Foxtel has terminated its existing broadcast contract with Football Federation Australia but could announce a revised deal to show the rest of the A-League season as soon as Friday morning.
Industry sources claim that Foxtel's subsidiary, Fox Sports, has used a force majeure clause to officially walk away from its $57 million-per-year deal with FFA, which still had another three seasons left to run.
Sydney FC players returned to training on Wednesday, with no certainty as to whether the rest of the A-League season will be televised.Credit:Getty Images
But Fox remains in negotiations over a deal that could see the pay-TV network screen the remaining 27 games of the 2019-20 A-League campaign and the finals series, which FFA is aiming to complete by the end of August.
The sources also say that Fox is examining whether there is a 'constructive path' forward with FFA and that the Murdoch-controlled company is still open to a longer-term arrangement beyond 2020 - but only at a vastly-reduced cost.
It comes after Fox dramatically scrubbed all A-League, W-League, Socceroos and Matildas content from its various platforms on Wednesday night and confirmed publicly for the first time it was "reviewing" its football offering.
"We've got no live football at the moment and we're currently reviewing all our football offering, and that's the reason why it's not there at the moment," Foxtel's head of Fox Sports, Peter Campbell, told the Herald and The Age on Thursday.
FFA chief executive James Johnson is leading the sport's negotiations with Fox Sports.Credit:Getty Images
"We're having a good look at it. There's still plenty of content on there from the BeIN properties, some LaLiga and stuff like that from memory."
The move was widely interpreted as a negotiating tactic, although another source suggested that Fox was protecting its legal position by taking down the content, which included old matches, highlights and features.
A spokesperson for Foxtel said: "We do not comment on commercial matters however we continue to be in discussion with Football Federation Australia about their plan for the resumption of the A-League season on 16 July."
FFA declined to comment.
Sources close to FFA are adamant the season will be completed even if Fox does not agree to show the matches. Indeed, FFA is believed to be putting contingencies in place to self-broadcast the rest of the A-League campaign through YouTube or social media platforms.
A previous offer from Fox of $11 million per season for the A-League rights was rejected by FFA. Fox has sought renegotiated contracts with most major sports amid the COVID-19 pandemic, including the AFL and NRL, while it also signed a one-year deal to show this year's Australian Super Rugby competition. Fox believes it overpaid for the A-League, which has delivered poor linear ratings and has suffered from declining public interest in the last few years.
If Fox walks away altogether, it will could hurt the FFA's digital rights partner, Telstra, which bought five years of digital rights from the pay-TV operator in 2018. Sources suggest Foxtel, which is 65 per cent owned by News Corp and 35 per cent owned by Telstra, would have to negotiate some sort of compensation for Telstra if a longer-term contract with FFA fails to eventuate.
Telstra declined to comment, but if the telco lost the rights, it would pave the way for rival Optus, which has the exclusive rights to the English Premier League, K-League and J-League, to make a bid.
Telstra was recently blocked by the NRL from streaming games beyond 2023.
FFA is keen to control its own digital rights for the A-League, W-League and other properties to facilitate deals with other streaming services or potentially setting up its own over-the-top service - an idea being heavily pushed by a group of former Socceroos.
FFA has been exploring the possibility of taking on production costs for several months and seeking quotes from a range of different production houses. By taking on the responsibility of production, FFA would have more control over costs, and could scale the number of cameras and operators at a live match depending on the importance of the fixture.
A-League players, meanwhile, are stuck in the middle, anxiously awaiting some sort of resolution as they continue to train for the season restart.
"I hope we get clarity on that soon enough because I think the boys have endured enough mentally, and I think that needs to be sorted so we can just move forward and know there's a future for the game in Australia," said Western Sydney Wanderers captain Mitchell Duke.
with Dominic Bossi
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.