The Seven Network and Foxtel will announce that they have retained the AFL broadcast rights beyond 2024 after agreeing to a fresh deal on Tuesday.
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, which was worth $946 million over two years.
Seven West Media chairman Kerry Stokes sits alongside AFL boss Gill McLachlan in Western Australia on Saturday night.Credit:Screenshot
An announcement is expected on Tuesday afternoon, according to a second source familiar with the deal who is not authorised to speak about it.
Seven and Foxtel were considered the front-runners despite Nine Entertainment Co making an offer on Monday worth roughly $500 million a year.
AFL chairman Richard Goyder and CEO Gillon McLachlan were spotted next to Seven West Media’s billionaire chairman Kerry Stokes at the match between the Fremantle Dockers and the Western Bulldogs on Saturday night, which made some industry executives believe the deal is all but done.
The AFL had hoped that the competition from Network Ten and streaming partner Paramount Plus, as well as Nine Entertainment and its streaming service Stan, would help push the deal closer to the $600 million a year mark.
In 2015, Rupert Murdoch intervened directly to ensure News Corp’s Foxtel, Seven and Telstra secured a record $2.508 billion six-year deal which ran between 2012 and 2016.
A two-year $946 million extension was secured in 2020, which ensured the rights stayed with Seven and Foxtel until the end of the 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 amount of live matches that were 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 a future arrangement, including the number of live matches on free-to-air. The AFL was considering delaying two free-to-air matches each week by up to two hours in interstate markets to give Foxtel more exclusivity for its streaming service Kayo Sports.
