FOXTELling it how it is…
Foxtel have once again successfully negotiated the rights to the A-League, keeping their impressive stable of domestic sports. A tidy sum of $346m over six years sounds very impressive, but it was a far cry from the $80m per year David Gallop had been spruiking in the past.
Fox Sports led by Adam Peacock, Simon Hill and Mark Bosnich have always put their best foot forward for our game in Australia and you could consider Fox Sports as patrons of our game. The outstanding coverage they deliver on a consistent basis gives the game every opportunity to grow, at least if those fans have access to pay television. After all it’s 2017 in just over a week; surely subscription television is finally mainstream in Australia.
Sadly this is not the case
Foxtel continue to monopolise the subscription television playing field in Australia, and good luck to them; for the most part they do an excellent job. For the average sporting fan in Australia, Foxtel could almost be seen as a necessity; not the luxury item that it realistically is. With AFL, NRL, Super 15’s, A-League and whatever other sport is up for purchase in Australia Foxtel controls the sporting market in the broadcast sense. The financial stability stakeholders such as Foxtel bring to each sport is enormous and cannot be underestimated, but it does also raise the question of how much power does the broadcast partner hold over each league.
When you look at the A-League you would consider Fox Sports playing a major role in regards to how the league has survived the eleven seasons with sporadic crowds and minimal mainstream interest. For the biggest sport in the world to continually struggle in a nation that claims to love sport (some even say the Sporting capital of the World) is a travesty and a continual frustration. Tim Cahill is probably Australia’s most recognisable sports star and he cannot make a dramatic impact in attendance figures for Melbourne City, nor a sizable impact on television ratings. You cannot question the work ethic of Cahill who has been seen at every major event this season involving the A-League, and will most likely continue to do so.
Expansion seems to be the next logical step for the league, but the new television deal has muddied the waters. Not only has the A-League given Fox Sports the broadcast rights, but they have also given them a huge say in what markets will enter the league next.
Essentially Fox Sports in conjunction with the FFA will decide who the two new teams are for the league, and it will be a ‘best fit’ for television over football. I can’t see a camera crew being enthusiastic to a Canberra or Tasmania team, especially given the relatively low populations of each region.
Over the next six years we will see the growth of the game, but only on the terms of those running it. High participation rates and successful World Cup qualification campaigns are all well and good but for the A-League to grow into a successful league we need all parties on the same page. With the ever changing market of subscription television and new forms of media it’s not in the best interest of Foxtel for the game to explode, this will only dramatically increase the asking price in the next contract. You only need to see how much the next ‘Big Bash’ contract goes for in comparison to the original Channel ten deal.
In six years time I hope the FFA has completed their due diligence in running our game, but one can only think it will be a twelve team competition with the broadcast rights holders will be pulling the puppet strings and having a big say in the sizable decisions.
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