New Media Deal

[midfielder]

Does Gallop hold his nerve and wait to see if Optus is a player or take the Fox offer that seems to be in place.

Key summary points.

From 442 seems SBS will not be bidding for the next Socceroo rights and we will be with Fox , a FTA commercial and other things and a bumper deal is hoped.

>Foxtel has offered to renegotiate the A-League deal with immediate effect with FFA

>Foxtel has offered a 'significant increase' on the $40 million per annum currently offered, and will onsell selected games to its preferred FTA partner Channel 10

>FFA can't entertain rival bids until October 1st - make a decision to accept Foxtel's offer now or wait and see what others can offer (7, 9, Optus etc)

>Foxtel owns all Socceroos rights for the final stage of WCQ as they have purchased them from Lagardere Sports - will potentially use this as carrot to entice FFA


http://www.fourfourtwo.com/au/news/ffa-confident-bumper-deal-despite-lack-roo-rights

FFA confident of bumper deal despite lack of 'roo rights

Even though the next stage of the Socceroos Asian World Cup qualifiers will not be included in the next television broadcast deal, FFA CEO David Gallop is hopeful that the A-League will have a free-to-air presence.

Currently, FFA does not own or control the media rights for the next phase of the World Cup qualifiers. The AFC retained those rights and assigned them to its commercial partner Lagadere - previously known as World Sports group.

At the moment FFA are in an exclusive negotiating period with Fox Sports but that expires at the end of September. And looking ahead Gallop said the governing body was looking for the new TV rights deal to be a combination that includes the existing rights holder as well as a terrestrial component as well.

“We have made it clear we are looking for a mix of the existing arrangement with Fox Sports,” he said. “But we are looking for a free to air partner as well.”

Even though the inclusion of the pivotal third phase of the Socceroos Asian World Cup games will not be included with the A-League TV rights, Gallop said that the Socceroos friendly games will be part of the bundle.

“There are aspects of the Socceroos that are held by Lagadere,” he said. “That’s always been the case and we are continuing to work through how that will impact on the upcoming negotiation. It is the last round of qualifiers but there are other games that are held by us to sell that is part of the interesting mix that we are going through at the moment.”

However, SBS, who broadcast the 2014 Socceroos World Cup Qualifiers says it will not show the Australian national team’s attempt to qualify for the 2018 version.

“At this point in time the next stage of the Asian World Cup Qualifiers does not form part of SBS’s football offering,” said a spokesperson for the network.

 

[pjennings]

So the questions it raises to me are

1) what is a 'significant increase' on the current deal

2) is there provision on more money for more content:- even if tiered in value for
a) expansion teams
b) a second division

3) If expansion or a second division are provided for in terms of money - what if any FTA component would there be.
e.g If we went to 12 games would there be another FTA game or if Canberra or Wollongong were in a second division would the Channel 10 local regional affiliate be able to broadcast their away games.

 

[dibo]

Sniff out an Optus deal, but birds in the hand...

 

[midfielder]

This is turning into a poker game of the highest order.

Go with Fox now and go straight to 10, and a big increase. Get Socceroos on FTA etc ..

Wait ... hope Optus put in a massive bid and 7 or 9 will put on FTA. Have to wait 12 months and no Socceroo match on FTA.. But maybe more money...

I think Fox made a pre bid to the NRL as well but the NRL went behind their backs and when on 9.

For me 10 unlike 9 NRL & 7 AFL don't have a sport running over 6 to 7 months and me thinks they would do or say work harder than 7 & 9 as they are so invested into their codes.

 

[Forum Phoenix]

They will all want it, and FFA will be talking to all parties.
This is an area linked to my own, I've heard executives and Producers speak on what's going on and I think there's likely cause for more optimism than most might realise.

We're in a period of unprecedented change and disruption for the networks. SVOD, VOD and the internet have obviously made a huge impact on how and also importantly 'when' people are consuming media, and this is impacting on the Advertising dollar – which is how the networks have always made their money.

This is making for a lot of uncertainty. People are tuning in to Netflix or Stan or Presto or what have you for serials and movies, and also consuming media at times that suit them, making the placement of premium advertising spots harder to gauge/sell as well. But sports programming has continued to grow and deliver, and creates premium spots etc, and so are being viewed as one of the only real certainties to underpin the networks and guarantee advertising dollars moving forward. So this is not just about the A leagues worth, it's about the value of sports programming in general. Which is why we are seeing new players coming out of the woodwork and also the TV networks coming out swinging even for SOKKAH.

 

[Rowdy]

Football Federation Australia CEO David Gallop says all free-to-air networks have shown a keen interest in the A-League’s broadcast rights as negotiations enter a crucial phase.

Fox Sports’ exclusive negotiating period with the FFA expires at the end of September, with the current broadcast rights due to expire in mid-2017.

As a result, FFA hasn’t been able to begin any discussions with free-to-air broadcasters about the A-League rights.

Gallop said it was unlikely a new broadcast deal would be struck with Fox Sports prior to the new A-League season in early October, given that the window was now “slim”.

One scenario is for Fox Sports to buy the rights and on-sell them to free-to-air broadcasters, which Gallop said had been positively received across the board.

“As we understand it, all free-to-air networks are interested and those conversations are happening between the FTAs and Fox,” Gallop said.

Gallop further explained the current situation between FFA and Fox Sports amid the exclusive negotiating period.

“We’re in constructive dialogue with them on a daily/weekly basis,” Gallop said.

“There’s obviously a window about coverage in the upcoming season but it’s very narrow now.

“It’s difficult to say where it’ll end up on that front. Contractually that’s where we are at.”

Gallop added that new Australian English Premier League broadcaster Optus Sports had shown interest in the A-League and were an option for FFA to explore once Fox Sports’ exclusive period ends.

“They’ve obviously made a massive investment in EPL,” Gallop said.

“Their focus is on football content. We can’t actively talk to them during this period but they’ve indicated a strong appetite for the A-League.”

Meanwhile, Thursday night’s Australia-Iraq 2018 World Cup qualifier wasn’t shown on free-to-air television, much to the frustration of football fans.

It is understood, FFA is hopeful of striking an international deal with a free-to-air broadcaster for Wednesday morning’s (AEST) World Cup qualifier between Australia and UAE in Abu Dhabi.

Previously, SBS had shared rights to World Cup qualifiers with Fox Sports but the deal ended when the Asian Football Confederation took back the TV rights for Lagardere (previously World Sports Group) to negotiate on their behalf.

An insider revealed the deal for the Iraq game was finalised too late for them to arrange a partnership with a free-to-air broadcaster before kick-off.

 

[midfielder]

Tis getting very interesting with Optus / Fox and all the FTA networks after teh A-League.

 

[midfielder]

Really loving this stuff...Optus coming in is the real game changer ...

Fox ... 10

Optus .. 7 or 9..

For me I still remember the email and nobody screws soccer live 7...

Also with 7 & 9 having so much invested in RL and AFL I would prefer 10.

10 also has shows like the Project more in line with Footballs age bracket than the 7 & 9 audiences ...

 

[dibo]

SHOW US THE MONEY BIATCHES!

 

[midfielder]

SHOW US THE MONEY BIATCHES!

YES YES YES YES

 

[VicMariner]

Yup! Nobody screws football like 7.
I really hope anyone else gets the rights......but whoever does...please, please do right by the game.....

 

[Forum Phoenix]

I think we're safely past the age of "wog or poofter ball" as far as the broadcasters are concerned. Sports programming is now critical to their business models/ad revenue and survival. So less about being looked after, and as Dibo and Middy said... really is now just about make it rain etc...

 

[midfielder]

http://www.news.com.au/sport/footba...l/news-story/57f4d9b64a40236ce5f678e4c28d6a83

A-LEAGUE bosses want to increase the salary cap to $6 million per club to coincide with a new television deal.

FoxSports has until Friday to renew its deal with the A-League and is lobbying a free-to-air TV partner as part of the new contract. In 2005 FoxSports signed a $120 million A-League agreement over seven years and increased it in 2012 to $40 million per season until 2017.
It’s expected two other broadcasters will enter the bidding war if Fox Sports allows the exclusive deadline to pass. Pay TV provider BeIN Sports and Optus are reportedly waiting in the wings to bid for Australia’s premium soccer competition.

An FFA source claimed clubs may be able to get a financial ‘uplift’ from the new TV deal.

But A-League club officials have claimed they haven’t yet delivered their $6 million salary cap expectations to FFA.

This season FFA will deliver $2.6 million per club which covers the current salary cap as part of the old deal with clubs forced to spend 90 per cent $2.340 million for up to 23 players.
But concluding a $6 million per season deal for each club will see the A-League make significant financial strides.

The A-League could make up ground on the AFL, which this year had its salary cap set at $10.6 million while rugby league’s salary cap is worth $6.8 million.

 

[pjennings]

I really doubt that the clubs want a $6million salary cap. What I suspect they want is an increased cap, maybe averaging out at 4mill a season over the term of the deal and a $6million p.a. grant.

 

[dibo]

$6 million? Seriously?

There are a few things wrong with that.

First, I obviously love the A-League (and one particular club within it), but there needs to be some love shown to the grassroots. If we're going to have a more than doubling of revenue come in to the game, it'd be nice if a big whack of that revenue went down the tree to feed the roots.

At the moment the grassroots send something like $8m a year to FFA, and (extrapolating out from FNSW numbers) another $30m or so to the Member Federations. Then there's another $35m or so that's drawn from kids playing in pathway programs - kids whose parents are hit for up to $2400. And then there's the other 450k or so club players who contribute another maybe $30m in fees to local associations...

If we're going to throw another $35 million at the 230-odd players in A-League without showing some love to the 450,000 players who aren't in it, then we risk building a jewelled castle on foundations of sand.

Second, are there enough really high quality Aussie players to be able to justify an average wage across A-League squads of $250k or so? We're shopping in the cheap aisles to be sure, but we're still going to have foreign player quotas (or else we'll get miles outside the parameters of the AFCCL, etc.) and we'll have a salary floor as well as a cap, so that means that we're going to effectively be forced to spend buckets on players whose wage will be set by a rising minimum wage rather than necessarily rising because of a rising standard.

Third, won't this make for an increasing disconnect between the NPL and the A-League? P&R ain't happening any time soon, but I think there's reason to have it as an aspirational goal at least and this would only increase the gap between the tiers. We're going to need a stronger second tier to put in place the sort of foundation that P&R will need.

 

[midfielder]

If the 6 million reported is correct it could make the A-League players the highest paid in Australia.... I think the new AFL cap is 10.5 million but they have 48 member squads while we have I think 24 ...

 

[dibo]

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/f...l/news-story/57f4d9b64a40236ce5f678e4c28d6a83

A-League clubs chasing $6m to go with new TV deal

Val Migliaccio, @val61, The Advertiser
September 27, 2016 10:29am

A-LEAGUE bosses want $6 million per club to coincide with a new television deal.

Chiefs claim clubs are spending a minimum of $4.8m already with payroll tax, superannuation, NPL, NYL and W-League costs but only getting $2.6 million — the current salary cap from Football Federation Australia.

One source said clubs also want a 30 per cent increase on the current $2.6 million salary cap.

FoxSports has until Friday to renew its deal with the A-League and is lobbying a free-to-air TV partner as part of the new contract.

In 2005 FoxSports signed a $120 million A-League agreement over seven years and increased it in 2012 to $40 million per season until 2017. It is expected two other broadcasters will enter the bidding war if Fox Sports allows the exclusive deadline to pass.

Pay TV provider BeIN Sports and Optus are reportedly waiting in the wings to bid for Australia’s premium soccer competition.

An FFA source claimed clubs may be able to get a financial “uplift’’ from the new TV deal. But A-League club officials have claimed they haven’t yet delivered their $6 million expectations to FFA.

This season FFA will deliver $2.6 million per club which covers the current salary cap as part of the old deal with clubs forced to spend 90 per cent ($2.340 million) for up to 23 players.

But concluding a $6 million per season deal for each club will see the A-League make significant financial strides.

The A-League could make up ground on the AFL which this year had its salary cap set at $10.6 million while rugby league’s salary cap is worth $6.8 million.

But a new A-League TV deal is expected to fall short on last year’s record AFL $2.508 billion broadcast contract.

 

[dibo]

OK, so this looks more like real numbers.

If the $2.6m salary cap is bumped by 30%, we're basically going to $3.4m. That takes the average players' salary closer to $150k. Not bad.

The other part of this story is the idea of properly funding the NYL and WL.

My gut feel is that the NYL is half-pregnant at the moment - it's too short to be a proper comp but it's got to fit around the NPL.

The WL is critical because it shows we're serious about women's participation *and* the Matildas are going to win a World Cup long before the Socceroos do, and we run a full complement of clubs, players are properly paid and they play a proper length season then that day is going to come sooner.

But the big thing is this - if clubs are receiving a $6m broadcast grant *and* the cap doesn't go crazy, then whilst it'll be great if you're a big club and all, smaller clubs won't be scraping for cash all the time. Small clubs might even be viable. People might start looking for ways into the comp again, and we might see expansion sooner rather than later.

If clubs like Canberra and Wollongong could come in and pay their bills with 8k crowds then we're looking good - we can then fish in more places than just dropping another line in the big ponds.

We'll also see more people in the bigger cities keen to have a dig at entering the comp. Sydney and Melbourne are both big enough to carry 3 or 4 teams. Each of Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide are big enough for 2.

More clubs = more content, and content is king.

 

[Wombat]

WL is critical to nothing IMHO. More PC bullshit but it's a drain on our game.
As to expansion.........it will enhance the HAL like never before.

 

[dibo]

If you don't get how women's and girls' participation in our game drives subsequent interest in our game over interest and participation in other games (i.e. money spent) then I think you're missing a major dynamic in our game.