Seven Network "will pick up broadcast rights" to the Victorian Football League and West Australian Football League competitions, "after the ABC dropped its regional football coverage, blaming budget cuts," according to Michael Body of THE AUSTRALIAN. Seven and the AFL "would not confirm the deal to broadcast the two leagues, but the AFL said the ABC’s agreement to broadcast a VFL game weekly applied for the 2014 season only and the ABC was 'unable to commit' to the future broadcasting of VFL games." The WAFL "is yet to negotiate a replacement broadcaster for next year, although Seven is the 'preferred' broadcaster because of broadcast and commercial synergies with its national AFL deal." Seven’s enthusiasm "solved a potential crisis for the cash-strapped ABC, which pointed to federal government funding cuts as the cause." Seven’s anticipated move "follows the successful first year of a three-year deal" to broadcast South Australian National Football League matches in Adelaide. The deal with the VFL and WAFL "continues Seven’s recent buy-up of sporting rights across many sports," including new deals for the NFL, U.S. Masters, one-off football matches and domestic horse racing (THE AUSTRALIAN, 10/20).
