Broadcast expert says drastic APL change is needed otherwise A-League’s future remains uncertain
The APL is continuing to feel the fallout of the latest broadcast deal revelation, with sports broadcast expert left concerned about the future of the A-League's.
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The APL is shackled by its broadcast deal – the situation is so dire sports broadcaster expert Colin Smith says he can’t see a future for the A-League's unless drastic changes are made.
The board, which met on Tuesday, wasn’t able to reach an agreement.
APL bosses have remained quiet on the matter. A spokesman said the board would issue a statement when a resolution was reached.
It is understood the funding cuts have been proposed on the back of the APL receiving just $5 million from the reported $30 million broadcast deal with Ten/Paramount + after production costs and penalties for not meeting benchmark were accounted for.
It was reported it cost former rights holder Fox Sports $15 million a year in production costs – prior to the expansion of the men’s and women’s competitions.
Colin Smith, director of Global Media & Sports said he wasn’t “certain if there was a future for the A-League's as currently configured”.
“It is very challenging and I don’t see a solution for that,” Smith said.
A Paramount Australia spokesman said it couldn’t comment on APL’s business decisions.
“That is at its sole discretion,” the spokesman said.
“We can comment however on Paramount Australia’s continued commitment to its A-League's broadcast deal and partnership with the APL.
“Paramount Australia is proud to support the growth of football in Australia which has seen its strongest audience figures this season.”
Smith said the lack of advertising and promotion of the game was one of the leading problems, along with the second rate treatment given to the women’s games.
Unlike the men’s the women’s matches are often covered by one to two cameras and have no pre-game, halftime show or reporters or commentators at the field.
“One of the highest performing sports on television at the moment is the Matildas and a lot of the team actually play in the A-League’s women,” Smith said.
“One of the problems is that the A-League’s men’s has a higher (broadcast) standard than the women’s.”
Smith said with the huge surge in popularity for women’s football the league should have done more to capitalise on it – such as fighting for more free to air slots – of which there were just three (two of which were during the finals series) this season.
“The sport needs to promote itself and get more people watching,” Smith said.
“I don’t think the A-League's has done a good job (promoting) either the men’s or the women’s.”
While a Paramount spokesman said it was happy with the current situation with the A-League's and vowed to continue working with the APL to grow the game – Smith said the APL could struggle to find a new broadcast arrangement in the future.
“The challenge is the performance criteria in the deal in terms of subscriptions, which are clearly not being met,” Smith said.
“The challenge for the A-League's is in essence they are a single sport. There’s nothing else.
“If you’re a football fan you will be following the likes of the Champions League, the English Premier League and probably the Bundesliga.
“To watch the A-League's’ you now have to become a subscriber to Paramount + plus be a subscriber to Optus Sport and Stan Sport to get that content.”
Smith said the APL could revive itself if it was willing to look globally – like the American Super League selling its rights to Apple TV.
Or how the NBA signed with Ten and ESPN, who broadcast the NBL.
“It’s worked out really well for them,” Smith said.
Smith said it wasn’t unheard of for sporting bodies to foot the bill for production costs, like the APL does for the A-League's.
But said it was usually for second and third tier competitions.
“For the must have sports in Australia, that’s the AFL, NRL, The Australian Open, Test cricket, the Big Bash -production costs are all included,” Smith said.
“But for some second tier sports these are not covered, like the WNBL.
“It’s no longer the halcyon days of the past where the margins these broadcasters made was very significant.
“They are all falling, it’s across the board, so the idea that broadcasters or media companies can pay premiums for second and third tier sports is much more challenging.”
The Paramount Australia spokesman said it had been the APL who requested to cover the production costs.
“It was the APL’s decision to take on the production of the matches. This was not a requirement that Paramount sought,” the spokesman said.
A-League's commissioner Nick Garcia previously told Code Sports taking on the production “allows us to control the quality of our own product as well”.
The APL outsourced the production to start-up company Global Advance, who went into administration last month. It forced the sporting organisation to sign a short-term contract with NEP.
The Paramount spokesman said viewership was up across the board.
“On the weekend, viewers were up 64 per cent for the Liberty A-League Grand Final that capped off an excellent season where audiences more than doubled on 10 Play and Paramount+ compared to 2022-23,” the spokesman said.
“The Isuzu UTE A-League Elimination Finals also attracted its biggest audiences for the year and we’re looking forward to what will be two thrilling semi-final matches this weekend with the Grand Final still to come on 25 May.”
The spokesman said Women’s A-League digital viewing was up 101 per cent on 10 Play and 113 per cent on Paramount + when compared to last season – but didn’t provide any figures.
Men’s viewership is up 35 per cent on 10 Play, with TV audiences up just 5 per cent on the 2022-23 season.
It is important to note that some growth is expected, especially with the women’s competition expanding to 22 rounds and adding a new team.
But despite the growth the APL took home just $5 million.
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