League 2020: Fox Sports, Football Federation Australia come to broadcast agreement
The A-League will remain on Fox Sports following some last-ditch negotiations sealed a deal with Football Federation Australia - with clubs set to reap the benefits.
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The A-League will remain on Fox Sports next season under the terms of a deal struck in principle between the broadcaster and Football Federation Australia.
Though lawyers still have to ratify the final document, the one-year agreement was reached after talks late into the night and continuing into Friday. It’s believed to be worth around $32m with the bulk in cash, but also to give FFA more freedom in terms of digital rights.
Under its terms, next season is likely to start in December, with the ultimate aim of moving the competition to a winter timetable – unifying it with the grassroots calendar.
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The new deal is on top of an agreement struck to show the games remaining this season, and brings the relationship between the two sides back from the brink of an immediate divorce.
It remains to be seen whether the new deal still gives Fox Sports exclusivity over the vast majority of games, as the broadcaster currently has, and it’s understood that negotiations may continue over the seasons beyond next year.
The suspension of the A-League due to the coronavirus pandemic had given Foxtel, the owners of Fox Sports, the right to exit the seven year deal struck in 2016 worth $57m a year, and the company had signalled earlier this week that it intended to do so.
An invoice for nearly $15m sent by FFA to Fox on Monday – for the July-September quarter – appeared to have been the catalyst for the breakdown, with Fox removing all domestic football content from its website late on Wednesday.
But the replacement deal will allow the A-League clubs and FFA time to establish their own platform to broadcast games in the future, as well as give the clubs – and players – financial surety for the next year and a half.
Both sides are understood to be content with the final outcome, opening the possibility of the alliance continuing in the future as part of FFA’s plans to show much of its own content.
In the short term it is the final piece in the puzzle for the A-League to resume just 26 days until the first game. The clubs resumed training this week for the first time since March, under strict medical protocols, with the first game of the planned resumption set down for July 16.
Both Foxtel and FAA declined to comment, but an official announcement is expected imminently.
We’re coming, ready or not
Wellington Phoenix are so confident they’ll be cleared to enter Australia, they’ve booked a flight to Sydney on Saturday without having received a travel exemption.
Phoenix chairman Rob Morrison conceded there were “a couple of little ticks” the A-League club still needs before its players and staff can pass through Australian borders but it had chosen to front-foot the situation.
Morrison had been in close contact with A-League boss Greg O’Rourke and indicated most of the clearance process with NSW government departments and the border force had been completed.
With the club anxious to begin their 14-day quarantine process ahead of the July 16 competition resumption, it had chosen not to await the official Australian green light, which would have delayed flight bookings further.
Wellington are anxious to travel as soon as possible, with their playing squad effectively separated into four groups during Sydney quarantine.
The bulk of the squad will arrive from Wellington but six of the players are presently at their Australian homes. Two others - English striker Gary Hooper and Mexican playmaker Ulises Davila - will have to self isolate away from their teammates.
Hooper and Davila have both begun travelling from their home nations and are scheduled to be in Sydney by the end of the week.
“It’s taken a lot of work, getting all the various approvals in place,” Morrison told the Phoenix City podcast.
“It’s taken an effort. Everyone’s been really cautious, there’s a lot of hoops to get through.
Greg O’Rourke has done a power of work in the last few days to get this through.
“There’s just a couple of little ticks that we need and once that’s all done we’ll be on the plane on Saturday.”
The Phoenix will effectively mirror the quarantine process the Warriors achieved in the NRL.