AFANA Footy BBS

Just listening live to the AFL media conference. AFL have accepted Nine's (PBL's) bid with for the Broadcast rights. Seven/Ten to have first and last rights of reply/refusal. The Nine bid includes "enhanced coverage in capital cities and regional areas in NSW and QLD" rumor is that SBS are to show footy live into Sydney and Brisbane on Friday nights but this cannot be revealed until the time that Seven have to reply (14 calendar days)is up, but 9 would have the right to palm off up to 4 games per week to free to air and pay tv broadcasters. This does not include internet or 3G broadcast rights. $780 million over 5 years. It is about 50% more than the existing amount for the rights.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,17735555%255E1702,00.html

Just announced that Seven and Ten will match the financial component of the Nine bid ($780 million). They may be unable to match the coverage in NSW and QLD though. They believe having purchased the 'first and last' rights previously form 20 million, that they only have to match the nine offer financially. Stand by for whether this is accepted by the AFL or not......

ESPN in Australia to take on the Pay T.V games that Seven and Ten do not have? That is the latest rumor doing the rounds. This would deny Fox Footy Channel who were buddied up with 9 in the bid for the AFL rights. Foxtel would then be obliged to play the ESPN channel with the footy on it as I understand it.

What this may mean for the US I am not really sure, but might be a positive step for ESPN to be in the game in Oz.

Hello to everybody.
Since 7 and 10 won the battle, they may actually try to work with ESPN for three games each round like Foxtel has had. Rob, any chance that ESPN Oceania could get us live games to ESPN2 maybe? Let us hope, I want my live footy yesterday, ASAP isn't soon enough.

I've seen the stories mentioning ESPN. A couple of thoughts: the main offices of ESPN are in New York City and the studios are in Bristol, Connecticut, 2500 miles from LA. So I don't know who Sam Kekovich will be meeting in LA about ESPN Australia getting the Australian pay TV rights. ESPN International probably does want back into Oz but at what level that's hard to say. ESPN-I primarily distributes US sport coverage to the rest of the world not the other way around.

As for footy specifically, it *might* help get it back on ESPN in the US *if* the cost to ESPN here was nominal. However, last season, ESPN declined offers to pick up the coverage here and nothing has happened that would suggest that might have changed now. In TV though, never say never. I don't see ESPN providing live coverage to the US. The economics for them aren't there.

The international rights are still undecided for 2007-2011 and I suspect that FOX Sports International doesn't want them again. So who's left? Either IMG's TransWorld International or ESPN International or the AFL takes it back in house. My betting is still with TWI as the eventual rights holder. After the LA exhibition is behind us, AFANA will be in touch with the AFL to get an updated reading about the network(s) in North America for 2006 and beyond.

If we are to get live footy in the US it will happen via only two routes I can imagine: a purely pay per view subscription service (much like other live non US sports) or via a new Australian based TV channel (either original or ABC Asia Pacific repackaged) which uses footy as a selling tool. That would likely be subscription in some way, too.

-Rob de Santos
AFANA Chairman

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