Channel Nine keen to show Saturday night A-League matches
by: DAVID DAVUTOVIC
May 21, 2015 9:00PM
CHANNEL Nine wants to screen Saturday night A-League games and go head-to-head with the AFL on Seven.
Nine is favourite to take over SBS’s A-League rights as Seven’s interest is complicated by its AFL contract, with negotiations for the next deal already kicking off within a fortnight _ the current AFL deal expires at the end of 2016.
Despite an appetite for more live sports and a view that the A-League provides a cheap entry point, sources have indicated that Seven has been warned against putting live A-League games up against its Friday or Saturday night AFL coverage by the AFL.
Nine’s NRL broadcasts are restricted to Friday nights and Sunday afternoons, leaving a gap on Saturday nights.
But the kingmaker remains Fox Sports chief executive Patrick Delany, who effectively has to rubberstamp any movement on A-League rights.
Fox Sports pay 75 per cent of the current $40m-a-year deal _ which was due to expire in 2017 but has come back on the table with SBS’s desire to offload the A-League _ plus the Saturday night slot is the match of the round, and includes the Melbourne and Sydney derbys.
Fox have co-production deals with Seven and Nine for the AFL and NRL.
It’s believed that talks have centred around spreading the games between the FTA’s main and secondary channels.
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Channel 10, which showed strongest interest when the latest deal was signed, may not be in a position to bid unless Foxtel’s mooted $85m injection occurs by the end of June.
Delay and FTA network heavyweights were guests at last Sunday’s A-League grand final at AAMI Park, and Bruce McWilliam (Seven, commercial director), Ian Paterson (GTV, managing director) and David Barham (Ten, head of sport) were all acknowledged by FFA chief executive David Gallop at a pre-game function.
Seven “maintained a polite silence on TV rights as always” when contacted by the Herald Sun, while Nine said it was “premature” to make any comment.
Seven is broadcasting the upcoming visits of English giants Chelsea and Tottenham, while Nine will show July’s International Champions Cup (ICC) featuring Real Madrid, Manchester City and Roma plus the Liverpool games.
Speaking before the A-League grand final, Gallop admitted that a deal was some way off despite clear interest.
“We’re in the second year of a four-year deal so if there was to be any change it would require everyone to agree,’’ Gallop said.
“We do have significant interest from commercial networks. We have seen a couple dip their toe in the water successfully with some of the overseas club visits, so all of that augurs well for the future.
“At this stage it’s encouraging to have that interest, but there’s nothing concrete in place.’’
The grand final drew a record FTA audience for an A-League game on SBS, with an average audience of 442,000 watching on a one-hour delay, while a further 264,000 watched it live on Fox Sports, the fourth-highest A-League audience.
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