Channel Nine Keen To Show Saturday Night A-League Matches, Go Head-To-Head With AFL

Channel Nine "wants to screen Saturday night A-League games" and go head-to-head with the Australian Football League on Seven, according to David Davutovic of the HERALD SUN. Nine is the favorite to take over SBS’s A-League rights "as Seven’s interest is complicated by its AFL contract." Despite an appetite for more live sports and a view that the A-League provides a cheap entry point, sources have indicated that Seven "has been warned against putting live A-League games up against its Friday or Saturday night AFL coverage by the AFL." Nine’s National Rugby League broadcasts "are restricted to Friday nights and Sunday afternoons, leaving a gap on Saturday nights." But the "kingmaker" remains Fox Sports CEO Patrick Delany, "who effectively has to rubberstamp any movement on A-League rights." Fox has co-production deals "with Seven and Nine for the AFL and NRL" (HERALD SUN, 5/21).