AFL welcomes historic seven-year $4.5 billion deal with Seven and Foxtel

The AFL has landed a $4.5 billion, seven-year broadcast deal, easily the largest in Australian history, after sticking with incumbents Seven and Foxtel to televise AFL and AFLW matches until 2031.

Foxtel and Seven were forced to pay significantly more than anyone imagined due to Channel Ten and Paramount’s bid of $6 billion over 10 years.

The new seven-year deal will bring in $642 million in cash annually, and subsidised advertising on Seven and across Foxtel’s service, far more than the $600 million per year the AFL was aiming for. The previous two deals had yielded $3.5 billion over eight years.

Although AFL boss Gillon McLachlan said the same number of matches would be shown on free to air TV as in the previous deal, Foxtel would have exclusive rights to Saturday games for the first eight rounds in Melbourne.

Thursday night games will be televised on Seven and Seven digital in the first 15 rounds of seasons. The migration of those games from Saturdays will allow Foxtel eight “super Saturdays”, when all games on those days will be exclusive to the pay TV network without diluting the total number of free to air TV games in the season.

Any blockbusters such as Anzac Day or Eve, or Dreamtime at the ’G would be quarantined from that arrangement and on free to air in any year they landed on a Saturday. Other blockbusters, such as Easter Monday and the Queen’s Birthday game, plus three more unidentified marquee games, will be live and free to air.

AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan (centre), with (from left) Seven’s James Warburton, Foxtel’s Patrick Delaney and Siobhan McKenna and Telstra’s Kim Krogh Andersen.Credit: Justin McManus

The timing of the grand final will be left to AFL’s discretion. Channel Seven’s clear preference is for a night game, but there is no stipulation in the new deal over the game’s timeslot.

The 7.50pm start time for Friday night games was locked in for the next two years but is a point of “active discussion”, with provision for an earlier starting time from 2025.

The new deal “contemplates” the possibility of the introduction of a 19th team from Tasmania, McLachlan said.

He added the AFL was “optimistic of reaching some agreement with the Tasmanian government” before the league went to its existing clubs.

Fox will have its own commentary teams and graphics for all games under the new deal.

At least 30 AFLW home and away games and all AFLW finals will be live on free to air or Seven’s digital service.

Earlier, a senior media industry source confirmed to The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald that the deal would run for seven years and was a significant increase on the previous deal, worth $946 million over two years.

Seven and Foxtel were considered the front-runners despite Nine Entertainment Co, which owns this masthead, making an offer on Monday worth roughly $500 million a year.

At Tuesday’s announcement, AFL chairman Richard Goyder said it was a historic day for the league, supporters and the code’s future.

“It’s a proud day that we announce the biggest broadcasting deal in Australian sport and deliver on our purpose to progress the game, so everyone can share in its heritage and possibilities,” Goyder told reporters from Perth.

He said the latest deal balanced the best possible outcomes for viewership, and ensured a greater investment in grassroots football.

McLachlan said the investment would go back into the code to make it accessible, keep ticket prices down and invest in facilities.

“When we thought it couldn’t be any better we experienced the greatest open finals round of all time,” he said.

Seven West chief executive James Warburton emphasised the broadcaster had secured “a comprehensive package of digital rights to the AFL” which meant fans could watch games “anywhere, on any device for free”.

Seven chairman Kerry Stokes said he was excited to continue the partnership which would ensure the AFL could grow over the next decade.

“We can think in terms of a decade, and over that decade with the support of the AFL and our other partners,” Stokes said.

“I am sure we’re going to take the AFL to whole new levels.”

Ten was disappointed to lose its bid, but its streaming arm Paramount wished the other broadcasters the best.

“We would like to sincerely thank the AFL for its invitation to participate in the bidding process,” a spokesperson said.

“While we are disappointed not to be awarded the rights, we believed strongly in our ability to continue to grow the sport across multiple platforms particularly free-to-air in the northern markets and the AFLW, and provide coverage that sports fans would have revelled in, we retain confidence in the integrity of the process and the sincerity of those involved.

“We wish the AFL and the successful consortium all the best for the game.”

Goyder and McLachlan sat near Stokes at last Saturday night’s elimination final between Fremantle and the Western Bulldogs, which made some industry executives believe the deal was effectively done.

The deal is one of the key tasks McLachlan wanted to tick off before leaving the job later this year.

He will now focus on Tasmania’s bid for a 19th team, a new pay deal for the AFL’s male players and club finding. All deals are expected to be finalised before McLachlan exits.

In 2015, Rupert Murdoch intervened directly in media rights negotiations to ensure News Corp’s Foxtel, Seven and Telstra secured a then-record $2.508 billion, six-year deal that ran between 2017 and 2022.

The two-year $946 million extension was secured in 2020, which ensured the rights stayed with Seven and Foxtel until the end of 2024 at a cost of $473 million a year.

The prospect of streaming services gaining access to broadcast rights drew the attention of the federal government.

Last month, Communications Minister Michelle Rowland publicly warned the sporting code against reducing the number of live matches available for free before speaking to key executives at the sporting body. Rowland is reviewing the laws, which only prevent Foxtel – not other streaming services – from putting major sporting events behind a paywall.

A new deal with Seven West Media and Foxtel would not breach the anti-siphoning laws, which determine which key sports and cultural events should be available for free and have been a major focus in this round of broadcast negotiations.

Seven and Foxtel were at loggerheads for months over key elements of the deal, including the number of live matches on free to air TV. The AFL considered delaying two free to air games each week by up to two hours in interstate markets to give Foxtel more exclusivity for its streaming service Kayo Sports.

Rowland welcomed the AFL’s announcement there wouldn’t be a reduction in the number of matches on free to air TV.

“Obviously, this has just come out and the precise scheduling is yet to be fully clear. But I think it does emphasise the importance of free to air accessibility - a free, ubiquitous and stable platform and how important that is for Australians,” she told ABC TV.

With Caroline Schelle, Vince Rugari and Lisa Visentin

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