Diamond_Jim

The deal is done at 7 x EBITDA (chicken feed for a digital player) but at least News and Telstra get their loans repaid. News Corp and Telstra will take a small equity position in DAZN. I suspect they would have preferred cash but perhaps they're hanging out for a bid by Saudi Arabia What does it all mean for us... who knows News Corp-controlled pay TV and streaming company Foxtel has been sold to DAZN, a sports streaming platform controlled by one of the world’s richest people, for an enterprise value of $3.4 billion. News Corp will hold a minority (6 per cent) equity interest in DAZN and gain a seat on the company’s board of directors, it said in a statement to the market. Foxtel’s current debt will be refinanced, while News Corp and Telstra’s loans to the company of $578 million and $128 million respectively, will also be paid off. https://www.theage.com.au/business/companies/billionaire-backed-sports-streamer-buys-foxtel-20241216-p5kyqd.html Dazn does have worldwide rights to a lot of lower tier niche sports. If you're a follower of Bare Knuckle fighting you could be in luck !!

Not as stupid as it sounds. I suspect AI analysis is already being done in sports that involve set plays such as NFL and soccer (corners, free kicks etc). AFL is far more random but someone will write a program. (Enter the moving diamond or similar)

Lynch is the outlier.... Between him and Dustin Martin Richmond certainly sold the farm

Both Murdoch and the billionaire Dazn owner are in town. Wouldn't you love to be a fly on that wall during the negotiations

Many can't but he couldn't dominate around the ground either. The one positive is that Casey as a team in 2024 were largely dysfunctional form wise so no one really stood out. Also there were a few too many windy days at Casey Perhaps he will have a better 2025

A gun player would never sign such a contract. The best you might do is have a clause amortising the injury years over a number of years thus spreading the salary cap risk

The area that is now Rushton Park was first gazetted as a sanitation site on 20 August 1926, and was converted to a recreation reserve in September 1958, under the Mandurah Road Board So we're playing Freo at the old sewerage farm... sounds about right

DAZN (pronounced Dah-Zone) deal to buy Foxtel almost done. Expected to close before Christmas. DAZN, which broadcasts the NFL, MMA and UEFA Women’s Champions League in Australia, emerged as the likely buyer for Foxtel after talks broke down between News Corp and US private equity firm Platinum earlier this year over the former’s unrealistic asking price. The deal to sell Foxtel for an undisclosed sum could be completed before Christmas, three sources with knowledge of the deal said. Foxtel’s debt load is about $1.2 billion. I would not expect many changes in 2025 but 2026 could be interesting. It seems that streamers in the US are moving away from the costly subscription model to cheap subscription fees with ads. (See for example Disney). Hopefully it doesn't happen here but hard to see how Kayo could ever be profitable without ads https://www.theage.com.au/business/companies/british-streamer-closes-in-on-foxtel-20241209-p5kww0.html Interestingly DAZN like Foxtel is owned by a multi billionaire: Blavatnik is one of the world’s richest men, with an estimated net worth of $46 billion. DAZN is run by Shay Segev, formerly chief executive of British gaming firm Entain, which operates Ladbrokes in Australia. DAZN has also been rumoured to be strengthening ties with Saudi Arabia for some time. It recently signed a deal to broadcast the Saudi Pro League in several major international markets. The Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF), which is chaired by Crown Prince Mohamad bin Salman, has been heavily linked to a deal to buy a 10 per cent stake of DAZN, which would value the company at $1 billion.

The key words in your response are "pay to use". This is what worries me about Caulfield... We will pay $100M plus to develop the facility and then "we pay to use" it. Contrast this with other clubs like Hawthorn etc who don't "pay to use" their training grounds If the lease is for 99 years at $1 per year that would be different

Out of curiosity what's the benefit to the racing club of having the MFC in the middle of the track. They're not a charity

And that's real US dollars or A$1.2 Billion !!!

That's Deep Water methinks

Reid is signed until the end of 2026 which is when Tassie gets picks (I think)

Have they seen the Gary Ablett saga (hope they have a clawback clause)

$$$ always worry me but unless Eagles are being stupid we should be okay. Prefer a 3 year deal rather than 4 for the usual reasons Eagles appear to have not been very good at attracting the talent back home unlike Freo

Not great seeing McAdam in rehab... from what I wonder

Thanks for the wonderful reports. Gives Baseball Spring training camp vibes where the cost of tickets reach A$100 for a spot behind the dugout or the plate. And we get it for free... long may it occur

Max could improve his centre bounce connection work. (Sticks head beneath the parapets but our centre clearance work has not been clean for a while. To some extent it's also Oliver's decline in form that he has the ability by hand to turn a crowded possession into an attacking move.)

An excellent example of a player who deserves a second chance in a premium competition. If only we had one

Just got an email from AFL asking me to update payment credit card. Logged in and they have a current credit card. Anyway deleted the card and put it back in and all ok. Fills you with confidence about their data management systems

With Pickett out for the first three matches our season may well turn on how well he fills in. His second half of this season at VFL level was sub par for one of his supposed ability. Fingers crossed

Would be a nice first. Quick search suggests there has never been a 7ft AFL player. (213cm) Tallest are Mason Cox and three other players at 6ft 11 (211cm) https://www.topendsports.com/sport/afl/anthropometry-tallest.htm

As you say you have to overlay the talent paths with the private school AFL programmes operated by Hailebury and the like. These don't exist north of the Vic border. Not sure they exist in Tasmania either to the extent of Vic. Your point on SA and WA is interesting. In both of those States the potential draftees are playing in the senior WAFL and SANFL comps. Perhaps they are the school equivalent? Would be great to hear from those living in WA and SA. One idea which I like is increasing the draft age by three months each year until we reach 20 as the minimum age. This allows kids to have a life outside football post school and puts less emphasis on the 16 year old "finishing schools" that we now seem to have

Does that exclude leasehold improvements at Casey and AAMI Park

Strange thing with the Gus write down is that it will increase profit in the out years as we forced to operate under a reduced salary cap. A nice financial up but terrible from a team structuring viewpoint