AFL announces 4.5billion, 7 year media deal (2025-2031 inclusive)

Ishikawa

Club Legend
Jul 18, 2018
1,248
1,291
AFL Club
Port Adelaide
Thoughts on the AFL looking to package specific markets and marquee timeslots individually whilst producing in house? If the AFL produced all 9 games, and sold the vision, would mean that smaller players like 10 would only have to produce pre/postgame from a studio/ from the ground. Wouldn't need to contract NEP etc.

Does that undermine the general concept though of a FTA station being the football network (I know Ten and Nine did share seemingly reasonably successfully in the past) which adds an intangible amount of goodwill for want of a better term onto the cost they are willing to pay?
 

JohnZ

Norm Smith Medallist
Mar 10, 2016
7,757
11,594
AFL Club
Geelong
Does that undermine the general concept though of a FTA station being the football network (I know Ten and Nine did share seemingly reasonably successfully in the past) which adds an intangible amount of goodwill for want of a better term onto the cost they are willing to pay?
We've already seen that the general public shows goodwill to any station willing to show AFL games on FTA. There seemed to be no problems from 2002 to 2011 when Ch10 shared the rights with Ch9 followed by Ch7.

I do think there is additional money to be made by seeing if an FTA channel will pick up all away West Coast games, or all Port games not shown in a Marquee slot (Thursday/Friday nights etc.) for example, where by the AFL would be paid $x/eligible game instead of a fixed amount.
 

Our Game

Club Legend
Sep 30, 2014
2,881
1,705
Sandringham
AFL Club
Geelong
From todays CH 9 press

Facebook signs Australian content deals with AFL, NRL and cricket
23bf79f61d57f7bada791409ab08fcf27f90ae14
By Jennifer Duke
June 12, 2019 — 9.00pm
Facebook has secured key content deals with the NRL, AFL and Cricket Australia in a move that will increase speculation the social media giant could bid for more significant sports rights in the future.

In the deal, video highlights of the sports will be shown on the social media platform, with extra content placed on video streaming platform Facebook Watch.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Just saw a tweet that linked to this article as 2019/20 EPL schedule was released in UK this evening. There are 19 home games x 20 = 380 games in an EPL season. So that's 5.2% of games on another subscription service.

Might given an indication of what the AFL might be negotiating with Amazon.

The Arsenal, Chelsea and Spurs fixtures which will be broadcast live on Amazon Prime
The Premier League fixtures for 2019/20 have been released and fans have discovered which games Amazon will show. Amazon have joined as the Premier League’s third broadcaster for the 2019/20 season alongside Sky Sports and BT Sport, with 20 fixtures televised in their maiden campaign of coverage.

Their first batch of games will be midweek in December, while their second batch will be on Boxing Day - and their first round of fixtures has been confirmed.

The stand-out fixtures of Amazon’s first round of TV matches are Manchester United’s hosting of Tottenham Hotspur at Old Trafford, along with the Merseyside derby between Liverpool and Everton. Elsewhere, Manchester City travel to face Burnley, Arsenal host Brighton and Chelsea welcome Aston Villa to Stamford Bridge.

To watch the matches you will need have a Prime membership. This costs either £79 a year or you can pay £7.99 per month. Amazon will also have weekly highlights of all Premier League throughout the season. You are able to stream Prime on any Smart TV, mobile device or through an Amazon Fire TV Stick.The full list of Amazon’s December fixtures below. Kick-off times and dates are subject to change........
https://www.football.london/premier-league/arsenal-chelsea-spurs-amazon-prime-16423271
 
Another story in the Oz today about NRL TV rights this time that they might split up the different parts of the season as I said they might on the previous page a couple of days ago.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/sp...n/news-story/955b4e4b8de792d8eabb838ed1a8392f

The ARL Commission will consider selling the regular season, finals games, the grand final, and the State of Origin series as separate entities as the code looks to squeeze every cent it can from the next broadcasting deal.

It is understood separation of the game’s major products has been contemplated as part of a discussion paper distributed to club bosses late last week. As revealed in The Australian this week, the paper also contemplated an early approach to the game’s current and potential broadcast partners as they look to get a jump on the AFL and provide some clarity to clubs over their future in the competition. The commission and NRL have bundled together their major products as part of recent broadcasting deals but are expected to investigate whether separating them would create more tension in the market and allow them to grow their broadcasting revenue as a result.
.......
The game’s current broadcasting deals with the Nine Network and Foxtel run until the end of 2022 but officials are weighing up whether to begin discussions as early as next year over a new deal. The commission and NRL yesterday outlined their plans to the clubs and while there is no certainty they will kick off talks next year, they want to be in position to open discussions should the opportunity arise or the situation demand it.

That stance yesterday received the imprimatur of media rights expert Colin Smith, managing director of Global Media and Sports. Smith previously worked with the NRL on broadcasting deals and suggested the game would be wise to have its ducks in a row and at least be prepared to begin talks with key stakeholders.

“They got a huge number (last time). Ultimately it was a really good deal for the NRL, no question about that. I would think it is really critical that the NRL is right on top of this and ready to move, and also testing the market, and therefore ready to roll over early if it necessary. “Because the threat will be that in the next round of rights either there will be a minimal increase or it could reduce. There is no alternative bidder out there in the foreseeable future that would bid what Foxtel pays for the NRL.
.........

“Just to highlight what I am saying, in the English Premier League in their domestic rights that were signed late last year, they dropped by 13 per cent. “Therefore if I was the NRL, I would be out there testing this and if I could do a deal that could make me whole or give me a slight increase, I would do it sooner rather than later.”

State of Origin is widely regarded as the jewel in the rugby league crown and its value to broadcasters has been placed at upwards of $100 million a year. However, it has been bundled up in recent deals, leaving the value untested on the open market.

That could change if the ARL Commission and NRL believe they can get more money from the broadcasters by selling it separately — Origin would be a cash cow for all the commercial networks. “That is what the NFL (in America) does and does really well,” Smith said of splitting the broadcasting products.

“I have always argued State of Origin is something really unique. There is nothing like it. The question is will the sum of the parts be greater than the sum of the whole? “What you will find is you will get a huge price for State of Origin, you will get a huge price for the finals, but what does that mean for home-and-away.

“And what does that mean for other content like internationals, which is still a work in progress. If I was them I would be doing a bucketload of work on another team in Brisbane.”
.........

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/sp...n/news-story/955b4e4b8de792d8eabb838ed1a8392f
 
Aug 14, 2011
44,794
16,853
Trafalgar
AFL Club
West Coast
Other Teams
Mclaren Mercedes F1
We've already seen that the general public shows goodwill to any station willing to show AFL games on FTA. There seemed to be no problems from 2002 to 2011 when Ch10 shared the rights with Ch9 followed by Ch7.

I do think there is additional money to be made by seeing if an FTA channel will pick up all away West Coast games, or all Port games not shown in a Marquee slot (Thursday/Friday nights etc.) for example, where by the AFL would be paid $x/eligible game instead of a fixed amount.

Will the advertisers pay the dollars the FTA channel needs?
 

TWLS

Club Legend
Jul 19, 2015
1,321
488
WA
AFL Club
West Coast
Other Teams
GWS Giants
This is the second time Gils comments about future Footy streaming deals involving non Australian entities have been mentioned in the Oz newspaper in the last 6 months.
I am surprised that nobody else has noticed this possible move, and it appears that maybe change is coming in some way folks, but on the other hand I am not - Its called the "AFL Bubble."
They are in todays paper edition on page 26- article by John Stensholt - Headed -"All Sport will shift on line says IFlix."
Gils comments are in that article.
If somebody has subscription with the Oz the article maybe on line.
IFlix is a Aussie run Sports Media Group based in Asia.
 

BanjoRed

Rookie
Aug 24, 2016
42
88
AFL Club
Essendon
Perhaps they're extending it for two years so that the next TV rights deal (starting 2025) will possibly include a Tasmanian + one other team?
 
Good move by the AFL.They need to stay abreast of all the new platforms and do the best deal for the comp and fans.
Best deal for fans isn't the best deal for the comp. 9 games live on free to air every week would be best for the fans but would bring in half the money compared to some on Free TV, some on Pay TV and some exclusively on a bloody shifty streaming service.
 
Jul 2, 2010
37,957
36,136
Adelaide
AFL Club
Carlton
Best deal for fans isn't the best deal for the comp. 9 games live on free to air every week would be best for the fans but would bring in half the money compared to some on Free TV, some on Pay TV and some exclusively on a bloody shifty streaming service.

Ideally - and not realistically - Id like the AFL/7 to set up a footy channel, akin to the Racing one, thats already on the FTA 7 network. Simulcast with Fox and Streaming.
 
Perhaps they're extending it for two years so that the next TV rights deal (starting 2025) will possibly include a Tasmanian + one other team?
No.

If they had decided to do that, they could just include in the deal that teams would be added, and when.

On SM-J530Y using BigFooty.com mobile app
 

kaypee

All Australian
Aug 21, 2008
785
876
Melbourne
AFL Club
Geelong
Other Teams
New York Knicks and Chicago Bulls
Perhaps they're extending it for two years so that the next TV rights deal (starting 2025) will possibly include a Tasmanian + one other team?
Good move by the AFL.They need to stay abreast of all the new platforms and do the best deal for the comp and fans.
Might be a move that suits the AFL, but surely CH. 7 will act in its own interest. A two year deal may not suit them if all it means is they pay through the nose without the benefit of an extended deal and then the AFL goes elsewhere once another opportunity presents. Ch. 7 might say they'll extend for two years if the price is discounted
 

NoobPie

Cancelled
Sep 21, 2016
7,356
5,255
AFL Club
Collingwood
Might be a move that suits the AFL, but surely CH. 7 will act in its own interest. A two year deal may not suit them if all it means is they pay through the nose without the benefit of an extended deal and then the AFL goes elsewhere once another opportunity presents. Ch. 7 might say they'll extend for two years if the price is discounted

It might be that channel 7 were as keen as the AFL to extend for 2 years at an indexed rate. Remember extending now gives them certainty for the next 5 years
 
Might be a move that suits the AFL, but surely CH. 7 will act in its own interest. A two year deal may not suit them if all it means is they pay through the nose without the benefit of an extended deal and then the AFL goes elsewhere once another opportunity presents. Ch. 7 might say they'll extend for two years if the price is discounted
Depends what deal is struck.

7 paid $425m cash + $50m advertising contra = $475m for 5 year 2012-16 deal and
$840m cash + $60m advertising contra = $900m for 6 year 2017-22 deal

That is a compounding growth rate of 12.025% for the cash component over the 6 years.

7 could offer 6% compound grow over two years ie 2023-24 so they offer
In 2023 $140m x 1.06 = $148.4m
In 2024 $148.4m x 1.06 = $157.03m

That way the AFL have certainty for 2 years and can prepare the AFLPA and CBA negotiations for a longer term change, and 7 know they only have to find/charge 6% more for advertising rates each year for 2 years, which is easier than 12.025% each year for 6 years.
 
Last edited:
Depends what deal is truck.

7 paid $425m cash + $50m advertising contra = $475m for 5 year 2012-16 deal and
$840m cash + $60m advertising contra = $900m for 6 year 2017-22 deal

That is a compounding growth rate of 12.025% for the cash component over the 6 years.

7 could offer 6% compound grow over two years ie 2023-24 so they offer
In 2023 $140m x 1.06 = $148.4m
In 2024 $148.4m x 1.06 = $157.03m

That way the AFL have certainty for 2 years and can prepare the AFLPA and CBA negotiations for a longer term change, and 7 know they only have to find/charge 6% more for advertising rates each year for 2 years, which is easier than 12.025% each year for 6 years.


...and the AFL throws in first and last bid rights to sweeten the pot.
 
Aug 14, 2011
44,794
16,853
Trafalgar
AFL Club
West Coast
Other Teams
Mclaren Mercedes F1
Following on up on the problems facing FTA across the world:
CEO action at 7, Warburton in, Worner out last week.



Tuesday, the parent company of Channel 7 announced a full-year $444 million loss after auditors forced another savage impairment charge on the TV operations and a smaller charge against the value of its publishing assets.
The TV licences were written down by $441 million.
The value write-down was imposed despite Seven winning the free-to-air ratings war again, with a 40 per cent share of the commercial market across the day, a 1 per cent increase on last year


Begs the question who Gil is speaking to?
 

NoobPie

Cancelled
Sep 21, 2016
7,356
5,255
AFL Club
Collingwood
Following on up on the problems facing FTA across the world:
CEO action at 7, Warburton in, Worner out last week.



Tuesday, the parent company of Channel 7 announced a full-year $444 million loss after auditors forced another savage impairment charge on the TV operations and a smaller charge against the value of its publishing assets.
The TV licences were written down by $441 million.
The value write-down was imposed despite Seven winning the free-to-air ratings war again, with a 40 per cent share of the commercial market across the day, a 1 per cent increase on last year


Begs the question who Gil is speaking to?

Not sure what you are getting at?
 
Aug 14, 2011
44,794
16,853
Trafalgar
AFL Club
West Coast
Other Teams
Mclaren Mercedes F1
Not sure what you are getting at?

Gils reportedly chasing an extension of the current deal, any decision by 7 will be at the highest level & changes aplenty are underway.

There are suggestions the AFL can not be denied, any extension has to make sense to James Warburton, whose last foray into broadcasting rights (Supercars) saw less FTA action, less FTA money, more Fox exclusivity / money.
Of course at that time Warburton* was the seller not the buyer.
* CEO of Supercars
 
Last edited:
Back