New TV Rights Announced - Are Fans The Winners? | Thebigtip

In the biggest deal in Australian sporting history, the AFL announced on Thursday that they had sold their broadcast rights from 2012-2016 to Foxtel, Channel 7 and Telstra for a staggering $1.253 billion. As AFL commentator Brian Taylor would say “Wow-wee!” It's an extraordinary deal and it's big bucks for the AFL, but how about the fans, what's in it for them?

AFL CEO Andrew Demetriou told Thursday's media conference the main 'guiding principle' for his organisation was to ensure the reach of the code was extended for the benefit of fans and supporters nationwide.

Demetriou said: “This is an important agreement for football supporters across the country. More people now have more access to more games in more places and delivered by more media platforms than ever before.”

What we knew before this announcement was that footy fans were demanding more live footy on free-to-air TV. Fans wanted 'black spots' to be eradicated, particularly in WA and SA, while regional fans wanted more opportunities to see their team of choice.

More than anything, choice was an important part of the new deal for fans.

So has the AFL delivered?

For AFL fans who are current Foxtel or Austar subscribers or have enough disposable income to afford pay TV, the answer to that question is a BIG yes.

Foxtel will put every single game of every single home-and-away round live on TV. When matches overlap, they'll put them on different channels (and actually create a new footy channel on FoxSports) which effectively eliminates 'black spots' where some games simply weren't televised into SA and WA.

Fans will have the choice to watch every single game of footy every weekend live, which is great news for regional viewers who can rarely attend matches. Foxtel will also air live all of the pre-season cup.

That's a pretty appealing option for footy fans and Foxtel CEO Kim Williams said he believed there would be no 'major' price change in Foxtel (which is currently $60 per month for the basic sports package) as a result of the deal.

But what about those who can't afford Foxtel?

Indeed, let's look at the free-to-air (FTA) outcomes from this deal.

It was announced that Channel 7 will telecast at least four live games each round. Not much has changed there, but the big point of difference is the Friday night match will be live into Victoria.

The AFL has convinced Channel 7 to move it's successful 7:30pm Friday program Better Homes & Gardens for the benefit of fans seeing live footy, at least in Victoria.

The impression I got from Channel 7 CEO Dave Leckie's comments at Thursday's conference, that was a tough point of bargaining, so full credit to the AFL to winning that battle for the fans.

Live Friday night footy has long been a problem, so this issue has been solved for Victorian fans on FTA, but there will be a delay of 30 minutes into SA and 2 hours in WA (where essentially nothing's changed). It is worth noting, 7 reserves the right to go live in WA and SA on special occasions.

Meanwhile in the AFL's expansion markets of Queensland and New South Wales, it's not expected footy will go live there until the analogue switch-off in 2013 with 7 to put the games on 7mate.

Moving beyond Friday night footy, though, there's good deals in NSW, Queensland, SA and WA where the local clubs from all those states will be available on FTA into their region each weekend. That's reassuring for fans from those areas. It's also good news for the AFL's expansion effort.

Victorians who can't afford Pay TV may feel aggrieved, given only four of the nine matches per weekend will go FTA it is probable the team many support won't be available on FTA. That's a difficult issue to avoid. There's also the 'quirk' with Saturday afternoon games being on 90-minute delay which isn't ideal but not alot different from the hour which it currently is.

Finally, the size of the deal is a great boom for the AFL and they promise that money will be pumped back into the game.

Essentially, that should ensure memberships and gameday tickets remain affordable which is good news for the average footy fan, because as good as any TV deal is, nothing compares to the live stadium experience.

But all in all, the new broadcast deal is good news for AFL fans. It's perfect for those who can afford Pay TV as they will have all the choice they could want and the live footy they want.