Not one non-Victorian club of the six contacted by this masthead is happy with the new deal. At least four are deeply concerned about the changes the new deal has forced upon the fixture and the loss of audiences on a Saturday. Generally the clubs based in Sydney and southern Queensland believe the removal of Saturday night football from Channel Seven has handed the NRL a costly free kick.
Media and club bosses unwilling to be quoted on numbers for fear of antagonising head office say that the loss of the free-to-air Saturday night game has cost the AFL conservatively 400,000 viewers each week â even allowing for the boosted Fox Footy rating and the estimated uplift in subscriptions of 100,000.
Incredibly, most clubs agreed the hidden costs of the rich new deal had not become clear to them until this season. Club chiefs say they will raise the issue when they next meet with head office as a group in Melbourne in early June, but all agree the AFL prioritised money over those struggling and developing markets McLachlan promised the new arrangement would benefit.
Generally the clubs based in Sydney and southern Queensland believe the removal of Saturday night football from Channel Seven has handed the NRL a costly free kick.
I find it hard to buy this given the NRL has zero FTA presence on a Saturday, and the articleâs premise that itâs because NRL fans are âused to payingâ for Saturday football is a bit fanciful.
The northern clubs in particular get a pretty good deal with every game for that states team being on FTA anyway (even if its on delay)
The only thing I was very surprised with, was the decision for non-AFL markets in the Swans, Lions and especially Suns and Giants. I definitely thought the AFL would demand that the live FTA simulcast arrangement for them was kept season long. I couldnât imagine Foxtel wouldâve minded as much as AFL markets especially Melbourne.
While what Bacco said is true, it is still a major departure for them from what they had the prior 4 and a bit broadcast deals of more than two decades. Plus first 8 rounds are on delay, which for today, almost equals zero viewership (Iâd be shocked if there had been any significant audiences for those, youâd have to have a profile game and nail biter).
Yeah look Iâve said it a few times on here since the current deal was signed off on, so sorry if Iâm sounding repetitive, but the Saturday situation is an absolute free kick to the NRL up here in Brisbane.
There are two ways this is a free kick to the NRL imo:
Saturdays were the one time where the AFL could get one whiff of a media advantage over the NRL by having a consistent presence on FTA. The NRL not being on Saturdays on Nine until the final rounds doesnât affect that advantage being lost.
Having The Lions/ Suns/ Giants/ Swans free and live for every match being a point big selling point for those teams that the NRL canât match. Plenty of 7 TV and radio ads spruiking you can see every Lions match now live on 7 since weâre out of those first rounds.
The thing I donât get about the article is the clubs being blindsided by this deal and its machinations until this year. Ok, thereâs been a late change in the last 8 rounds from Saturday to Thursday nights, but that aside, a cursory glance wouldâve told them exactly what was in store years ago. It sure did here and was analysed and critiqued extensively.
Yeah such a whinge fest when some Australians canât even access kayo or Foxtel. Or even to those millions of Australians that canât afford to go to the doctor let alone past $30 to access their favourite sport.
Itâs less games on FTA? So itâs not the same amount, plus people have been complaining about this for years. And that is ok. When I was young we could watch up to 5 FTA games a week.
Itâs really easy to label something a whinge fest when you are privileged enough to afford it. I too can afford it but I can understand why people are upset.
Yes it is the same amount. Saturday night has just been moved to more Thursdays and additional Sunday nights.
You are bringing up a time when 1 of those 5 was a glorified extended highlights package and you would be lucky to have 2 of those games live (Sunday 1pm on channel 9) and Saturday night on 10 if the match was outside Vic.
It goes back to 2015 when the 2017 deal was being negotiated and reported in the media, when Seven were wanting to drop/sell their Saturday afternoon FTA game (which had been the traditional timeslot since the dawn of footy and television and core to Tenâs famous era in the 2000s). There were even talks of Ten coming back on board at the time.
Down the track, most got over that and moved on, but I think largely because it was still a delayed telecast in Melbourne.
Saturday footy is something that has been accessible to viewers for decades, suddenly now chucked behind a paywall. Given that times are tough and it seems that you need a subscription to this, that and the other these days to be able to watch what used to all be in one place- I can definitely understand why people are unhappy.
Not to mention Kayo is hardly the most reliable of platforms either (just ask anyone trying to tune in to the Hawthorn-Brisbane pre-game earlier).
The AFL did have optionsâboth of which would undoubtedly have been better for fans, as each rival offer reportedly included provisions for streaming matches to be broadcast on secondary channels.
Seven, for its part, should have fought harder to live up to its now-infamous claim that âAFL will always be part of Sevenâs DNA.â Clearly, the sentiment expressed in that 2001 press release doesnât hold much weight today, if their overall coverage standards today are anything to go by.
Really?? You think 10/Paramount would have looked after FTA viewers?? Just look at them putting the Matildas and Socceroos behind a paywall tells you you how you would be watching Saturday football right now.
Australia has been comparatively overserved with FTA sport for many years versus overseas markets for some years now - (even accounting for the anti siphoning legislation), a change like this was probably coming.
Yeah and 9/Stan really getting behind their FTA viewers for Super Rugby on the next TV deal with no matches on 9Gem.
Some of you really living in fantasy land. Just looks at EPL in the UK and NBA conference finals in USA. We are so well served for FTA coverage as is. Just enjoy it.
This is why VâLandys needs to rein in his ego with the NRL rights and negotiate a similar deal with what they have now. The more they spread the rights, the more they will piss off the fans - many of whom struggle with everyday costs.
I think paramount/10 and Stan/9 wouldâve been far more strategic in how they used their rights to the AFL if either was successful. Yes there wouldâve been stuff behind a pay wall but there wouldâve still been a Saturday night prime time presence nationally and local teams beamed live into local markets.
This current deal is a dogs breakfast and deserves to be called out.