AFL on Radio

(Updated after email from SiriusXM to AFANA.) The SiriusXM satellite radio service announced today (6/4/20) that they will add AFL coverage for the first time with a "match of the week" and a weekly radio show hosted by Eddie McGuire, AFL commentator and Collingwood president. The first radio show will run tonight, June 4^th, at 6 PM EDT for an hour and then each Thursday at the same time. 

"Aussie Football Rules America with Eddie McGuire" will run "on SiriusXM's Dan Patrick Radio channel (ch. 211), recapping the previous week's AFL action and looking ahead at the exciting matches in the weekend ahead" according to the press release issued today, and the broadcasts are also online at SiriusXM.com and on the SiriusXM app for connected devices and speakers. The full press release is given below, courtesy of PR Newswire. (Home page users click on "Read more".) It will be available in the US and in Canada since channel 211 is available in both countries.

The first radio broadcast tonight (6/4/20) will be a replay of the 2018 Grand Final between West Coast and Collingwood and will follow the radio show hosted by McGuire. This to be the Triple M coverage from that day and the weekly matches to be one of those covered by Triple M. The coverage will be on delay, repeated from the previous weekend each week, and follow the McGuire hosted show. Coverage of finals and the Grand Final is included. Matches will be condensed to fit in a two-hour time slot. AFANA will follow up with SiriusXM and add more to this in the coming days and update our radio page. SiriusXM will be providing AFANA with the match selected each week in advance of the Thursday airing. (Update: 6/5/20: Our staff writer in Melbourne, Johnson Leung, reports that Melbourne media is suggesting that the weekly match could be the Thursday night match from 14 hours earlier and that the Grand Final could be live. We're following up with SiriusXM. 6/9/20: our radio page now has match schedules.)

NEW YORK, June 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- SiriusXM announced today that it is adding Australian Football League programming to its sports lineup for the first time ever, featuring a new exclusive show hosted by Australian media icon Eddie McGuire, as well as play-by-play broadcasts of an AFL Match of the Week.

Another note to alert everyone that AFANA is closely tracking any developments the AFL makes to their season plans going forward. For now, everything downunder is suspended and the league is desperately trying to manage the financial impact. Fox Sports in the US is airing re-runs from March all month on Fox Soccer Plus but no other channel at this time. TSN is not airing any AFL coverage so far as we know in Canada. Our TV schedules are up to date through the end of April. Other pages like the radio page, draw pages, etc. will be updated as things become clearer. 

Fans have also asked for an AFANA financial status report. It's still unstable in the long run but thanks to some limited sales commissions from WatchAFL and severe cost cutting, we will survive for the next few months for sure. As long as the season is shut down, that revenue will cease after May and we'll reassess where we are in early June. We badly need donations, particularly monthly commitments to cement our long term survival. We know that all of the chaos brought about by the COVID-19 virus puts added financial pressure on each of you as well. If you are fortunate and can spare some dollars please consider a donation using either of our donation buttons (GoFundMe or PayPal) at the top of the page. Consider $10 a month but any amount helps. Thanks for your support.

Just a quick note to alert everyone that AFANA is closely following any changes the AFL makes to their schedule, whether it ends up being a shortened season as indicated overnight or is ultimately canceled. That will have a ripple effect on our TV schedules, radio page, draw pages, etc.  As the dust settles we will make the necessary updates or notes but it might take awhile for everything to trickle down to the entire site and the networks to catch up.

Fans have also asked about where we are financially. It's still precarious and we badly need donations to pay the bills and debts. We know that all of the chaos brought about by the COVID-19 virus puts added financial pressure on each of you as well as on our long term viability. Please continue to consider a donation using either of our donation buttons at the top of the page. Thanks for your support.