Because fans in SA and WA have been used to seeing their favourite team on FTA since it entered the competition. They will be complaining they are being betrayed by the AFL just to satisfy Murdoch’s interests if Fox Footy gets fully exclusive games for these teams in the next broadcast deal.
Way more than that I reckon. Even Ten will beat it with whatever garbage they’ve got on.
That’s not a reason for it to always remain that way. They will eventually need to get used to having to pay, just as Victorian AFL team and NRL fans do.
Seeing the AFL wants SA/WA/NSW/QLD viewers to be able to see every match involving their local teams on FTA - I don’t think they would back down from that stance lightly. However, I could see in a future deal more delayed games airing on FTA
The next broadcast deal should be about viewing convenience for fans, not a return to 1980s and 1990s when many games are shown on delay or simply as short highlights.
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Yeah good luck with that. It will be about maximising the financial return for AFL like it always has.
And it is a bit different to the 1980s as you have the option to watch it live.
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Optus Stadium has announced that the WAFL Grand Final will be held on 23 September 2018 at 2:40PM and will be telecasted on Channel Seven.
This will be the same dates as the WAFL GF for the SANFL GF at Adelaide Oval and the VFL at Etihad Stadium, respectively.
This will be the first ever VFL/VFA final to be shown in primetime.
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Not quite, the 2008 Grand Final was played on a Friday night and broadcast live on ABC HD (24) and delayed in ABC1.
Back in 2008, ABC HD would’ve been LCN-20 like it is now. 
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Was it? I thought 24 was initiall the HD channel. Either way there was breakaway on ABC HD for prime time VFL footy.
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Fixture for week one of AFL finals was released this evening.
While most people expected a Thursday night final, many of them thought it would be held in Perth instead of the MCG.
The all-Sydney elimination final on Saturday twilight will be up against an NRL finals game and I think it will be shown live on main channel in Sydney, with Seven News either at half time or at around 7pm AEST after the match concludes.
The fixture for week 1 of VFL fixture was also released tonight. Apart from Richmond v Williamstown on the Saturday night, Seven will also show Collingwood v Essendon on Sunday afternoon.
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The difference was only 50k. Saturday night NRL has been a flop for Nine…
Normally NRL dominates in NSW so if there is a close match between Sydney and GWS, I would think that Seven will have audience numbers up but still get beaten by NRL by a close margin of 10k.
Interesting tactic by Seven today. The Melbourne-GWS match was simulcast on main channel and 7mate in NSW from 3pm, before coverage switched solely to 7mate at 4.30pm while main channel had Border Security, the 5pm news and Sydney Weekender.
So they got half of the game in HD and the 2nd half in crappy low-bitrate SD? Great advertisement for Foxtel…
Perth AFL coverage for next week on 7Mate
Thursday 6 September 2018
05:00 PM AFL: Qual Final: Richmond v Hawthorn
Friday 7 September 2018
05:30 PM AFL: Elim Final: Melbourne v Geelong
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Next week Swans v GWS game in the ACT is in HD then the next game WCE v Pies is on 7Mate why do they do that?
Probably the only reason that the Swans v Giants game is even airing on the main channel (and therefore HD) in the Sydney market + affiliated NSW/ACT stations is because it’s the local derby and the AFL probably forces Seven to air any finals matches with the Swans or Giants on the main channel in Sydney.
I highly doubt Channel Seven Sydney really wanted the Swans v Giants match to be the twilight one because the timing of it is going to mess with the news, etc.
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Rumors are Seven were pushing for a 3.20pm start so it could lead into the 6pm News in its regular timeslot. However, the AFL held its ground wanting a twilight slot which is easier for fans to attend.
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