Apart from streaming and Thursday night games, sounds absolutely atrocious.
Seven should’ve fought tooth and nail to keep Saturday Night. It’s kept them afloat when Nine dominates during the week. Sunday afternoon is useless by comparison.
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This whole deal will be a disaster. Whilst my biases are well noted, I don’t see any positives from this mooted renewal. There’s less free to air, less live games in growing markets and just a complete capitulation to foxtel.
Hopefully it’s savaged by fans and sections of the media.
Under the terms of the new deal which is now expected to be finalised this week, Channel 7 and the Foxtel Group are set to extend their existing arrangements with the AFL in a move that significantly ensures the long-term success of both broadcasters.
No more Saturday FTA games would be a disappointing loss.
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Perhaps this ‘blind auction’ is more about the AFL (desperately) hoping for an offer that is better for the fans from Nine or 10. Surely they know this reported deal will be wildly unpopular and not in the best interest of the code.
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I think you’ll find it’ll be the same
7 currently do 3.5 games a week (so 3 per round plus an extra 11). I can still see those extra 11 being retained for PH games as well as the last few Saturday night games leading into the end of the season (like the NRL and 9 does).
So essentially, from a 7 perspective, the role of Thursday and Saturday nights would swap.
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I find the wording of the TV Tonight article a little odd:
Central to the pitches from Nine/Stan and 10/Paramount+ was the desire for exclusive rights to broadcast Thursday night games, which have been a ratings success story in 2022.
Perhaps David got confused with Nine’s desire compared to Paramount/10?
And while I don’t take comments as fact, I found this comment interesting, though there isn’t indication publicly that this is Paramount’s idea:
why would Paramount put in a lower bid and not trumping other rivals. Baffles me.
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They mustn’t be able to make the maths work in paying a significant premium to then monetize that. It’s the only thing that would prevent them bidding given they are a bigger media company than the incumbents.
Yeah it’s hard to consider the highlighted as fact when the opening is sentence is verifiably wrong (the original comment was talking about less FTA matches/ week over the last couple of rights deals), there’s random conjecture about the PM’s potential actions and a prediction posed as fact about what the rights deal after this one will look like.
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The aim of a blind auction though (when it comes to sports media rights) is not to deal with the finer details of a deal but to get the maximum amount possible. Once you know who the highest bidder/s is/are, then you get into the nitty-gritty of how the rights deal will function.
Exactly - this is the thing people up-in-arms about Seven reportedly not having a weekly Saturday night game are forgetting/ignoring. The number of primetime games Seven would show (and the associated ratings impact/benefit they get from that) wouldn’t materially change - it’s just the nights those games are aired that will change.
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AFL seem to be doing it in the wrong order. The Blind auction is coming across as a last ditched thing a few days ahead of the final announcement with all the details already worked out.
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It’s like they’ve realised: “Shit! We’ve got to make this look like a real process” or “Shit! Let’s make it look like this deal is the best one out there to make the bad press go away”
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That’s only though if the current dynamics (as far as we know from all the reporting/speculation) don’t change. It wouldn’t take much for everything to change.
I can’t see Gil allowing this reported deal to go through. He wouldn’t want this to be his legacy.
But if the deal is true, let’s look at the positives. Live streaming on 7plus is a major win for fans.
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Disagree, it then forces the question, do you pay subscription to watch them live, or not pay and live with the delay. I would take delayed over zero any day of the week.
WOAH!
Can’t read this, but this is a massive turn of events!
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Well Fox I presume are paying more money, which is what the AFL want, so with more outlay comes some compromise from the AFL in terms of added value for Fox.
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A reminder that posting full articles breaches copyright and can land us in hot water. You’re welcome to post a link or summarise the content with a quote or two but don’t copy and paste the article here.
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So Nine has made a $500m offer? Not actually signed with them yet?
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AFL will sign the richest broadcasting deal in Australian sports history after Nine came in with a late $500 million a year offer.
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Deal is worth $2.5B from 2025-2029 and could be finalised tonight but more likely later in the week
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Paramount’s initial bid was not high enough but was asked for $600m per year and their final deal is now being finalised.
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