Clubs are bracing for the commercial impact of delayed free-to-air AFL coverage on Saturdays from next year as Fox Footy holds exclusive live broadcast rights of the game nationally for the first eight rounds.
The AFL’s lucrative new broadcast deal starts in 2025 and runs for seven years, and it is having an impact on the schedule for next season, with the league working to release the fixture by mid-November.
The AFL secured a lucrative seven-year TV deal that will alter viewing habits.Credit: Luis Ascui
The $4.5 billion broadcast deal has some restrictions on the number of games teams can play on Saturdays for the first eight rounds to share the load across the competition, but that desire to spread the number of games each team plays on a Saturday is also making the development of the fixture more complicated.
Clubs want clarity from the league as to how it will affect them, and their fans.
The deal means that supporters of teams playing anywhere in Australia on Saturday in the first eight rounds will need a Foxtel or Kayo subscription to watch them live, with free-to-air coverage on Seven to be delayed. Only the Anzac eve, Anzac Day and Dreamtime games will be shown live on free-to-air if they fall on a Saturday.
But for Victorian audiences, that arrangement lasts longer, and extends to the first 15 rounds before Seven can broadcast Saturday night games live. Seven has the rights to broadcast Thursday and Friday night matches, and Sunday afternoon games, and the overall number of free-to-air games broadcast will remain the same as they were under the previous agreement. Fox Footy will use dedicated commentary teams for each match.
The Age spoke to four senior club officials, on the condition of anonymity as the 2025 fixture was not yet finalised, who said they were uncertain what impact delayed free-to-air games on Saturdays would have on their sponsors’ exposure, and the game’s growth in non-traditional markets.
Although they accepted the commercial logic of “Super Saturday” and its role in securing the league’s record-breaking broadcast deal, they wanted information from the AFL as they sell membership packages and deal with member queries.
Under the deal, announced in September 2022, delayed games, or hold-back games, will be broadcast on free-to-air two hours after they start on Foxtel or no later than 8.40pm local time. That means a 4.30pm game would start on free-to-air at 6.30pm; however a 7.30pm match would be shown on free-to-air at 8.40pm.
There are also additional elements to this year’s fixture to consider, such as North Melbourne’s bid to play two home games in Western Australia, with a game in Perth and one in Bunbury against West Coast and Fremantle.
Two industry sources with knowledge of the proposal, who wanted to remain anonymous until the deal was finalised, said the Kangaroos could earn between $2-3 million per year by playing two home games in WA as they look to replace the revenue they earn from playing four home games in Hobart when Tasmania enter the competition in 2028, expanding the league to 19 teams.
The lucrative nature of the deal opens the possibility of North Melbourne eventually playing nine home games in Melbourne and two in WA in the future, as opposed to the current arrangement of seven home games in Melbourne and four home games in Hobart. Bringing all four home games back to Marvel Stadium would only add $1 million to the Roos’ revenue in the future.
North Melbourne hope to play two home games in Western Australian in 2025.Credit: Eddie Jim / The Age
The four Victorian teams likely to play opening round next season also remain uncertain, although industry sources say Collingwood, Hawthorn, Geelong and Essendon are the most likely candidates with their opponents yet to be determined.
The Western Bulldogs and North Melbourne want to play a centenary match against a big-drawing Victorian opponent, while the Hawks hope to play Essendon again in round one.
Carlton and Richmond will not participate in opening round in 2025, meaning they could start their season against each other.
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