http://www.smh.com.au/sport/soccer/abc- ... 1c3fg.html
The ABC could be on the verge of becoming a serious player in the Australian football broadcasting landscape after securing a deal to screen all of Australia's matches at January's Asian Cup live on free-to-air television – plus November's glamour friendly against Japan in Osaka.
A deal was struck over the weekend between Football Federation Australia and existing rights-holder Fox Sports to ensure the tournament is broadcast to as many viewers as possible outside the pay television domain. In addition to broadcasting Australia's matches, a nightly highlights show will screen on ABC at 10pm and it will also broadcast the quarter-final and semi-final matches on delay. In addition, the ABC is already the tournament's official radio broadcaster.
FFA chief executive David Gallop hailed the announcement as an opportunity for all Australians to see the Socceroos in action on home soil.
"To have a multi-platform, subscription and free-to-air broadcast partnership gives all Australians the chance to watch the Socceroos as they strive to achieve the mantle of Asia's best football team," he said. "The FFA has strong relationships with a number of broadcasters and in this case the ABC was uniquely positioned, across TV, radio and online to join with us and Fox Sports in bringing the AFC Asian Cup to as many Australians as possible."
ABC director of television Richard Finlayson said his network was delighted to get the deal done over the weekend. "We felt strongly that this significant sporting and cultural event should be made available to all Australians," he said. "With additional support from the FFA, we were able to work out a deal with Fox Sports to release some key games."
The A-League was shown on free-to-air television for the first time last season through SBS, which has been granted the rights to one live Friday night match every week as part of a four-year deal.
However, while SBS was offered the opportunity to bid for the Asian Cup, the FFA is thought to have received a similar offer from the ABC – and decided it would test the waters of interest among viewers of the main government broadcaster.
While the tournament is a one-off broadcast opportunity, one insider told Fairfax Media the ABC's top authorities would be closely monitoring the ratings to gauge the interest in the competition among its watchers.
It is thought that if enough fans tuned in, the network would "definitely" investigate broadcasting further matches, and possibly even look at getting involved in A-League broadcasting. The obvious stumbling block for now, however, remains the Abbott government's controversial planned cutbacks to the ABC's budget.
The FFA is still some time away from starting negotiations on a new A-League television rights deal to replace the four-year, $200 million contract that expires on June 30, 2017.
However, as the FFA is looking to secure a dramatic increase – perhaps double the last deal – it will be eager to engage as many possible future host broadcasters in screening lucrative fixtures that aren't tied up to Fox Sports or SBS.
The ABC, which holds the rights to the W-League, is not the first of the major networks to push into broadcasting men's soccer.
Channel Seven has shown a steadily increasing interest, successfully bidding to broadcast matches involving the A-League All Stars against Manchester United last year and Juventus this year. It also broadcast Liverpool's friendly 2013 match against Melbourne Victory at the MCG.
Channel Nine (16 matches of the 2002 World Cup) and Channel Ten (the 2007 friendly between Sydney FC and David Beckham's LA Galaxy) have also dipped their toe in but not for several years.
With cricket taking up key positions on the programming agenda of both Nine and Ten, the summer timeslot of the A-League has not – so far at least – appeared a compatible bedfellow.
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