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10 lands 5 year A-League rights

Updated: 10 confirms A-League Saturday nights and W-League on 10 BOLD. All games available at Paramount+.

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Updated:

ViacomCBS Australia and New Zealand and the Australian Professional Leagues today announced a 5 year deal for the A-League and W-League.

Every Saturday night during the season is Football Night on 10, with the A-League’s match of the round broadcast Live at 7:30pm.

10 Bold will be the new home of W-League, with a match broadcast live every Sunday of the league.

All free-to-air matches will also be simulcast on 10 Play.

All games will be available on Paramount+ which launches on Wednesday, 11 August with football fans and Club members given a special deal to access all games.

Beverley McGarvey, Chief Content Officer and Executive Vice President, ViacomCBS Australia and New Zealand, said: “We are thrilled to partner with the Australian Professional Leagues to become the new home of football for both the A-League and Westfield W-League, giving all Australians access to more football than ever before.”

She added, “Ensuring broad reach on free-to-air, as well as extensive access on Paramount+, we are committed to showcasing the sport in innovative ways and exposing it to a plethora of programming opportunities across all our platforms, including those of our parent company ViacomCBS.”

Jarrod Villani, Chief Operating and Commercial Officer and Executive Vice President, ViacomCBS Australia and New Zealand said: “The distinct alignment between our audiences further cements our strategy and commitment to broadcasting the sport. In addition to exhibiting the most diverse and youngest fanbase in Australia, football also boasts the highest male and female participation rate for a sport in Australia, and it’s still growing.

“And, we are proud to be making the Westfield W-League available to all Australians for the first time on commercial free-to-air television. We are looking forward to working with the Australian Professional Leagues and establishing one of the best sporting partnerships in the world.”

APL Chairman, Paul Lederer, said: “Less than six months ago we pledged to create value for the whole ecosystem of Australian football, and this deal is the first step in our delivering on that promise.

“This agreement with one of the world’s biggest content providers, is exactly the kind of significant and vital milestone we have always believed was possible – and that we intend to continue achieving.”

APL Managing Director, Danny Townsend, said: “Fundamental to our strategy is a determination to ensure that we connect and engage with every Australian. This agreement starts that process by giving the game unprecedented reach and the backing of an absolutely iconic and globally renowned broadcaster.

“Football is played all over Australia, and the creative power that this partnership will deliver can unlock what we believe is an audience the game has never managed to reach before.”

Further details about the broadcast and commentary team will be announced soon.

28 Responses

  1. This has the potential but Network 10 need to make the effort. I don’t have much faith at this stage that they will. My advice would be to have maximum of 4 matches on tv each week total. 2 Nationally televised games 1 for men’s competition and 1 for women’s competition. the other 2 should be locally televised involving local teams. If the games involving local teams are playing away those games would be shown live into that city/state. if the game is at home then its delayed by half hour to make sure people still have an incentive to go to games. If they want to watch all games live then they can subscribe to paramount +. If Network 10 did that then it would be better plus it would be similar to their NFL strategy on Sunday afternoons.

  2. Soccer has many problems. Its on over Summer non-ratings, the FFA was planning to transition back to Winter and compete head on against the NRL and AFL, but with the new deal not clear what is happening now. Soccer doesn’t work on commercial TV, there are no scheduled breaks for 45 minutes in which to put betting ads. One game a week on 10 won’t generate much money, it is just a condition the FFA has insisted on to try and broaden the games appeal, the Super Rugby game on Gem noone is watching. But the A-League is relatively weak competiton, and the Socceroos a barely competive team that is having trouble getting plays to play now their pay has been reduced. Much better European soccer is available on Optus and BEin. The A-League’s main hope is if Man City and ManU invest big time to try and dominate the Asian Champion’s League. So far Man City’s investment hasn’t helped much.

    1. Going up against the AFL and NRL is risky but if done right it would be successful. The kids who play the game during the year would have an incentive to support the domestic comp, in the parts where European football is in off season. But with most things it takes effort and commitment and i dont think anyone at the top has it. Besides Network 10 want the leagueto stay in summer as does the APL, its the FA that want to transfer the league to middle of year because of alignment but they should have done that years ago, now its too late.

  5. I’ve had zero interest whatsoever in 10 All Access, but Paramount+ is the first time I have been tempted to subscribe to any kind of streaming service. The promise of new Beavis and Butt-head, Paramount’s catalogue of films, and A-League football is very tempting indeed. I know at least a few mates that will likely jump on board for the A-League alone.

  7. Interesting on a number of levels.
    1. The apparent $20mil per season for both A-League and W-League is a relative bargain compared to the $32mil Foxtel was paying. As the broadcast deal has traditionally paid for the Club’s salary caps this is a huge financial hit to all Clubs.
    2. Actually, for those that are complaining about it being on a streaming service – what do you think Foxtel is? The fact is that Paramount+ will cost a reported $8.99 a month ($108 per year) compared to $79+ a month on Foxtel ($948 per year). A bargain for customers/viewers/supporters.

    3. Hope 10 gets rid of the VAR – some matches go overtime by 6+ minutes just because of that system. The current usage of it is over the top.

  8. One game a week on FTA? If they want to grow their viewers they need to do more than this, even if it is on 10 Bold (but any games on 10 Bold, be they W-League or A-League, need to be HD!).

    More eyeballs on FTA then more likely to get subscribers to Paramount+ , but it may be a loooong haul.

  9. Good to read that Ten now has the rights to the A-League and W-League, even if it is only one game a week each (with the rest on the new streaming site. Ideally would have liked more games on FTA (like the AFL and NRL), but at least the men’s game will be shown in primetime, which is an upgrade from the current deal with the ABC, which is an afternoon game.

  10. It sounds like ‘Where’s the money!’ to me, football is a specialist field for broadcasting and commentary, it also requires a tribal support base that mainly dwells in Melbourne and parts of Sydney, will ViacomCBS get enough revenue from that limited audience, that will be interesting to see.
    A-League needs to be part of a dedicated sports channel to have any value, so leaving Fox Sports is risky as occasional A-League watchers may not want to invest in yet another app to watch their favourite team play.
    Following Nine and Stan’s rugby deal with only a token FTA TV A-League / W-League presence is an insult to football fans.

  11. So basically one game a week on FTA is going to change the landscape of sports as we know it? Um how exactly? If you were going to change the way Soccer is shown here, you’d show more than one match a week wouldn’t you? You’d want to showcase it, despite it not really being all that and show it like the AFL does for example, 4 matches a week. I get that P+ is going to have all the games and be a paid subscription but yeah, its kind of odd honestly but good luck to them. Its probably more about Paramount Plus revenue more than anything.

    1. If they air a match at exactly tge same time each week and its live then theybcan grow it. The big problem with sports is the differnce in state time zones.

  12. Ten states that gaining the soccer rights “will change the landscape of sports broadcasting in this country”. What a load of codswallop!
    Will be interesting to compare previous ratings when Ten did AFL on Saturday compared to new soccer broadcast.

  14. I am hoping tha Channel 10 will freshen up the commentary team. I haven’t got Fox Sports but when I watched the soccer on ABC simulcast, it was quite stale and boring.

  17. I guess they’ve finally run out of “Ambulance” (etc.) rerun rights for Saturday night. 10, or TEN, was pretty much the first to cover Soccer live back in the late 60s when 7, 9 & ABC concentrated on VFL and rugby league.

  18. The problem with Soccer its been shunted all over the place. It needs a push to gain traction. If this is 10s flagship sport they will promote it hard.

  19. It seems most sports are heading to a paid service ie Stan, Paramount Plus, etc. Sport rights cost heaps so they need to get revenue from somewhere. Pity l wanted 10 to pick up NRL down the track.

  20. Wow. Bold move from 10 who haven’t had any locally produced sport for years (Supercars was produced by Supercars themselves). Wonder if it will be part of Paramount Plus base offering or if it will be an add-on like Stan.

  21. Now that’s a curveball! I have no idea, why but I was expecting these rights to go to either ABC or SBS, considering they have the rights to all Socceroo games…

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