On 4/23/2022 at 12:43 PM, daisycutter said:

and according to an article i read fta viewing is down 18% and kayo also down about 18%

and live attendance is not being helped by the ticketing fiasco

junior football participation is also down. my grandson's team have had to combine the u12s and u13s team into the u13s comp, and last weekend the team they played was a team combined of u13s and u14s and got smashed by 93 points.

I once played in an under 16 game and the opening bowler drove himself to the match. I kid you not. 

On 4/23/2022 at 12:52 PM, Skuit said:

I can't be bothered researching it or reading charters and the like, but the AFL (or/and AFL Commission) as I understand it has dual roles in administering the premier national footballing competition and the other as 'custodians' of a game - one which is of significant and unique cultural heritage.

I find it unconscionable that the country's premier national competition is not freely accessible to all Australians, and that underprivileged citizens can't always watch their favourite team free-to-air. In the long run, that becomes detrimental to the growth of the sport. Smart minds should be thinking long and hard about how to strike the right balance, rather than just concentrating on a growth-through-cash model.

The AFLPA also has to be aware that the more that money gets diverted from grass-roots investment, the more likely the quality of the competition will decline, and so less money coming into football over the long run and then less money for its future members. I feel like there needs to be some body established which sits above both, with responsibility alone for protecting the interests of the sport itself and all of its stakeholders. 

A class action brewing maybe?

I’m not that pessimistic about it all. As long as Dwayne Russell isn’t involved I’m happy to fork over my hard earned to watch games I can’t get to.

12 hours ago, old dee said:

Nothing, in my view $ are what counts. Look at the NFL is the US. It is on various networks with some having sunday games and other monday night etc.

The NFL earns $1 billion a year from ESPN for Monday Night Football alone (18 games now, previously 17 games). $4bn a year total (probably more now).

The AFL will ultimately move down the path of selling off different packages (eg Thurs Night, Fri Night etc) - they pretty much do this already and have done so since 9 and 10 entered the fray in 2002 - they just announce it as one package. The only difference is there has been only one pay tv provider involved to this point so people don't worry so much but it is inevitable that there will be multiple pay tv services involved down the track.

I'll happily pay for it too if it means less of the boofheads on 7 and we actually get some production that treats the game with respect

Edited April 26, 20223 yr by Dr. Gonzo

8 hours ago, whatwhat say what said:

7 and foxtel / kayo are in a fight at the moment regarding the commentary - ch 7 team are going 'silent' after goals so that they foxtel / kayo watchers don't get 'extra' commentary outside what ch 7 viewers receive

 

They're doing that again? They did that when Fox Footy relaunched and we got every game without ads on Fox - it stopped after a while though as the AFL must have told 7 to pull their head in and stop acting so childish, Fox $ are just as green as 7s.

Easy solution is to make the radio commentary available as an option through the fox service particularly for games simulcast from 7. Can't see it happening though.

Edited April 26, 20223 yr by Dr. Gonzo

1 hour ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

They're doing that again? They did that when Fox Footy relaunched and we got every game without ads on Fox - it stopped after a while though as the AFL must have told 7 to pull their head in and stop acting so childish, Fox $ are just as green as 7s.

Easy solution is to make the radio commentary available as an option through the fox service particularly for games simulcast from 7. Can't see it happening though.

no fear that'll happen

would be great tho, agreed

same thing with selectable camera angles which is what i wanted - 'control your own broadcast' style approach

Growing up as a child of the late 70s / early 80s, part of me finds some of this a bit of 'first world problems' for games played in Melbourne i.e. the home teams state (although Geelong isn't part of Victoria in much the same way as Tas is not part of Aus 😉) as there is a realistic oppertunity for supporters to get to those games in-person attending at the ground.

When the VFL/AFL made the move to take the competition national, I think there is an implied obligation that they should be providing access to watch those games at an affordable price as well, ideally on FTA.

Where I get somewhat pisssed is when the AFL takes things away from the everyday supporters.  Examples being our game Vs Port in Adelaide which was shown in Melbourne exclusive on pay TV and games like the Anzac eve clash with Richmond where from as far as I can gather, there was no GA seating on ground/bottom level of the MCG.  The later particularly pisssed me off, since every other MFC home game, there was significant sections of GA seating on the ground level of the MCG which either MFC members, opposition supporters or the general public could sit at for base level entry price.  The at the ground seating issue is probably a bigger one for me, since at ~ $20 per month for a whole family for Kayo, it's realitively cheap to get premium quality access, compared to the $50 + dollars I'd guess it would have cost me to get ground level access reserved seating for a single game for my family at the G.

When Gil first got the CEO job, he made a big song and dance about being the guy for the average supporter.  Through 2 years of COVID and it's been the average supporters such as myself who didn't cancel memberships etc despite not being able to get to games in person that helped keep the clubs and AFL finacial and playing Gil's excessive CEO salary and that taking a family to the footy is helping to finance the long term sustainability of the game by ingraining it into the blood of the next generation of supporters.  It would be a good thing if the AFL though about these things, but I won't hold my breath.

Edited April 26, 20223 yr by Rodney (Balls) Grinter

This helps us in Jackson negotiations. Any player would be crazy to sign a contract beyond 2024 given broadcast rights will increase and thus push up player payments. 2 year extension and then revisit in 2024.

In today's The Age

https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/the-lot-ten-and-paramount-afl-broadcast-bid-will-be-for-everything-20220426-p5ag88.html

Mind you, if I owned channel 10 or 9, I'd be putting in a serious bid if for no other reason than to make 7 pay overs.

10 hours ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

They're doing that again? They did that when Fox Footy relaunched and we got every game without ads on Fox - it stopped after a while though as the AFL must have told 7 to pull their head in and stop acting so childish, Fox $ are just as green as 7s.

Easy solution is to make the radio commentary available as an option through the fox service particularly for games simulcast from 7. Can't see it happening though.

I don't think they do this. I am certain they still offer some casual chatter and insight during ad breaks.

5 minutes ago, praha said:

I don't think they do this. I am certain they still offer some casual chatter and insight during ad breaks.

Yeah, but they used to just sit there in silence. 

They talk about a streaming service getting involved every rights negotiation and inevitably end up signing with Stokes and Murdoch

Can’t see it being different - they won’t want a dead duck incumbency for two whole seasons

I have Paramount for the A-League, the catalogue isn't as good or deep as Binge/Stan/Netflix/Prime etc; so i can see Ten/Paramount pushing extremely hard for the footy.

Streaming is already part of it in Kayo. Foxtel / Kayo has invested significantly in footy and shows around the game itself. Any other streaming service who won the rights would do similarly. FTA is close to dead and calling for its continuation seems a bit like 'old man shouts at cloud'. My kids won't even watch FTA, they struggle with the idea of watching something based on someone else's schedule. Seven's coverage is stale and its investment in shows around the actual game seems ever diminishing.

I don't really care who wins it. I'll just rejig my subscriptions around that. I'm only paying for Kayo because of footy, if it goes somewhere else I'll just cancel my Kayo sub and pay a similar amount for a different service. I think it has to keep changing to keep the networks/services on their toes, they tend to get stale after a while.

Seems like the FTA people have woken up to the missing elephant in the anti-siphoning rules namely that streaming is excluded.

Seven West Media boss James Warburton has urged the Albanese government to swiftly close a loophole in federal ‘anti-siphoning’ laws to prevent subscription-based streaming services from capturing rights to popular sporting competitions such as the AFL.

The comments, made just hours after new Communications Minister Michelle Rowland was sworn into the ministry, come as longtime AFL broadcaster Seven jostles with US streaming giants Amazon and Paramount  in the league’s next rights deal

https://www.theage.com.au/business/companies/seven-boss-wants-streaming-loophole-closed-as-us-giants-vie-for-afl-rights-20220601-p5aq6w.html

Ch7 have been awful with their coverage of the game. Outside of ‘broadcasting’ of the literal game - Fox actually have a myriad of shows to supplement their coverage of the sport, even with the womens game. Ch7 just pay lip service to that side of it with pathetic attempts to engage with Roaming Brian after games, zero analysis on non- Friday night games, a terrible show with Adam Cooney that much cost more in rent than in talent post Friday night. There is no talking footy or GameDay anymore.

Ch7 and Free to Air have lost me - I would prefer to purchase Paramount and watch through there. They have taken it for granted and their late fixes with the commentary (Nicholson, Matt Thompson, Daisy Pearce) is too little too late. 

And I know that some older people and those in regional areas with bad internet may be impacted but there will still be the fri, sat night games, and the Sunday arvo game to watch on FTA.

7 minutes ago, rpfc said:

And I know that some older people and those in regional areas with bad internet may be impacted but there will still be the fri, sat night games, and the Sunday arvo game to watch on FTA.

Maybe not. Depends on what the Government chooses to do with anti-siphoning laws and streaming services. From today's The Age:

https://www.theage.com.au/business/companies/seven-boss-wants-streaming-loophole-closed-as-us-giants-vie-for-afl-rights-20220601-p5aq6w.html

31 minutes ago, La Dee-vina Comedia said:

Maybe not. Depends on what the Government chooses to do with anti-siphoning laws and streaming services. From today's The Age:

https://www.theage.com.au/business/companies/seven-boss-wants-streaming-loophole-closed-as-us-giants-vie-for-afl-rights-20220601-p5aq6w.html

Yeah, I just don’t think a paramount/10 will not have any FTA games.

Channel 7 have destroyed the coverage if the game since winning the rights back from 9 (in a joint bid with 10) in 2006.

Fox/Kayo is owned by News Corp which makes me feel like I've made a pact with the devil paying monthly to watch the footy.

Bring on 10, Paramount, Apple whoever anyone but 7 & Fox. I'd gladly pay extra to 1) not have the inane broadcasts of 7 and 2) not line Rupert's pockets so he can spread his right wing propaganda.

 

Dam!

that was always going to be the case

Such a shame

Good.

I already pay $130 per month for the Foxtel/Netflix combo

Happy not to have to pay for an additional streaming service.

Sounds like more Thursday night games on FTA and less Saturday night games on FTA.

I think Gil mentioned the first 8 rounds or so will only have Foxtel games on Saturday.