0/5

4 AFL games tipped to go from Anti-Siphoning List

Speculation today that the Government will announce the removal of some sporting games from the anti-siphoning list.

afl_footballThere is speculation today that the Government will announce the removal of some sporting games from the anti-siphoning list, later this month.

The Age reports that four home-and-away AFL games a week are likely to be removed, following the Government review under Senator Stephen Conroy. This would leave the remaining games plus Finals as first-run free-to-air events.

Such a move would mean Foxtel could bid for them independently rather than buying them off a Free to Air broadcaster as it has done with Seven / TEN. The Pay TV sector has long argued for the right to sit down at the sports negotiating table as an equal bidder.

Foxtel executive Peter Campbell said, ”We’ve always been consistent in our hopes that subscription television be unfettered in its right to bid for big sporting events whether that be AFL or any of our big productions.”

The AFL has also lobbied for some games to be removed.

But free-to-air networks believe changes will not necessarily mean more money for broadcast rights for the AFL.

Source: The Age

13 Responses

  1. This is good. Hopefully one day they take all games (grand final excepted for the whingers) off the anti siphoning list. Sport belongs where it will be treated with respect and not delayed or played around with. FTA does not deserve pillar sports like this. Pay all the way, live games, no delays, commitment.

  2. Very good,it’s great Foxtel will get the chance to have more of a say of these matters.I know at the moment Foxtel basically shows the games free to air ar’nt so interested in.As FTA tends to choose all the blockbusters games,or hopes to be blockbuster games on there channels.This will also benefit the game as well with the bidding for games

  3. NSW/QLD could soon have a live AFL game regardless of who is playing live on ONE on Saturday nights.

    AFL wins because it still gets its exposure, and the fans get what they want because they see it live. Ten wins because they could do alternative programming on their primary channel.

  4. No planning for the future (i.e 9 games, 18 teams, 9/10 team finals setup)…

    But then again it could lead to a ballsy bid for both the independent package and full rights by Ten.

    One HD having exclusive games, may turn the service’s con, into a massive pro.

  5. Johnson, that depends on the definition of ” 4 games ” in the clause. The AFL may be able to nominate 4 different games in each state, protecting the home market broadcasts.

  6. If Pay TV wants this, they surely have to offer a sports only package that doesn’t require you to spend $42 on the basic.

    Until that’s implemented its a farce.

  7. The anti-siphoning list is only meant to be sporting events of national interest.

    They way Nine has butchered League (and other FTA haven’t faired much better) in terms of national coverage, Perth were shown the grandfinal live for the first time in ten years! all other games are on around 1am.
    Surely this shows that 9 don’t consider it a national game (showing live/prime time should be the indicator)

    Pay-tv should be able to bid for whatever it wants to allow more money into the sports at a grass roots level.

    AFL has a great coverage between FTA and foxtel/austar and this is only likely to get better with this deal. Tess1988 – more to the point, foxtel should be able to bid on everything and show it live (but not always exclusive), and people without paytv can still watch some games plus the finals on FTA. This would force the FTA stations to show more sport live – plus get the next digital channel up sooner.

  8. i think if its going to be on pay, free to air should still be able to bit and also be able to show it the same at the same(if they want to), so you could choose who to watch, they fox sports guys to do it or one of the FTAs.

  9. During the current TV rights deal, games involving West Coast, Fremantle, Adelaide, Port Adelaide, Sydney and Brisbane are guaranteed free-to-air coverage in the home states of each team. If 4 games each week are removed from the anti-siphoning list, then Foxtel may be able to bid for them independently, meaning some matches involving the teams mentioned above may be exclusively shown on Foxtel (and Austar in regional areas), and fans living in the respective states who don’t have pay-TV will miss out.

Leave a Reply