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SBS / FOX Sports in broadcasting deal with FFA

FOX Sports has Live coverage of A-League and Socceroos and SBS gets 1 Live game a week plus delayed FTA rights.

Football Federation Australia has signed a joint $160m broadcasting deal with FOX Sports and SBS for the next 4 years.

FOX Sports will have Live coverage of every Socceroos and A-League match, while SBS enjoys exclusive free-to-air TV rights for the A-League matches, including one live match on Friday nights.

FOX Sports Live coverage includes all finals matches and the Grand Final, plus exclusive Live coverage of every Socceroos World Cup Qualifier and international fixture. All games will be in HD with coverage also available on tablet devices.

FOX Sports CEO, Patrick Delany, said: “FOX Sports and Foxtel has invested over $160 million in Australian football over the past eight years and, with FFA, our long-term commitment has been fundamental in building the Hyundai A-League from its foundations to where it stands today as one of the most interesting and emerging competitions in Australian sport. It is wholesome family entertainment and is attracting interest like we’ve never seen before.

“We see football as an essential part of the FOX Sports summer offering and our vision, together with Foxtel and FFA, is for football to become part of Australia’s summer fabric, whether it’s going to watch an A-League game or kicking the ball around in a park or on the beach.

Foxtel CEO, Richard Freudenstein, added: “In 2005 we backed FOX Sports and FFA to build a new vision for football and its broadcast in Australia. Eight years later we are seeing the fruits of a new summer sport with great young talent and international superstars – its young, cool and gathering interest from Australian families like never before.”

SBS’s coverage of the A-League will commence from the 2013-14 season and will be the first time the A-League is broadcast on free-to-air TV since the competition’s inception.

SBS rights include:

One Live Hyundai A-League match per week on a Friday night;
All Hyundai A-League Finals Series matches on a one hour delay;
The Hyundai A-League Grand Final on a one hour delay;
A weekly highlights show;
Online and mobile rights including simultaneous streaming and highlights; and
Radio rights.

It also includes Socceroos FIFA World Cup Qualifiers on a one hour delay (effective immediately). SBS will broadcast the next  Qualifier against Oman in Sydney from 8:00pm Tuesday 26 March 2013 on SBS ONE.

SBS Managing Director Michael Ebeid said: “SBS has always championed the sports which unite communities and the world and with football being the world’s biggest game it is fitting that the A-League and Socceroos will now have a free-to-air presence on SBS, building on our strong football pedigree.

“This agreement is exciting news for football fans across the country and will give all Australians access to the A-League and the Socceroos. We are proud to be part of this new partnership which will help take the domestic game in Australia to the next level.

“The broadcast of the Socceroos will complement SBS’s FIFA World Cup coverage which SBS has the rights to all editions up to and including 2022.”

SBS Head of Sport Ken Shipp added, “SBS is the spiritual home of football in Australia and our passion, dedication and football expertise is unrivalled. We are excited to continue to grow the game in Australia through this new partnership and deliver the high standard of coverage for which SBS is known across all our platforms, including on-air, online and mobile devices.”

The new broadcast agreement will take effect on July 1, 2013, with FOX Sports remaining as the exclusive broadcaster of the Hyundai A-League for the 2012/13 season.

11 Responses

  1. Not the greatest of deals that could have been done. I would have thought that SBS seeing as though they’ve paid money that they should have as they were the only FTA to put foward the intention and I refer you to a click on YouTube Clip where Paul Murray put out a view I agree with. youtube.com/watch?v=M_Hx-d_KuqM

  2. Wow! it seems to me that Fox Sports has a endless pit of money that it is able to pay for the rights to every major sports code in Australia. something is wrong when people need to pay to watch sports on tv in Aus! FTA Sports rights will be a thing of the past in 10 years time. Sad day when it happens considering ordinary people will not be able to afford it!

  3. Great news for Soccer fans.

    It’s a shame the ‘leaders’ at the NRL don’t have the same vision too show its finals on subscribsion tv live and ad free and in HD.

  4. This is certainly a good deal for soccer in Australia but will be interesting to see how it plays out particularly with how Western Australia is treated considering the three hour daylight saving difference. Will they show game live at 430 or delay it for prime time. Qld also an issue I suppose unless they use sbs 2.

  5. @victweety, I think you’re being a bit harsh on SBS, they do have to share coverage with Foxtel, and could probably have quite easily been left with no live games.

    It’s certainly interesting to see that they’re committing to broadcast a live game on Fridays when Nine haven’t ever bothered doing the same for NRL outside of NSW & QLD.

    Personally I think this is a great result for all parties: the cash-strapped SBS, football fans, Foxtel (who’ll probably get a few more subscriptions as a result of the A-League’s increased coverage on FTA) and the game itself.

  6. With the A-League – i am so happy that SBS has been given access to it, having the Friday night games live. It is a shame though that the Finals games are all delayed by an hour. Surely, Fox Sports and SBS could ahve come to an agreement here (could’ve split the games up between them?)

    And happy with a new A-League type highlights show too. Hopefully, this will be in addition to the World Game show, that airs on Moday nights live on SBS2 (and replayed soon after on sbs1).

    Socceroos matches remain live on Fox Sports. Bummer!.Wish more were live on sbs, instead of a delay. But it’s better than nothing, i suppose.

  7. There will be people who will winge its still not enough on free-to-air but Foxtel have been good to Football in this country. It’s a business in the end and thank goodness Channel 7 didn’t buy the rights and do a butcher job on it!

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