Fox Footy viewers hear the last Seven commentary
The final AFL round marked a minor sports rights milestone. The games that featured Seven commentary and were screened on Fox Footy via Foxtel and Kayo were the last regular season games from the expiring rights agreement. From the start of the 2025 season, Seven commentators will no longer be heard on Foxtel Group coverage.
That AFL deal expires after four weeks of finals.
From 2025, the new rights deal allows Fox Footy to mount its own coverage for every match. One of the ramifications is that there will be more work for commentators. There’s already been at least one bidding war for talent. A battle that saw Seven ultimately sign outgoing Nine AFL analyst Kane Cornes. The former Port Adelaide star is expected to star in new programming on Seven supporting its live coverage each weekend.
The AFL 2024 season has seen an increase of 33% on 2023, with an average audience of 397,000. Last Sunday’s Fremantle vs Port Adelaide game led the season with an average audience of 710,000 across Kantar STB and streaming VPM, closely followed by the Carlton vs St Kilda game at 685,000.