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10 ViacomCBS signs Football Australia deal to 2024

10 / Paramount+ to become the new local home of Socceroos, Matildas plus Asian AFC, FFA Cup.

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10 ViacomCBS and Football Australia have announced a new broadcast deal.

The deal sees Network 10 and Paramount+ having rights to broadcast all the Australian National Teams and the FFA Cup matches until 2024.

This includes all rights owned or controlled by Football Australia -all Socceroos, Matildas games outside of FIFA World Cup Finals- plus Young Socceroos, Young Matildas, Joeys and Westfield Junior Matildas as well as AFC Asian Qualifiers – Road to Qatar, AFC Asian Cups and, other AFC tournaments until 31 December 2024.

It marks the first ever direct commercial free-to-air broadcast deal for Football Australia’s National Teams.

The agreement from August 1 will also include coverage of the FFA Cup (from the Round of 32) on Paramount+ with the FFA Cup Final, to be broadcast on Network 10 each year.

Beverley McGarvey, Chief Content Officer and Executive Vice President, ViacomCBS Australia and New Zealand, said: “Today marks a new era for Australian football. This landmark agreement gives all Australians access to more football than ever before.

“We are thrilled to partner with Football Australia and are proud to provide National Teams football and the FFA Cup unprecedented reach and exposure across our many platforms including on Network 10 and our new streaming service Paramount+.

“We will be showcasing all Socceroos, Westfield Matildas and FFA Cup matches, which not only complements our recently announced rights deal to broadcast every A-League and Westfield W-League match but reinforces our commitment to football in this country.”

Jarrod Villani, Chief Operating and Commercial Officer and Executive Vice President, ViacomCBS Australia and New Zealand said: “The announcement today really does mark a new era for Australian football and an era we are delighted to be a part of.

“This landmark deal further accelerates our strategy and commitment to broadcasting the sport to all Australians. The broad reach and exposure the sport, teams and players will receive, along with the wealth of programming opportunities across all our platforms, including those of our parent company ViacomCBS are unparalleled.

“But of course, the real winners here are the fans.

“We are looking forward to working with Football Australia and establishing one of the strongest sporting partnerships in the world.”

James Johnson, Football Australia CEO, said: “We are extremely pleased to welcome Network 10 and Paramount+ to the Australian football family. This is an enormous vote of confidence in the future direction of football in Australia including the bold 15-year vision and strategic agenda we have set for the game. It is also an endorsement of both the strength in the Westfield Matildas and the Socceroos brands and recognition of the exciting international schedule they face over the next 3.5 years.

“This is a wonderful result for our game and after a challenging 2020, provides our sport with greater financial certainty in the years ahead and will ensure that our fans will be able to continue to watch our Westfield Matildas and Socceroos wherever they are and at the same time, provide a platform to launch a re-invigorated FFA Cup.

“This exciting partnership announcement today, along with other commercial announcements recently with Priceline, rebel and Commonwealth Bank, are symbolic cornerstone moments for our sport.

“This is the first time Football Australia has been able to secure a direct broadcast deal of this nature with a commercial free-to-air partner, which provides the game with vital exposure on the primary channels of Network 10 and a variety of other platforms, including the soon to be launched Paramount+.

“No sport has the power to unite all Australians quite like football can. The Socceroos and Westfield Matildas have created many magical and iconic moments for our nation over the years and this partnership gives us the ability to connect two of Australia’s biggest sports brands with Australia’s favourite national knock out community tournament, the FFA Cup by showcasing this content to a greater audience and across multiple platforms. This exciting partnership also unifies the sport, by bringing all parts of Australian football together, including the A-League and Westfield W-League, on Network 10 and Paramount+, making it easier for the Australian football fan and beginning a new era for Australian football.

“We thank Network 10 and Paramount+ for backing the game in such a profound way and we look forward to a prosperous partnership where we can connect and engage with the biggest club participation base in Australia, and inspire them with our Westfield Matildas and Socceroos via a unique viewing experience.”

Sarah Walsh, Football Australia Head of Women’s football, World Cup Legacy and Inclusion, said: “Through this partnership, we are well placed to elevate Australian football with the unprecedented reach these world-class platforms now offer, which includes the youngest audience for a commercial network (30% of audience under 39) and the most female audience of any commercial network (61%).

“We are focused on anchoring the growth of Australian football through the continued growth of women’s football and our partnership with 10 ViacomCBS, which is committed to the same objective, helps us achieve that.

“This partnership will play a key role in helping us inspire every young Australian, regardless of their gender, ability or background through our world class Westfield Matildas and Socceroos as the unifying symbols of the game and heroes who epitomise the Australian football identity.”

Paramount+ launches on 11th August, for $8.99 per month.

Content across Network 10 and Paramount+:

· Matildas Friendly Internationals (home and away)
· Socceroos Friendly Internationals (home and away)
· U23 Men’s Friendly Internationals (home)
· Socceroos’ 2026 FIFA World Cup Asian Qualifier Round 2 matches (home)
· Other Football Australia controlled Youth National Teams matches (home)
· FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Asian Qualifiers – Round Three (including prospective Play-Off matches)
· AFC Asian Cup China 2023TM Finals
· AFC Women’s Asian Cup India 2022TM Finals
· AFC U23 Asian Cup Finals 2022, 2024
· AFC Women’s Olympic Qualifying Tournament (Final Round) for Paris Olympics 2024
· AFC U20 Asian Cup Finals 2023
· AFC U17 Asian Cup Finals 2023
· AFC U20 Women’s Asian Cup Finals 2022 and 2024
· AFC U17 Women’s Asian Cup Finals 2022 and 2024
· AFC Futsal Asian Cup Finals 2022, 2024
· AFC Solidarity Cup 2024
· A-League Club Play-Off matches to enter FFA Cup Round of 32
· All FFA Cup matches played from Round of 32 onwards, including the Round of 16, Quarter Finals, Semi-Finals and the FFA Cup Final
· All non-Australian matches across AFC competitions, including Round 3 FIFA World Cup Qualifying matches and AFC Asian Cup matches

15 Responses

  2. It will be interesting to see how it all works out… Something I have never been able to figure out about soccer in Australia is…. They have a huge participation…. but going by the ratings these people and there families do not watch broadcast soccer .. I have never understood that…. It will be interesting if CBS Viacom can change that

    1. Agree enormously with this. I have a friend who is a soccer coach for a couple of different teams of teenagers. His team members are hugely enthusiastic for their sport, always turn up for practice, etc, but it would never even enter their minds to watch a game on television/streaming, even at the highest levels of the World Cup. It simply does not enter into their thinking.

      Netball is very much the same – vast participation rates but zero interest from the women who participate in actually viewing the sport.

  4. Good on them for giving this a red hot go. I hope they can create some success around this like they did the big bash. A European league would be the icing on the cake for for P+ and potentially even bold, or perhaps they could use it to bolster or reshape 10shake coz god knows what that is trying to be.

  7. Big news in getting soccer on Ten and Paramount+ for the next 3 and a half years.

    Just hope that Ten will promote the games that will air on 10 and 10 Bold, rather than just the games on the streaming sites of Paramount.

  8. Its definitely a big move to get people to use their new platform P+ but will be interesting to see if the deal works for FTA and if people will watch. I mean the Aussie games are probably a given but the rest it remains to be seen. It’s funny how more and more sports and tournaments are losing out to these newer subscription services and Foxtel is missing out (which is a good thing btw). Soon they won’t have much left. It is good to see that they don’t just dominate everything anymore. I mean tennis on Stan, Swimming on Amazon just to name a couple. Yeah its early but more and more i sense will change.

  9. Our world class rankings are currently #41 and #9.

    There’s a reason why commercial TV doesn’t broadcast soccer. Channel 7 once bought the rights to some Socerros world cup qualifiers (they were on the anti-syphoning list and nobody else wanted to pay for them). The first game they intercut between camera angles from both sides of the field so you couldn’t tell which direction play was going. The first two of our goals were scored from corners, the problem being that Seven went to ads everytime there was a goal kick or corner, so all you saw was that the score had gone up by one when they returned from the ads. They didn’t show the goals until after the post game wrap up when complaints on the phone were running hot.

  10. This looks like a great acquisition by ViacomCBS for both their Paramount + and the Network Ten stations in the major cities. However ViacomCBS need to get a move on and get an affiliation broadcast deal for the regional markets of QLD, NSW South/ACT and VIC (and anywhere else in Australia they don’t have a current broadcast transmission contract in place) signed with Southern Cross Austereo before Thursday 1st July, 2021.

  11. It will be interesting to see what gets on FTA. What will the Sat night ratings be Australian soccer if it’s up against AFL/NRL.
    I also wonder if fans will need to subscribe to an add-on like “Paramount+ sports” (similar to Stan) on top of their Paramount+ subscription.

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