Football Federation Australia has promised A-League clubs a "significant financial boost" from its improved six-year, A$346M ($251M) TV deal with Fox Sports, according to Emma Kemp of the SYDNEY MORNING HERALD. But the governing body will not "say how much and it could be months before impatient team owners learn" what they will receive from the increased revenue. Australian football "entered uncharted territory on Tuesday," announcing a "bumper" A$57.6M ($41.8M)-a-year deal that "trumps -- in size and length -- any previous arrangement with its foundation broadcaster." Under the deal, Fox Sports will show all A-League games live and maintain rights to men's and women's national team matches. Fox Sports CEO Patrick Delany said that FFA had "eked the last bit of petrol" out of its "fiscal tank." FFA claimed it was more than double its existing broadcast deal "on a like-for-like basis," given most Socceroos games "are now excluded and the free-to-air rights for a primetime Saturday night match not yet sold." Yet the overall deal "will still likely fall short" of the A$80M ($58M) a year targeted by former FFA Chair Frank Lowy. FFA CEO David Gallop said that clubs were briefed on Tuesday and were "on board" with an incentivized arrangement for funding beyond the salary cap. Gallop: "We can't set a level today, but I'm confident we can move quickly over the next few months to get to a significant increase for our clubs" (SMH, 12/20).
'QUANTUM LEAP': THE AUSTRALIAN's Ray Gatt reported FFA Chair Steven Lowy trumpeted the deal as "a quantum leap for the game in this country," but it has been met with "anger and disappointment" from A-League club owners. Lowy: "Our game has never seen a deal of this magnitude." Yet despite a deal many believe is a "win-win" for the sport, "the club owners were left bitterly upset, especially with the process." Despite having two members on a special broadcasting rights advisory board, "they were informed of the full details" on Tuesday. One "angry source" said, "The deal stinks. It is amateur hour. My kids could have done a better deal." Another source suggested it was a "far from happy discussion with FFA," saying, "Let’s just say one side of the table was happy, the other wasn't" (THE AUSTRALIAN, 12/21).
PLEADING THEIR CASE: In Sydney, Tom Smithies reported A-League clubs are seeking a A$60M ($43.5M) "bonanza" from the new deal, hoping to secure a 250% increase in their funding from the "windfall." FFA promised to "tell the clubs quickly how much they would increase the central grant each club gets," up from the current A$2.5M ($1.8M) a year. Gallop said that FFA would move "within months" to detail how much the owners would get, after the clubs' umbrella body said it had "sought immediate assurances" from FFA regarding the "future distributions and associated financial models required to ensure the sustainable financial health of the league and its clubs." The clubs argue that they "generate the economic value of the league and so most of the TV deal," with most of the Socceroos’ prime games sold to Fox Sports separately by the Asian Football Confederation (DAILY TELEGRAPH, 12/20).
'MAJOR OPPORTUNITY': THE AUSTRALIAN's Jake Mitchell reported Delany said that the purchase of the EPL broadcast rights by Optus has "lowered the competition’s profile in Australia and represents a huge opportunity" for the A-League. It comes after Optus agreed to pay a record A$189M over three years for the EPL last year, ending an 18-year relationship with Fox Sports. Delany: "I've got to say EPL is just disappearing in Australia. It was always a shadow over the A-League but now you don't hear people talking about the EPL because it's not on broad distribution. This is major opportunity for the A-League over the next couple of years. ... This could be a real golden era" (THE AUSTRALIAN, 12/21).
GALLOP ADDRESSES NEW CLUBS: In Melbourne, Matt Windley reported football execs said that TV networks "will not dictate where the next two A-League clubs come from." But Gallop said that expansion sides do need to "add value" to a competition. Though Gallop said that Fox Sports and a "yet-to-be-determined free to air partner would be consulted, they would not be the sole arbiters on where the next clubs come from." Gallop: "The decisions around expansion will be ours and we can take those decisions to be anywhere. But we certainly have had conversations with the gentlemen at the table about where they think expansion might be a better chance of success" (HERALD SUN, 12/20).
