The AFL held meetings with the three free-to-air networks on Thursday or Friday last week. Ten’s huge US-based parent company,Paramount,has already made a forceful case by inviting the AFL’s senior executives to New York this year.
The networks pitched their proposals to grow interest in the game in a landscape transformed by technology and the rise ofstreaming services.
Sources who could not be named because they were not authorised to speak said the meetings were not focused on specific dollar amounts. The current rights run until the end of 2024 for both Seven and Foxtel,which are contracted to pay the AFL an aggregate of $946 million over 2023 and 2024. Foxtel pays the larger share and is increasingly transitioning matches to its growing streaming arm,Kayo.
Senior club and AFL insiders have toldThe Age andThe Sydney Morning Herald that they favour Foxtel and Seven,although there is a view thatParamount-Ten could make the largest financial offer. Either way,the insiders say,the intense competition for the rights ensures that the code will remain the country’s biggest for broadcast dollars and the AFL will gain a sizeable increase.
Nine,the owner of this masthead,was also invited and presented their credentials to the AFL leadership in Melbourne. The network has grown since Nine last held a share of the AFL rights between 2002 and 2006,adding to its stable the streaming service Stan and radio stations in Melbourne (3AW),Perth (6PR),Sydney (2GB) and Brisbane (4BC).