AFL announces $2.5b media rights deal

The league struck the current five-year, $1.25 billion agreement less than a year before it started in 2012.

While the new TV rights deal looms as a major win for the AFL, it will mean new challenges.

This is the same stable of TV channels, with the addition of Telstra as the mobile rights holder.

Fox Footy will broadcast 11 matches every week, while News Corp will be able to sub-license one Sunday match.

He was asked if it would affect the NRL deal and he said: “no, it won’t affect the NRL deal”.

All nine games will be broadcast live across the Seven Network, Foxtel and Telstra streaming services each week, AFL chief Gillon McLachlan said on Tuesday.

The AFL has insisted it will continue to control the schedule for the sport.

The NRL hopes its total broadcast rights deal will be worth around $1.7 billion once a pay TV deal is reached.

It will hold the rights for all hand-held devices, the club digital network, IPTV (Internet Protocol Television) and to the AFL website, AFL.com.au.

The matches are now broadcast the AFL live app, and digital rights were expected to contribute a significant amount to any new broadcast rights deal.

News Corp Australia is delighted to partner with the AFL, Seven West Media and Telstra on this groundbreaking deal. – Rupert Murdoch, executive chairman of News Corporation and 21 Century Fox.

“We are excited by Thursday night matches remaining an important part of future fixtures, providing the potential to build upon the success of the timeslot at the Adelaide Oval over the past two seasons”.

Both Stokes and News Corp CEO Robert Thomson endorsed the idea of a twilight final. Foxtel has made high definition coverage available to subscribers for a number of seasons and now the Seven Network has joined the party.

“The AFL is Australia’s most watched football code and Telstra has a long and proud association with the sport”. Given the affiliation it will likely have with Foxtel (ACCC approval pending) they would be a good chance to get back into the AFL broadcasting scene for the first time since 2011.

Foxtel is yet to finalise how much it will pay to broadcast the remaining four NRL matches each weekend from 2018 – and possibly simulcast Nine’s matches.

The AFL deal averages out at $418 million per year, with Seven paying $140 million per year for three-and-a-half games per week. “We will continue to bring world class digital experiences to our supporters and members wherever they are consuming AFL content”.

Nine had been in the running for a Saturday afternoon game.

While accepting the AFL had the right to make the final call, Seven chairman Kerry Stokes said he’d given his “suggestions” to the AFL. The AFL is the biggest football code.