Foxtel signs record A-League deal with FFA and free-to-air deal also on its way
Foxtel has signed a $346m deal with Football Federation Australia for the Hyundai A-League, more than doubling the like-for-like value of the current broadcast contract over the next six years.
The deal, which came together quickly over the course of the past week, guarantees Foxtel’s hold on the domestic league a year after being blindsided by Optus for the rights to the English Premier League little more than a year ago.
Fox Sports’ hold on the FFA rights includes the A-League, Socceroos, Matildas, W-League and FFA Cup matches, but will not include Socceroos World Cup Qualifying matches, the Asian Cup and Asian Champions League.
In a crucial step for the game, the commercial TV rights have been held over, with plans for a prime time Saturday night match to be broadcast on commercial TV from a next year.
The FFA is hoping to realise as much as $70m from the commercial rights.
World Game needs kick in the backside. We know that soccer is the least interesting and dumbest sport in the world of major sports. You can only use your legs (and head -that’s really dumb). Obviously the low IQ of players implies that manipulating arms and legs and keeping your head clear of hits (like even Cassius Clay could achieve) is beyond player brain system capability. You cannot go everywhere you like on the field, the goal square is too small, penalties are based on Oscar Award voting by referees, any score is generally an accident, so leading to bribery of Umpires to ensure penalties occur right in front of opponent’s goals, and lastly, there is barely ever a clear winner. And the score never get above a binary system of 0/0, 1/0 or 0/ after 80 minutes or so of prancing and theatrics. Lastly the players physiques are so poor and skinny that women on go to watch AFL players or Professor Leakey’s Missing Link new age equivalents – League Players.
I hope the $346m Foxtel is paying does not lead to any encouragement for normal people to take up this random lame game.
What a truly uneducated and unqualified opinion, Football (soccer to you) is the sleeping giant only in Australia. Go back to your rugby club and quiver in nervousness.
Not Rugby, I used to clean the Gordon Rugby Club toilets in a casual job – terrible mess – not toilet trained at all. Plus the game has all the elements of a Kindergarten sand pit where the teacher says to the littlies, jump on each other and pile in scrum like . Such a silly game when they clap kicking out the ball on the full. What other sport does that?