The AFL's rich new broadcasting deal looks likely to come at a further cost to supporters without Foxtel with the prospect of just three games in half of the home-and-away rounds next season being televised on free-to-air.
Fairfax Media understands talks between the Ten Network and Foxtel have stalled over the prospect of the former rights holder Ten buying the 11 available Saturday mid-afternoon games from the AFL's pay TV provider in a development that will hurt fans of less popular Victorian clubs.
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While AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan has said he was confident Foxtel would sub-licence one game a week on 11 of the 22 rounds in the new deal that now looks in doubt with Foxtel unwilling to give up those exclusive games as it fights for more subscriptions.
Should no deal be achieved AFL supporters would be handed an average 3.5 free-to-air games on the Seven Network of nine fixtures games each weekend. This represents yet another fall in free-to-air, an allotment that has fallen over each of the last four broadcast rights deals.Â
![Get ready for more AFL games on pay TV.](/web/20170407195347im_/http://www.watoday.com.au/content/dam/images/g/o/q/s/5/5/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gperpe.png/1489697394903.jpg)
Talks between Foxtel and Ten saw the pay provider looking for an annual fee of about $13 million for the 11 available games with Network Ten offering an estimated $7million. Foxtel had attempted to gain the rights to some Big Bash games in exchange for less money but Ten refused. Both parties believe a deal could have been achieved for around $10 million a season with Foxtel in the end unwilling to sell its exclusive games.
Outside of next season's new plethora of Thursday night games, public holiday games and rounds affected by byes; 11 Saturday late afternoon twilight games remain up for grabs from 2017 until 2022.
When the new $2.508 billion deal was announced last August McLachlan said he was confident those games would be onsold by Foxtel to the Ten Network. With Telstra contributing $300 million of the record deal over six years McLachlan pointed out the broader coverage of home-and-away games was protected in the deal.
Channel Ten in turn had keenly anticipated the prospect of the late Saturday games which it envisaged packaging with return editions of the popular Before The Game program.
![Mike Fitzpatrick, Rupert Murdoch and News Corp's Robert Thompson last August.](/web/20170407195347im_/http://www.watoday.com.au/content/dam/images/g/j/2/6/2/c/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gperpe.png/1465381438022.jpg)
While the new rights deal has mandated that all games broadcast into Adelaide involving the Crows and Port Adelaide and into Perth involving West Coast and Fremantle must be on free to air the new agreement could hit the hip pockets of fans of less popular Victorian clubs. Sides such as Melbourne and the Western Bulldogs are more generally broadcast on Fox Footy.
Channel Seven contributed $840 million in cash and $60 million in contra to the AFL in the new deal and in 11 of next season's home-and-away games will televise just three games, not four as it does currently. Those will be one Friday night, one Saturday night and one Sunday afternoon.
Seven will also televise all next year's Thursday nights along with all public holiday games such as the Queen's Birthday Monday and Anzac Day. Foxtel will televise every AFL game live except the grand final.
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