Angry Ange Postecoglou digging his own grave; the great TV sport revolution is on the horizon
Whenever I think of Ange Postecoglou, I think of a Reuters wire story from the 2017 Confederations Cup in Russia when he was Socceroos coach.
“The question has to be asked,” the report started.
“Is Ange Postecoglou the Kanye West of Australian sport? Both are divisive individuals but creative visionaries. Both feel misunderstood by the public. Both are respected within their field and have a couple of notorious rivalries. And both are legendary grumps.”
Postecoglou has had his cranky pants on for weeks as Tottenham Hotspur freefalls in the Premier League.
At the time of writing, he hadn’t been sacked. Even though he’s grappling with a huge injury toll, the popular belief is the second leg of the League Cup against Liverpool next Friday will determine if he keeps his job.
Postecoglou has been ridiculously snappy with reporters and fans for some time. Indeed, the darkness on display of late brings back memories of his final days as Socceroos coach.
After the loss to Leicester, he re-emerged from the tunnel to give a frustrated Spurs supporter, who had merely suggested his side was headed for relegation, the trademark Big Ange death stare.
Once you start jousting with your own fans like that, the end is surely nigh. What message does it send to the owner, players, supporters, and his next employer when he can’t control his emotions?
It doesn’t seem that long ago when Postecoglou was winning matches, winning manager of the month awards, and winning over football hacks with his unique and very Australian turns of phrase in media conferences. If he does get sacked, it will be a dramatic fall from grace — but a $24m payout will soften the landing.
The great TV sport revolution is on the horizon
Close your eyes, sports fans, and imagine what the world will look like from your armchair in the not-too-distant future.
Rugby league’s State of Origin on Netflix. The AFL’s Anzac Day blockbuster on Amazon. Cricket’s Boxing Day Test on YouTube. The A-League on TikTok.
What a time to be alive, you say to yourself. I may never leave this armchair, you declare. How can I build a fridge into the side of it, you wonder.
Then your monthly credit card statement lobs and you realise you’ve spent half the mortgage repayment on a dozen streaming apps to quench your sporting thirst.
What the sports broadcasting landscape looks like domestically and globally in the next decade is anyone’s guess, but it’s guaranteed to be far different than it is now.
The imminent entry of UK sports streaming giant DAZN into the Australian market following its acquisition of Foxtel, Channel 9’s desire to put NRL matches exclusively on Stan Sport, and ARL Commission chairman Peter V’landys’ desperation to outdo the AFL in the next broadcast deal suggests we’re in for a ride.
V’landys surprised many this week when he told the Courier-Mail he hoped to strike a new broadcast deal “in the middle of this year”. The current deal has three years to run.
More than that, it remains unclear what DAZN’s arrival in Australia will mean in the long-term for sport, particularly the big three of AFL, NRL and cricket.
The AFL argues it’s in a stronger position than the rest because, by the time its $4.5bn, seven-year deal ends in 2031, the scene will be less volatile.
When the AFL announced in September 2022 its mammoth deal with Seven and Fox, NRL club bosses were furious about it dwarfing rugby league’s.
They had never been told the true value of the deals with Nine and Foxtel, both of which were struck during the Covid-19 crisis. A figure of $1.7bn was floated this week, but at the time it was a mystery.
There was speculation the difference per annum ranged from $100m to $260m. V’landys strongly denied to me it was the latter at the time.
Regardless of what it was, pressure is on the NRL to do markedly better this time, especially with teams from Papua New Guinea and, most likely Perth, entering the premiership in the next four years.
The NRL continually beats its chest about record ratings, which is fair enough. It’s a story worth telling. But if that’s so, the clubs say, it should be reflected in the next broadcast deal.
With the Australian market flooded with streaming platforms desperate for live sport, they’re expecting a significantly improved deal from 2028.
Nine has held the free-to-air rights to rugby league since 1992, but there’s plenty of chatter it will push for exclusive matches to be shown on Stan Sport, its subscription streaming platform.
Former Foxtel chief commercial officer Amanda Laing, who will later this year take over Nine’s broadcast division as part of a major restructure, is a former ARL commissioner.
She stood down in 2020 citing a potential conflict of interest in looming broadcast negotiations.
The NRL considers her appointment an advantage because she will understand the importance of the rights to her network. Those who have been on the other side of the negotiating table to Laing aren’t so sure. She’s a tough operator.
Then there’s DAZN, which is awaiting Australian Competition and Consumer Commission approval for its purchase of Foxtel. That’s expected to happen by July.
It wouldn’t make sense for DAZN to lowball the NRL — or any of the sports that Fox already broadcasts — if it wants to become the “Netflix of Sport”.
Nor would it make sense to diminish the quality of sports coverage here by cutting costs or charging an expensive monthly subscription.
DAZN bought the rights to Ligue 1 — French football’s premier league — in August. A month later, viewers were abandoning the platform and illegally streaming matches because of the price. DAZN is renegotiating its contract.
There’s no indication this will happen to Fox Sports here in Australia. If anything, the word from DAZN is very little will change, at least initially.
But the experience of Ligue 1 is something for the NRL and other major sports to ponder in a broader sense.
While administrators, media executives, and reporters endlessly speculate about complex broadcast rights, dedicated sports fans couldn’t care less who comes out on top.
When they kick back in their favourite armchair-fridge-thing to watch Friday night footy, they want quality coverage on an affordable platform that isn’t dropping out mid-tackle.
Unless it’s Netflix.
The streaming giant recently announced a spike of 19 million subscribers in the last quarter of 2024 with much of it attributed to the dreadfully over-hyped exhibition fight/cuddle between YouTuber Jake Paul and 58-year-old Mike Tyson.
The only thing worse than the fight was Netflix’s slew of technical problems. In the end, the constant freezing of the livestream became a blessing because you were momentarily spared the ringside analysis of Roy Jones jnr and, weirdly, actor Rosie Perez.
The NRL might be under pressure to wring every cent out of its future broadcast partners, but you can’t put a price on the authenticity and quality of the coverage.
Sandpaper redemption
Was this the week we finally forgave Steve Smith and David Warner for Sandpaper-gate? Or at least softened on them? Just a little?
The air was sucked out the SCG when Smith was dismissed one run short of 10,000 Test runs in the final hours of the Sydney Test against India.
He reached the milestone when he punched a single to mid-on against Sri Lanka in Galle on Wednesday, becoming just the 15th man and fourth Australian to join the 10,000 club.
To do it as captain surely added to his sense of satisfaction following his year-long ban for his role in the 2018 Newlands ball-tampering incident.
Warner fell just short as Sydney Thunder captain in the Big Bash League final loss to Hobart Hurricanes, but his performance, energy, and gluttony of runs this summer has helped repair his public image.
“The best version of David Warner is what we are seeing right now,” Thunder chief executive and former Australian teammate Trent Copeland said. “That was about much more than the Thunder: that was about legacy, family and some things in his opinion that needed to change. And I’m glad they did.”
A smattering of Hurricanes fans booed Warner as he delivered a gracious speech on Monday night, no doubt still of the belief that he never “owned” the ball-tampering scandal.
David Warner, Saturday, March 31, 2018, SCG: “I am here to take full responsibility for my actions, for the part that I played on day three at Newlands in Cape Town … It is a decision that I will regret for as long as I live. I hope in time I can repay all you’ve given me and earn your respect again.”
Super Bowl propped up
Not sure how you celebrated your Australia Day long weekend, but I did the very patriotic thing of watching eight hours of American football. The NFL conference finals are often better than the Super Bowl, although this year’s match-up will be, as they say, a barnburner: AFC champions Kansas City Chiefs will meet NFC victors Philadelphia Eagles at the Superdome in New Orleans on February 9.
Kansas City are aiming to become the first side of the Super Bowl-era to win three consecutive championships. They won their first against the Eagles two years ago after kicking a field goal with eight seconds on the clock.
Former South Sydney prop Jordan Mailata, the 165kg left tackle for Philadelphia, will be critical in halting the Chief-peat.
Two years ago, he was a Super Bowl oddity; the Australian “rugby player” who was still feeling his way in the NFL.
Now, he’s one of the highest-rated left tackles in the league.
Earlier this year, he signed a three-year extension worth $100m and showed in the conference final he’s worth every cent, creating a gaping hole in the Commanders’ defensive line that allowed running back Saquon Barkley to score a 60-yard touchdown.
Barkley broke two tackles on the way to the line, but Mailata got the party started.
If the Super Bowl is on your bucket list, this might be the year to tick the box with resale ticket prices for nosebleed seats down from $US7000 ($11,200) to $US4600. Bargain.
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