A "spate of recent deals show the influence broadcaster Fox Sports has on the Australian sporting scene and how it may wield that power in the future," according to John Stensholt of the AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW. Football Federation Australia announced last week that an agreement with Network Ten was "clinched for A-League and Socceroos matches." The move was "rightly lauded as a positive" for football given it will get the A-League on one of the three commercial free-to-air networks for the first time. The deal was a Fox Sports deal, "not one that was struck by FFA." Fox, in December, signed a six-year, A$364M (A$310M cash and A$36M contra) extension to its existing contract with FFA. Fox "left some clauses in the new deal that made it extremely difficult for FFA to cut any sort of deal with the free-to-air networks." Fox will also "play a part" in any FFA expansion plans for the A-League, "with a small kicker in the rights contract for additional matches as a result of more teams at any stage of the six-year contract." It will "have a say in where the new teams come from." Then, there is the "budget" '17 deal with the federal government. The government will provide subscription TV worth A$30M ($22.5M) over four years to "maintain and increase coverage of women's sports, niche sports and high-participation sports which have struggled to get air-time." That means Fox Sports -- which already has an "iron grip" on sport with rights to all National Rugby League, Australia Football League, Super Rugby and A-League matches and Supercars races -- "will receive government funding to show even more sport" (AFR, 6/4).
