The A-League is on track for a change from summer to winter after clinching a new broadcast deal with Fox Sports to ensure coverage for not only the rest of the current season, but the 2020-21 campaign as well.
As reported by the Herald and The Age on Thursday, Foxtel - the parent company of Fox Sports - has abandoned its previous six-year deal with Football Federation Australia, worth nearly $60 million a year.
The A-League will remain on Fox Sports until at least the end of the 2020-21 season.Credit:Getty Images
But the pay-TV network has not abandoned football entirely, after agreeing to a fresh one-year contract that both parties see as a win under the circumstances, which was finally confirmed late on Friday night.
"The deal will see the professional game – for women and men – reactivated, and ensures that football is at the heart of all our thinking in the future," FFA chief executive James Johnson said.
The arrangement is believed to be worth about $32 million to FFA, which is a reduction on the old contract but in line with renegotiated broadcast deals accepted by other sports in recent weeks.
Crucially, it stipulates the 2020-21 season will begin in December and finish in July 2021, putting the A-League on course for a gradual switch from summer to winter.
"The shift in the timing of the next A-League season is a strategic decision to enhance the alignment of our top tier professional men’s league with the grassroots playing season of the largest community sport in the country," Johnson said.
"There are numerous benefits to this, including better aligning the competition pyramid of Australian football to facilitate enhanced football outcomes like amodern domestic transfer system, and enabling deeper engagement with our vast grassroots football community at the precise time our many participants are most engaged in our great game."
The following season is likely to be played in the 2022 calendar year, fitting neatly with the World Cup in Qatar, which is slated to begin in November.
FFA chief executive James Johnson.Credit:AAP
Johnson told SEN Radio this month that a move to winter was "on the table" for football.
The idea is supported by some A-League powerbrokers and would enable closer alignment with grassroots football, which is played in winter. It also removes a key obstacle in the way of a promotion and relegation system in the Australian game, which supporters and former players have demanded.
Domestic football in Australia, at least at a professional level, has been played in summer since 1989.
The new deal provides FFA with a degree of short-term certainty and stability, while also giving the sport about 18 months to reset, assess its options and finalise work on a digital streaming strategy that may or may not involve selling games back to Fox.
It also encompasses the W-League, the Socceroos' final four matches of World Cup qualifying and any Matildas friendlies that will take place during the contract period.
However, it does not include the FFA Cup, which may become a 'guinea pig' of sorts next year for FFA's planned over-the-top streaming platform. FFA and clubs have been exploring the possibility of taking on the responsibility of producing live games for several months.
Fox was determined to reduce its spend on the A-League and has been disappointed with football's ratings performance and broader interest levels since signing a six-year deal with FFA in 2015.
But despite the company's recent rhetoric and the concerns of many key stakeholders within football, sources say Fox was ultimately reluctant to sever ties with the sport completely, fearing it could trigger another exodus of subscribers and damage the company's reputation.
"We want to be there for football fans and we are pleased to have a new agreement that supports the completion of the 2019/20 A-League season and provides certainty for FFA, clubs, players and supporters to begin planning and to get excited for next season," said Peter Campbell, Foxtel's head of Fox Sports.
“This new deal also provides us with the opportunity to work with FFA over the next year as they reset and re-energize the professional game in Australia and explore the best possible range of future broadcast options for the game."
Vince is a sports reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald.
Zoe Samios is a media and telecommunications reporter at The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.