The AFL would be nervous about the ownership changing regardless of who they give the rights to - it’s not an insubstantial amount of money we’re talking about and you’d want to have some level of comfort that an ownership change isn’t going to negatively impact that.
If Paramount were to sell Ten, it’s highly unlikely that they’ll exit the local market completely - so they’d still likely be on the hook for a significant portion of any bid amount to provide the access to the AFL to their P+ platform.
It’s less critical where you have a single-source broadcaster (ie Ten and P+ or Nine and Stan should they bid), but the simulcast arrangements are potentially important to extracting high bids - the subscription component of the bid (put aside delivery method for a moment) makes up a considerable amount of the bid figure - in order to achieve that you have to provide them value, but that comes at the cost of FTA exclusivity.
A Foxtel/Seven bid will likely retain the current arrangement
A shift to each FTA broadcaster having at least one game will probably have a significant impact on having local games broadcast in each market because each broadcaster will want the quality of the games to be higher quality than the current arrangement often delivers. On the flip side, it could also deliver a significant boost to the value of the rights too which could also go a fair way to guaranteeing the game has a significant FTA presence in the future.
It’s likely that the industry is aware of the number without the need for it to be published (online or in print) - if it’s been leaked (by accident or strategically) to a journalist to write about, chances are a lot more people know.
Last time I checked, basically the only two people who haven’t been connected with the AFL CEO’s job are Joffa and @OnAir - I don’t think you can put any real credence in the vast majority of the conga-line of people that have been connected with the role - its highly likely the replacement will come from within the game (be it, someone already at AFL House or someone from clubland). Even in the last few days there has been a new name to add to the list:
There is a hell of a lot of time between a potential award later this year and to round 1 of the new deal - that should give whoever gets it the time to get their streaming platforms in place.
While Paramount+ really dropped the ball with their first year of the A-League coverage, there was some reporting towards the end of the A-League season that there will be a fairly significant upgrade coming in time for the next season that should resolve most issues that were faced.
If streaming is going to be the way that the subscription component is going to be delivered, you’d hope the AFL has set some performance criteria to ensure that it’s up to scratch.
If Nine regains the AFL rights (even just for one match per week), it is possible that it will show the grand final eventually. It’s similar to the NFL, in which FTA networks take turn to show the Super Bowl.
What the fans really want now is the ability to stream FTA matches on their mobiles without having to subscribe to Kayo.
You would want to hope that 4K broadcasts would be in the works if they pull this off, especially since P+ in the US does have it already.
This is a bold and ambitious bid, and it would be the biggest development in sports broadcasting in Australia since the birth of subscription TV here. I hope it happens, but I would not be surprised if the AFL stick with Seven and Foxtel, albeit with the AFL giving them a kick up their backsides and telling them to lift their game.
(I would love to see a pure highlight and analysis show on a Saturday and/or Sunday night, like Match of the Day for a start!)
Those saying ‘disaster for fans’ and the like (multiple broadcasters) have short memories, 2002 - 2006 and 2007 - 2011 anybody? Ten - Nine - Foxtel and Seven - Ten - Foxtel respectively. A lot of that era was heralded, including a MS member or two who can’t stop mentioning it in this thread
This is a great thread, loving everyone’s contributions!
Recently for University, I did a short paper on this topic and took note of how the AFL’s dwindling crowd numbers and rise in viewership for Fox Footy and Seven has been increased over this season and the last, obviously the horrendous weather in Melbourne and elsewhere around the country and the convenience of watching the game in the privacy of your own home or wherever you may be at the time has made this option more viable for the average punter, not to mention Kayo’s cheap subscription cost also being attractive to those without PTV.
As a South Australian, Seven’s handling of the coverage is rather annoying, on Simulcast matches in the twilight slots, they insert their own state produced panel coverage over the Fox coverage, then later cut to the 18:00 news in the middle of the match (No wonder they’re winning the ratings here with that lead in!) forcing AFL viewers to change over to 7Mate for the remainder of the match, which is purely Fox Footy coverage, this however does get cut off and on occasions they omit the team songs or post game interviews if the flow into their half-arsed repeated programming is affected, god forbid we miss Fred Claus in July!
At the conclusion of my paper, I stated my opinion on the matter, I personally with to see Fox retain the coverage in some capacity, but would love for Channel 9/Stan or Network 10/Paramount+ to have another go, I was too young to remember the 9 era, but the 10 era is why I’m interested in the industry to begin with, so a somewhat biased and nostalgic conclusion, but one I see as a likely one.
Caro on footy classified tonight said the AFL can’t say no/nor walk away from News.ltd and Kerry Stocks and will stick with the current deal going forward.
They can’t agree to just Ten/paramount having full exclusive.
Nine are going hard for Thursday night football. So a mixture.
The question was asked about money; with Caro saying “they’ll go biggest offer”
Which is contradictory to what she mentioned before as if the AFL is going to hand out the rights, it will be given to the highest bidder.
