Channel 7 set to broadcast VFL games on Saturday nights to combat Fox Footy

With the footy TV wars hotter than ever, Channel 7 are poised to make a daring move to ensure you can still watch the footy on free-to-air TV on Saturdays.

VFL matches will be broadcast on Saturday nights. Picture: Michael Klein

The VFL will become prime-time television this season, with Channel 7 poised to broadcast matches on Saturday nights.

The network has been involved in lengthy talks with league officials about shifting the VFL coverage from Sunday afternoon to 7pm on Saturdays on 7mate.

The league believes coverage in that prestigious slot will make for great exposure for a competition often left struggling in the shadows of the AFL.

It will also spark the latest chapter in the footy TV wars, with Fox Footy pulling out all the stops in its midday to midnight exclusive coverage of the AFL in Melbourne on Saturdays.

The VFL is set for some major exposure. Picture: Michael Klein

It’s understood the Saturday night VFL games will be played at a single venue, potentially Port Melbourne’s North Port Oval. The historic ground had its lights upgraded to broadcast quality three years ago. Few other VFL venues have lighting capable of hosting night games.

While some VFL clubs might quibble they are giving up home games to move to North Port Oval, it will be off-set by the exposure to their sponsors in prime-time.

Seven will launch its suite of AFL shows and broadcasters on Wednesday, but is keen to fill the gap on Saturdays given the network has lost its AFL timeslot in the new broadcast deal.

For the next seven seasons, Fox Footy has exclusive rights in Melbourne across every round of the year to broadcast every AFL game across Saturdays.

For at least the first eight rounds of the year across all other states, apart from Victoria, Fox Footy also has exclusive rights for every game on Saturdays.

Fox Footy will broadcast from 12pm to midnight on Saturdays and is hopeful of a ratings bonanza, with the Saturday twilight contests increasingly popular among fans.

Seven will have a football program of live game across every day of the week at 7pm, including the Thursday and Friday night games it shares with Fox Footy.

Fox Footy will broadcast all AFL games on Saturdays. Picture: Rob Lawson/AFL Photos via Getty Images

While the games will be on 7mate instead of the primary channel, Seven believes its ratings will still be strong for the VFL.

Seven secured the rights to the recent Sri Lankan Test series and while the second Test was also broadcast on 7mate, it at times out-rated the main channel.

The VFL has increasingly become a competition to watch given the influx of players recruited from the state league competition in recent years, including last year’s trio at the national draft – Riley Bice (Sydney), Sam Davidson (Western Bulldogs) and Aidan Johnson (Melbourne).

Other VFL stars are now fighting for SSP rookie listings, including Werribee’s JJ Liston Trophy winner Dom Brew and cult-figure Southport ruckman Brayden Crossley.

With many AFL draftees cutting their teeth in the VFL before making an impact at senior level, Seven believes the Saturday night VFL games will have great appeal for supporters.