The AFL will land a modest new radio deal with all of its long-time rights holders after months of tense negotiations that threatened to leave the game without an FM broadcaster after Triple M refused to budge on its drastically cut-priced offer.
For the new Andrew Dillon regime the soon-to-be-signed three-year deal has proved the first tangible reality check of the fragile media scene – a vastly different commercial environment than that of 2022 when Gillon McLachlan oversaw a $4.5 billion, seven-year broadcast deal.
AFL chief executive Andrew Dillon.Credit: AFL Photos / Getty Images
The AFL had entertained a seven-year multi-network radio contract ending in 2031 in line with the Seven-Foxtel-Telstra deal, then looked at five years, but has ultimately settled on a three-year term ending in 2027 in the hope commercial conditions will have improved by then.
The deal will also have a significant bearing on the wider media landscape given that most key callers at Triple M and 3AW were coming out of contract after the 2024 grand final. They include Brian Taylor, Mark Howard, Luke Darcy and Jason Dunstall at Triple M and Tim Lane, Anthony Hudson, Tony Leonard, Bruce Eva and Matthew Lloyd at 3AW.
Triple M commentator Brian Taylor.
With Dillon becoming involved in the talks at the start of September, negotiations stalled when the radio broadcasters were told the AFL would only accept a two-year deal given the lower numbers involved. The radio networks would not accept two years.
The prospect of losing Southern Cross Austereo’s Triple M ultimately proved untenable for the AFL and its CEO of less than 12 months given its important demographic and the stark absence of no other genuine bidder this time around in the FM sphere.
Nine’s 3AW will call one extra game next season but pay proportionally less for the radio rights, although AFL insiders who would not be quoted due to commercial sensitivities said the final overall deal across all networks would be a small net gain on the last agreement.
One reason for the net gain is that the league will cut back on services to 3AW and Triple M such as hospitality at the Brownlow Medal, the grand final, the September Club and Gather Round.
The AFL wants to schedule Thursday night football through the season in 2025 and is looking at complications surrounding five-day breaks and next year’s AFLW schedule to make it happen.
SEN will continue to call every game over its various platforms and marginally increased its AFL deal. ABC Radio 774 will also continue to its decades-long relationship with the game along with Adelaide’s 5AA (Nova Entertainment) and K-Rock in Geelong.
The AFL looks certain to again launch next season exclusively in the Sydney and Brisbane and Gold Coast markets with the season-opener to be played on Thursday, March 6.
Although the radio broadcast rights are a drop in the ocean and to a certain degree seen by the league as a community service, the prospect of presenting a commercial deal worth less money than the last agreement to the AFL Commission would be unpalatable for Dillon’s team.
The radio talks were further complicated by changing personnel at the game’s headquarters and the recent departure of the game’s commercial boss Kylie Rogers, who has taken on the role of chief executive at the Victoria Racing Club.
Rogers ran the radio negotiations until she left in August before finance boss Matthew Chun took over. The AFL is still searching for a replacement for Rogers, and Dillon is expected to further restructure his executive team once a new commercial chief is appointed.
While ratings and audiences remain strong for the game across stadiums, television and radio and all its various streaming services, the advertising market has weakened and radio has been a key victim of falling sponsorship numbers that have not returned to pre-COVID levels.
There remains genuine concerns at head office that its key TV broadcast partners could struggle in coming years to reach its contracted financial commitments with a further concern over the economic impact of the federal government threatening to restrict gambling advertising on free-to-air and pay TV.
The AFL is also hopeful of luring Graham Wright – who recently left Collingwood – to work in a senior football role working across club, player movement and list management issues. Wright is also looking at offers from several clubs.
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