Robbie Slater is sick to his stomach over the new broadcast deal for Australian football
The rift in Australian football has been highlighted by Paramount and Ten being extended as the host broadcaster of the sport. Leaving Australian soccer in a horrible position once again, ROBBIE SLATER writes.
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If you want any more evidence of the rift in football in Australia you need to look no further than the new deal Football Australia has done with current broadcaster Paramount/Ten.
The bitter feud that raged for years before the APL divorced itself to run the A-League and the FA concentrated just on running its own affairs still exists and is evident in this new deal trumpeted by the FA.
It is extraordinary how football has messed things up in this country.
I have met with the important people in this country and talked to people at all levels of the game and I can tell you now - there is no plan.
I am pissed off that we have now got ourselves in this position that after everything the game has endured, we should go and pat everyone on the back about getting a new TV deal and thank Channel Ten for how they’ve treated football in this country by rewarding it with the Socceroos and Matildas.
It makes me sick to my stomach.
This is a broadcaster that has done no favours at all for the domestic game and told the A-League it must languish in its current deal for the next two years until it expires.
We saw with the pitiful distribution of just $530,000 per club for this upcoming season exactly what Ten and Paramount think of the APL.
Make no mistake, this mega-deal bandied about for many months of $200 million over the next four years is simply not true. I am told the exact figure is well south and is just a 15 per cent increase on their last deal which was reported to be $100m.
You would hope the FA learnt from the APL that this deal is not full of contra and KPIs to trigger bonus payments because that has proven to be a complete disaster for the APL.
It is a risk climbing back into bed with Ten and Paramount given all stories of the financial struggles at Ten and the massive cuts globally at Paramount who are trying to wipe $3 billion off their business.
Was there even a thought given that the mere existence of Ten could be under threat in the coming years?
Ten and Paramount only want football for the Matildas. There is no love for football or desire to grow the game.
It’s just what they saw at the World Cup and the massive ratings and the records that blew every other sport out of the sky.
Don’t forget this is the same broadcaster that didn’t foresee the Matildas mania for a home World Cup - how dumb are they?
They could’ve beaten Seven to those rights but they sat and twiddled their thumbs while Seven broke every record and did a magnificent performance of hosting the World Cup.
Now they’ve paid more, but has the horse bolted in some respects?
I know Australia will host the Asian Cup in 2026 and the Matildas will have a very similar line up with hopefully Sam Kerr back, but after that there are no big tournaments for a long time and the World Cups are all in terrible time zones.
If they think the Matildas alone will transition into massive subscriptions for the ailing Paramount they’re mistaken.
The simple fact will be, the Matildas will be on Ten’s main channel and there will be no need to register for Paramount to watch them except when they play in bad time zones overseas.
And the Matildas brand took a hit at the Olympics, no doubt about it.
The game needs to start championing the next stars of the Matildas for when the champions like Kerr inevitably retire - but there was no mention of supporting the ALeague Women’s or the ALeague Men’s that would help grow the domestic game.
I am disappointed in the FA who were in a position of power here. Every channel would’ve been interested in this broadcast deal, but FA opted to just stick with Ten.
You would hope CEO James Johnson has spoken to Ten and Paramount and said ‘what more are you going to do to promote the domestic game in Australia?’
Because right now Ten is letting the game tread water without a care in the world.
If the FA don’t help fight for the domestic game the APL will find itself in a very difficult position in two years’ time when their broadcast deal ends.
Would they be able to pull away from Ten and create a division of broadcast that impacts fans or do they just have to suck it up and stick with the same old same old.
I’m not making excuses for what the APL have done, they only have themselves to blame for the massive mistakes they’ve made and money they’ve wasted, but at the end of the day I know there’s been a feud and it has to end now.
I think the FA has a moral obligation as the head of football in this country to help the domestic competition - even when maybe there is an argument that it doesn’t really deserve it.
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