BEN Buckley, the head of Football Federation Australia, could have been forgiven for having a wry grin on Thursday as he watched his former boss Andrew Demetriou unveil details of the AFL's billion-dollar-plus TV rights package, a landmark figure for Australian sport.
After all, Buckley had been Demetriou's right-hand man and played a crucial role in negotiating the previous big-money deal for the AFL, which put the code in such a strong position in Australia's competitive sports market.
Yesterday the former North Melbourne player, Nike executive and AFL Players Association official was full of praise for the Demetriou's dealmaking skills but said he had no regrets about leaving the sport. Buckley says he is looking forward to pitting his wits with the TV networks and new media distributors to negotiate Australian soccer's next TV contract when the long-term deal with Fox Sports expires in 2013.
Advertisement: Story continues below
''No pangs of regret at all, none whatsoever. The future for Australian soccer is very bright and we will be looking to build the game so that it is an attractive product for a host of prospective media partners in the future,'' he said. ''But you have to take your hat off to the AFL executives and the game for building itself into a strong product that is so appealing to the broadcasters and the public.''
Buckley's negotiating experience will be crucial as the FFA looks to leverage its $17 million-a-year Fox Sports deal into something greater.
While the soccer doomsayers are alarmed at the scale of the AFL's windfall and fear that once the NRL does its next deal there will be little left in the TV kitty, others argue that such a big deal is a bonus for all sport and shows that well-run, attractively packaged and competitive leagues with popular support can attract premium TV revenues.
Australian soccer chiefs reportedly spurned an upgraded offer of $29 million a year from Fox a couple of years ago; they will have to better that in the next contract to continue to underpin the financial viability of a sport that has made huge strides, from effectively semi-professional status to a full-time profession, in half a decade.
The AFL's mega deal hammers home that live sport is the best way to attract audiences prepared to shell out for content.
For pay-TV providers, exclusivity is the key as it drives subscriptions - that is why Fox is prepared to pay more than rival bidders, as it did when it renegotiated to cover Socceroos games and the A-League in its entirety just before the national team did so well in the World Cup in Germany in 2006.
While Australian soccer - and the English Premier League Fox also broadcasts - has helped lure subscribers, the AFL will do so even more.
This isn't a bad thing for soccer. If the AFL deal means an increase in pay TV subscriptions, it will underwrite the security of the industry, ensuring it is around to be a viable bidder for other product, including soccer. And more people watching Fox Sports, even if they signed on primarily for the footy, are likely to sample other sporting dishes.
The key to soccer's financial viability will lie as much in Canberra as it does at FFA headquarters. If Communications Minister Stephen Conroy includes the Socceroos on the anti-siphoning list and mandates that national team games must be on free-to-air television, that could be a grievous blow to the economic base of the local game. Fox gets its best soccer ratings from exclusive coverage of Socceroos matches - high-profile friendlies and World Cup qualifiers - and a split will strike out much of the FFA's value at the negotiating table.
Without the chance to bid for exclusive access to those games, it's likely Fox would not be prepared to spend anywhere near as much just for A-League games.
Yes, a free-to-air broadcaster might stump up with cash for the internationals, but the FFA knows its bread and butter is the domestic competition. If that is a failure, then the game is a failure. Without Fox's money, the A-League would not be sustainable. A mix of Fox and free-to-air could work, but would it generate sufficient cash?
There are also other alternatives. The National Broadband Network (if and when it happens) will improve the speed and availability of internet services nationwide, so an IPTV platform to watch matches through live streaming could become a source of rights revenue.
Existing free-to-air networks are hungry for content for their digital multi-channel offerings, and while One HD - often touted as the saviour of the so-called minor sports - appears to be in retreat, mobile phones and other platforms could be sources of finance.
While refusing to predict what the economic landscape will look like in 18 months' time, Buckley remains optimistic.
''If we can build an attractive, robust and competitive league, that will add greater value to our rights for all media. Our task is to build that value in the A-League now.''
Michael Lynch has appeared on Fox Sports FC.
No comments:
Post a Comment