When it was announced that Optus has purchased the rights to broadcast the English Premier League starting from the 2016-17 season, many commentators worried that this would have a knock-on effect to the A-League and any new potential broadcast deal.
Optus beat out current rights holder Fox Sports and beIN Sports to secure the rights, paying the hefty sum of $63 million, apparently doubling the offer that Fox Sports had put on the table. The loss of the EPL is another huge blow to Fox Sports and their footballing catalogue. Having already lost the La Liga, Serie A and MLS among other leagues, all Fox Sports will have left is the A-League, Indian Super League and any matches involving the Socceroos. This could be seen as either a good or bad thing for the A-League.
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On one hand, the league could have increased marketing and exposure as a result of the loss of the EPL, as the A-League will become Fox Sports’ leading football brand and this could be a very positive step towards the growth of the league. However, one could also argue that this deal could see many football fans drop their subscription to Foxtel because they will not spend a significant amount of money purely to watch the A-League. Looking at the social media backlash against this announcement, it seems many current Foxtel subscribers will not be continuing their subscription past this season in protest and a potentially large chunk of A-League watchers could be included among them. Unfortunately, we probably will not find out the full effect of this announcement until June 2016 at the earliest, assuming fans keep Foxtel until the end of this current EPL season.
Not a big money-spinner? Let’s see how many EPL fans don’t renew their Foxtel. pic.twitter.com/pt317q4cLc
— James Parkinson (@JamesRParkinson) November 2, 2015
However, with the loss of the EPL, the A-League’s bid for a new TV deal may have completely changed as a result. In the past few months it has been rumored that the A-League would go for around $80 million a season which is double the $40 million it is currently taking in. But one could argue that the loss of a potential viewing base that left Foxtel at the conclusion of the EPL deal would significantly hurt the A-League’s bid. As there could be no potential for growth in terms of viewership, the A-League would need to respond by expanding the league in order to secure new viewers, something A-League chief Damien de Bohun has stated will not be looked at for the foreseeable future. These factors could result in the A-League bringing in a less than expected TV deal, something which would hurt the growth of the A-League.
However, there may also be value in exploring the alternative thought path. With the EPL gone, Fox Sports now has no marketable footballing league with the sole exception of the A-League and Foxtel would not want to lose the league and continue the programming tailspin it has put itself into. This puts the FFA in a fantastic position, as it now gives them most of the cards to play when it comes time to negotiate a new deal. As the current TV deal runs out at the end of the 2016-17 season, it will give both sides enough time to see how the loss of the EPL will affect Foxtel and it could let the FFA argue just how necessary the A-League is to Foxtel. This could lead to an increased TV deal on top of the rumored $80 million as Foxtel would be more willing to lay out the big money to keep their marquee footballing competition, especially as free to air networks are beginning to hover around the A-League and looking to outbid Fox Sports for the rights.
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While Optus are yet to announce just how the EPL will be broadcast next season, it is unlikely that Fox Sports will be one of the ways, as it is ridiculous to entertain the notion that Optus purchases the rights only to immediately return them to Fox Sports. This now makes the next 18 months rather crucial to the FFA as they attempt to organise a new TV deal for the A-League. A large loss of subscribers on the hand of Foxtel could scare them into proposing a larger TV deal in order to keep the A-League around, or it could scare the FFA away from dealing with them at all, forcing the A-League to go to free to air networks.
Whatever the case, it is clear to see that the EPL rights announcement will cause a flow-on effect to the A-League and any future deal sought. With the footballing and broadcasting markets becoming more diverse, the next few years could be very interesting to watch as leagues and more traditional broadcasters try to catch up to the times. The EPL moving to Optus is not just a big deal for the A-League, it is a gamechanger.
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