Iamback
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Stan won't work with ch7 as it gives a leg up to a competitor
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Game on: Bids roll in for multi-billion dollar AFL deal
By Zoe Samios
August 1, 2022 — 5.10am
Four of Australia’s biggest media companies have entered a multibillion-dollar bidding war for the rights to broadcast and stream AFL games from 2025 in a contest that could change the way fans watch the game.
Multiple industry sources have told The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald that the AFL received formal offers last week for its next media rights deal from its existing broadcast partners Foxtel and Seven West Media, as well as Nine Entertainment and the owner of Channel Ten, Paramount.
However, the sources, who requested anonymity because talks are confidential, say expectations the AFL could fetch $600 million per annum, or $3 billion over five years, for the rights are now fading. Media companies are facing an uncertain economy and a raft of key content deals, including with US studio NBCUniversal, as well as tennis and cricket rights, which are being sold over the next two years.
Senior AFL executives, including chief executive Gillon McLachlan, executive general manager of football, Andrew Dillon, executive general manager finance, clubs and broadcast Travis Auld, and executive general manager of customer and commercial, Kylie Rodgers, are all expected to meet with media executives in Sydney this week to discuss their offers.
The broadcast deal – the biggest single sports agreement to be negotiated in domestic media over the next 12 months – is expected to be completed before the departure of the AFL’s longstanding chief executive Gillon McLachlan at the end of the AFL season.
The deal is still expected to break records for Australian media, and could reshape the domestic industry landscape. The AFL signed a $2.5 billion, six-year deal, which expires in 2022, that was renegotiated during the pandemic. Its broadcast agreements with Foxtel and Seven were then extended until 2024 for $946 million.
Industry sources said Foxtel and Seven submitted their formal bids late last Friday. Other sources said Nine, which owns The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald, and Paramount had lodged bids earlier that week. Foxtel, Seven, Nine, Paramount and the AFL declined to comment.
Seven and Foxtel currently split coverage of the AFL. The pay TV giant (which owns streaming service Kayo) broadcasts an average of five and a half games per round, with Seven averaging three and a half games each week.
Seven has exclusive rights to the grand final but does not have the ability to broadcast weekly matches on its online platform, 7Plus. The group’s bid for the rights includes a request for games to be accessed digitally, via 7Plus. Sources close to Seven said it would not agree to any future deal without these rights.
A bid by cashed-up Paramount will include options to broadcast AFL and AFLW games across its free-to-air network, Ten, and its streaming service. Sources said Nine, which owns radio, television and publishing assets, has proposed a package of Thursday night games to the AFL. The AFL has previously split its matches across multiple networks, but it is unclear if there is still a desire to do so.
A Paramount bid could deliver a bigger broadcast deal for the AFL, but any offer would not be as high as $600 million per annum – or $3 billion over five years.
The AFL wants to secure a highly lucrative deal to increase payments to players, including AFLW players, who are pushing for a significant increase in their next collective bargaining agreement.
This masthead reported last week that Foxtel was seeking to use its own commentary team for all nine AFL games per round, rather than having to use Seven’s live call of the free-to-air games. Foxtel also wants to run a “Super Saturday,” which would allow it to exclusively broadcast Saturday games on pay TV during the regular season.
However, the AFL is facing pressure in Western Australia over the proposal. West Coast Eagles chief executive Trevor Nisbett, Fremantle Dockers coach Justin Longmuir, the Seven West-owned West Australian newspaper and even WA Premier Mark McGowan have called for all games involving the WA clubs to be shown exclusively on free-to-air.
Should AFL matches involving the WA clubs – and the two South Australian teams (Adelaide Crows and Port Adelaide) – be awarded exclusively to a free-to-air network, the value of the overall rights would almost certainly fail to reach the ambitious targets being eyed off by the AFL’s executive team, as the appeal to pay TV services would be lessened.
The AFL talks are coinciding with advanced discussions between media companies and NBC Universal, the US film studio behind popular shows such as The Office, Brave New World and Gangs of London, which is offering streaming services a new licensing deal.
NBC Universal’s Asia Pacific managing director, Justin Che, was in town last week to talk to companies about licensing programs when the studio’s existing deals with Foxtel and Nine’s streaming service Stan expire later this year. With domestic cricket and tennis negotiations expected to kick off within the next six months, all media companies will be weighing up the best way to spend their money.
Meanwhile, the federal government is in the process of reviewing anti-siphoning laws, which were introduced in 1990 and give free-to-air broadcasters first dibs on rights to key sporting and cultural moments. The government is expected to tweak the anti-siphoning legislation, but it is unclear if a discussion paper will be ready before the AFL deal is complete.
Media companies have requested anti-siphoning laws be overhauled, given the rules do not apply to streaming services such as Amazon Prime and Paramount. Foxtel, which is restricted in broadcast negotiations because of the laws, wants them eased.
Well she said hole lot of nothing... Industry sources so expert they can't put their name to the story...., $473 p/a repeated just to make it true in fantasy land.
Foxtel have said they are paying "slightly more".
7 were asked to lower the amount the aflol , by the aflol .. in 20-22 a total of 114m less over those 3 years , theres an article somewhere confirming this ( the amount anyway) & paying it all back in the last 2 years 23-24 ....essentially back ending the deal.
they don't get more then us from foxtel
So isn`t the danger with that Seven or whoever will call their bluff, and say " o.k. then go with Nine " would be pretty quickly exposed you`d think.sources asked not to be named ?
just clap trap
Ch 9 bidding is a furphy .., they have no interest in the rights , they already spend 163 mill a year on the 2 rugby codes & can't afford anything else , they're being used with their blessing to try & hunt a few more $$ out of their main rival Ch 7 who have bid already ... I'd say 2 bids infact
one with SA & WA staying .. one without ... slightly different amounts
Foxtel have done the same , 2 bids one with SA & WA , one without ... again slightly different amounts
Paramount can't afford the entire package & foxtel / 7 won't share bits of the rights with them.
has anything changed from yesterday ?
nope .. still a kluster fuc.k
foxtel said their deal 23-24 has changed little ... 17 mill more PA is significant & I'd say its way less
Im sure 7 aren't worried in the slightest , they want the rights tho. So will play the game
Last deal (18-22) it was
So Seven is paying $190 million for next years 2023 and 2024 , glad you informed me that they paying that. So they go having a signed discount $87million dollars for Covid 19 to several months latter paying over $50 million dollars they were paying before Covid.
They said it was a jump on the reduction and slightly more than the original deal. Again if that is slightly more on the avg over the 20-23 cost or slightly more for just the two years than the original deal is unknown. Devil is always in the detail.
Who said Telstra still doesn't have to pay a contracted amount to NRL 2022.
It was stated the overall 5 years was at the same avg ie $416mill, so yes the losses during covid have been recouped in 23&24 to give the same overall avg for the period of the deal. Why they've agreed to the AFL recovering the savings they made you'd have to ask the Seven CEO. I suspect its linked into the next deal somehow if I had to guess a motivation. As you say its very generous to score a big discount, then give it all back!
They've never paid NRL other than for the naming rights sponsorship ( and digital platform when they ran it). Unlike AFL where they paid AFL for the coverage, somehow NRL stuffed it up years ago and allowed Fox to own and on sell the rights to Telstra. Telstra used to deliver the NRLs digital platforms like they do AFL still, but Grant could see the long term value of that and pulled it from them and set up the NRL's own digital dept. to develop it in house. Now Vlandys has started to dismantle it again.
media.sportbusiness.com
7 signed a new deal with the aflol in 2020 ending at the end of 2024 for 730 mill , was widely reported & confirmed by 7 themselves.
