The deal is somewhat less that projected, after initial reports suggested that a “doubling of the previous rights” was expected by Gallop.
- The new deal is comprised of $310 million in cash and $36 million in contra payments.
- Fox will commit $51 million next season, rising to $56 million per annum thereafter with the potential to earn an extra $7.5 million per year for the last two years if certain TV ratings triggers are met.
- The FFA has, crucially, also negotiated to end the “last rights” clause that has previously enabled Fox Sports to match any other bid the governing body receives.
- Foxsports will broadcast all A-League games live on Foxtel TV, Foxtel Go & Foxtel Play services,
- Socceroos, Matildas, W-League and FFA Cup matches will continue to be broadcast on the Foxtel platform
- One A-League match will be broadcast live on free to air television on Saturday nights in a deal to be concluded next year.
- Gallop confirmed that if a free-to-air deal did not eventuate, then the fifth game would revert to Fox Sports, which will fork out extra money. The Australian understands the figure is around $3m and that, theoretically, Fox could sell that game to networks for significantly less than the $10m to $15m FFA would like to get for it.
- There is also a clause in the Fox Sports agreement for the pay-TV network to increase the FFA deal annually when the A-League expands to 12 teams, within about two years
- The FFA has retained some digital rights that it hopes to strike a deal with a company such as Telstra in the new year, and could also sell A-Leagues to several countries overseas.
Lowy said football “is now entrenched as a mainstream Australian sport”, adding that the new broadcast deal would benefit the game at both the elite and grassroots levels.
“Our game has never seen a deal of this magnitude before,” Lowy said. “This six-year agreement gives us the certainty to continue to implement our strategy to grow the Hyundai A-League and the Westfield W-League and invest more in grassroots football development and the women’s game.
“It also allows us to continue football’s highly successful partnership with FOX SPORTS, which dates back to 2005. The reach of FOX SPORTS, Foxtel and News Corp Australia is unrivalled in Australia. They are the perfect partners to promote football which is the world’s biggest sport and the biggest participation sport in this country.”
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