to do would be to sell a saturday night slot to 9 or 10, and/or give up the rights to co-broadcast finals games. However, the appeal of Fox’s AFL coverage is that you get every game. Their package is cheapened immensely if they go through that route. Nonetheless, interesting times ahead
Following up to this, there was an article posted on Crikey a few months ago that suggest the AFL are up to renegotiate the broadcast rights. Citing strong interest from 9 and the financial burden having the AFL rights has been for 7
The interesting part about this article is that the AFL seem to be well aware that the current broadcast agreements are financially unstable for FTA networks. However, it also says that 7 are stuck. Because they cannot afford to lose the AFL rights because they saw what happened to Channel 10 back in 2011, and they’re afraid of becoming the next channel 10. Therefore, they are forced to overpay for the rights. But at the same time, their current broadcast agreement with the AFL is simply too financially exhausting for them, especially with falling ad revenue. I think the AFL need to be aware that if DAZN leaves, they would have to take less money, because the alternatives won’t pay as much, and while 7 probably cannot exist without AFL, they also cannot continue to pay as much as they’re currently doing. This is also a problem that i’m sure. the NRL will face as well considering their broadcast deal is up for negotiation
Seven has long been entrenched in a handful of sports, yet oddly, its broadcast rights have consistently hinged on partnerships with Foxtel. Despite claiming a strong connection to these sporting codes, Seven has repeatedly opted for joint agreements rather than fighting to become the exclusive broadcaster. With each successive deal, their commitment appears to wane, allowing Foxtel to quietly expand its access and influence. As a result, Foxtel is increasingly perceived as the dominant partner—whether or not that perception still reflects reality.
If DAZN does bail, could ESPN swoop in and take over the pay-tv portion of the deal?
Would avoid the issue of having to redo the entire deal with two free-to-air networks, plus it would mean the AFL stays on Foxtel/Kayo, at least in the short term.
You’d think the NRL would think twice about DAZN.
Also the $6b 10/P+ deal is looking pretty good. Being backed by paramount global would’ve been more secure. Yes there were lower viewers for 10 but they’d increase their viewership with the AFL. It’s a chicken egg situation.