Coronavirus: Broadcast deal up in the air for AFL clubs

The AFL is facing uncertainty over its $2.5bn broadcast rights deal with fewer games and the spectre of a truncated season.

AFL Players’ Association choef executive Paul Marsh said the players knew how much people loved and needed football. Picture: AAP

The AFL is facing uncertainty over its $2.5bn broadcast rights deal with fewer games and the spectre of a severely truncated season threatening to undermine the revenue stream that underpins the entire competition.

The league is facing a possible reduction in its fees under minimum delivery requirements struck several years ago in the ­record-breaking deal.

The situation is “completely fluid’’, senior sources said, as the league examines ways to maximise the benefits this season for the two main broadcasters, the Seven Network and Fox Sports.

It comes as AFL and AFLW players late on Tuesday expressed a desire to play the game this season, increasing the chances of the season starting on Thursday night in a blockbuster between Carlton and Richmond that will be broadcast without any spectators.

The Australian also understands broadcasters want to put on the backburner any negotiations about an extension of the record $2.5bn deal that ends in 2022.

The AFL has privately been encouraging negotiations on a so-called “roll and renewal” of the rights for an extra two years but the calamitous impact of the coronavirus has shifted the landscape.

AFL Players’ Association choef executive Paul Marsh said the players knew how much people loved and needed football.

“The players feel a deep sense of responsibility to deliver,” he said. “We understand the AFL’s position on 17 games for the 2020 AFL season. However, given the AFL has announced the 2020 season now has a 40-week window, players urge the AFL to be open to the possibility of a 22-round home-and-away season should it be feasible.”

The COVID-19 crisis has created pandemonium in the AFL as it has been forced to revamp the home-and-away scheduling, with no guarantees of how many matches will actually be played.

Fox Sports is believed to pay more than half of the annual fee of about $418m, a sum that essentially keeps the competition afloat.

The league is considering moves to value-add the package offered to the broadcasters this year by revamping the way the season evolves, for example enabling more blockbuster, prime-time games and even triple headers, with fans unlikely to ­attend games any time soon.

This will make the 2020 season a TV event, which could spark massive ratings spikes.

The AFL’s desire to roll over the broadcast rights is due in part to uncertainty about how the next deal could be constructed given the dramatically changing media landscape.

COVID-19 has temporarily weakened the AFL’s bargaining position. There is no suggestion ­either broadcaster has anything other than a strong relationship with the league. There has been speculation for months the league wanted to roll over the deal. This would give the AFL more time to attract a global streaming giant to bolster its revenue.

The smashed world economy has probably stopped this. It comes as AFL clubs are attempting to slash spending with gate-takings poised to disappear in the short term, potentially undermining sponsorship revenue as well.