EXCLUSIVE | Foxtel’s AFL deal cost billions. Now its owner wants to pay less – and it has form [Sam McClure]
The owner of Foxtel, the AFL’s major broadcast partner, believes it is paying too much for the rights following its decision to pull the plug on a second domestic soccer deal in Europe over financial concerns.
Two senior media industry sources, who requested anonymity to discuss contractual matters, said Foxtel’s British owner, sports streaming giant DAZN, felt it was over-paying for a domestic product with limited scope for subscription growth, and could seek to claw back money from the agreement.
DAZN, which bought Foxtel for an enterprise value of $3.4 billion last December, inherited the AFL rights for which Seven and Foxtel paid a combined $4.5 billion over seven years, to 2031. Previous reports put Foxtel’s contribution at about $418 million a year, or almost $3 billion in total.
Five senior sports industry sources said it was widely accepted that Foxtel had been pushed to its upper limits after a massive offer from Paramount that would have yielded $6 billion over 10 years.
AFL lawyer and media executive Jeff Browne, also the ex-Collingwood president, has been briefed on DAZN’s position, according to two other media sources.
But Browne said he had not been approached to represent DAZN’s interests in potential talks with the league.
Browne was recently a contender to succeed Richard Goyder as chair of the AFL Commission, but withdrew his candidacy. The commission last month endorsed former Geelong president Craig Drummond to step into the role when Goyder leaves in March.
DAZN this week terminated an €83 million-a-season ($148 million) deal with the Belgian Pro-League, less than 12 months after its agreement with the French Ligue 1 collapsed.
DAZN had been unable to find distribution channels for its Belgian coverage.
“No company should be forced to operate at a loss,” DAZN Belgium managing director Massimo D’Amario said in a statement. “That’s simply not a sustainable business.”
The streaming company had previously tried to renegotiate the French contract, which was worth €400 million a year for six years, after disappointing subscription numbers and issues with piracy.
A Foxtel Group spokesperson did not address specific questions from this masthead on whether the company would try to renegotiate the AFL deal, and referred questions about DAZN to the UK company.
“The AFL has been a valued broadcast partner of Foxtel Group for more than 25 years. The 2025 season marked the beginning of a new era in our partnership and delivered our highest-ever season viewership,” the spokesperson said.
“There have been no discussions on changes to our contract with the AFL, and we look forward to delivering live, 4K coverage of every game, of every round for many years to come.”
The 2025 season was the first in the new AFL media deal.
The NRL’s $1.7 billion agreement with Foxtel and Nine, owner of this masthead, expires in 2027.
DAZN is majority owned by Ukrainian-born, American-educated billionaire Sir Leonard (Len) Blavatnik.
Last month Blavatnik injected $891 million into DAZN, after the company posted a substantial financial loss. His company, Access Industries, has invested more than $11 billion into DAZN in the past decade.
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Two sources who were part of negotiations for the AFL deal, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the confidential nature of the discussions, said Foxtel executives had been under pressure to ink the agreement before taking Foxtel to market for sale, which had meant the league had additional leverage.
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