The Australian Football League, the Seven and TEN networks and FOXTEL today announced an agreement for AFL broadcast rights across free to air and pay television for 2007-11.

Seven and TEN retain four games per home and away season round – including one Friday night and Sunday afternoon game for Seven, and one Saturday afternoon and night game

for TEN – as well as exclusive live coverage of the finals series, Grand Final and prestigious Brownlow Medal Count.

Seven and TEN have licensed four home and away season games per round to FOXTEL – including one Saturday afternoon and night game and one Sunday afternoon and the new twilight game. These games will be shown nationally on FOXTEL and AUSTAR via Fox Sports.

Coverage highlights include:

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More people in more locations across the country will be able to watch AFL matches either live or near live than ever before
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All matches involving the Adelaide, Brisbane Lions, Fremantle, Port Adelaide, Sydney Swans and West Coast Eagles football clubs will be broadcast on free to air television in their home markets either live or on a variable delay
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Friday night football will be telecast live into New South Wales and Queensland for the first time
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Three matches will be broadcast in full in Victoria on free to air television and pay television on Sunday afternoons for the first time
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Unprecedented national coverage of AFL finals. All finals will be broadcast live or near live on free to air television nationally

The agreement was announced at a joint media conference at Melbourne's Telstra Dome today, at which time the partners also released the telecast schedule for the first six rounds of the 2007 home and away season and the pre-season NAB Cup.

AFL chief executive, Andrew Demetriou, said: "The AFL is delighted with this agreement and the outstanding job that our broadcast partners are doing for football on every level. We are
in the privileged position that our free to air and pay television partners will now take our games to more people than ever before in our history, with fans across Australia enjoying more live coverage than ever before.

"In partnership, we will all work to build AFL football as a spectator sport and as a television sport – to build crowds, to build participation and to build audiences. We look forward to a tremendous relationship and working with our partners to consolidate our position as the leading sporting code in Australia and to further growing our game in every part of the country."

Grant Blackley, chief executive officer of Network Ten, said: "The long and extensive negotiations with FOXTEL have in fact provided a commercial outcome and a telecast schedule that is in the best interests of all parties and will see the AFL develop further as Australia's premier sporting code.

"We are extremely proud of the professional and innovative coverage TEN has offered in the last five years and look forward to continuing our Saturday, finals and Grand Final coverage, and to introducing High Definition production to our coverage this year."

Ian Johnson, group general manager, station operations for Seven Network and managing director, Channel Seven Melbourne, said: “We can’t wait to be back in football. Friday night football and Sunday afternoon football on Seven and the finals series will be fantastic on Seven, and we’re pleased this broadcast agreement secures the broadest possible coverage for the Australian Football League.

"We are looking forward to building a new partnership with the AFL. This has been a lengthy negotiation but sometimes – as is the case here – all that effort has been worthwhile. This deal works for us and football fans.”

FOXTEL's chief executive officer, Kim Williams, said: "FOXTEL has been firmly committed to the AFL since it commenced broadcasting the code in 2002 and we are pleased to continue the close association delivering at least four live games each week exclusively to our subscribers through Fox Sports.

"I would like to thank the AFL and the Seven and TEN networks for the constructive resolution of arrangements which will ensure continuity of AFL provision and an increase in the number and quality of live games provided to FOXTEL and AUSTAR subscribers.”

John Porter, Austar's chief executive officer, said: "Regional Australians will benefit enormously from the deal that has been reached today between our industry colleagues, and I’d like to extend my congratulations to each of them for their role in ensuring the best outcome for sports fans was reached.

"An unprecedented number of AFL games will be shown live to AUSTAR customers, both at home and enjoying the atmosphere at their local pub or club. With guaranteed access to quality games on set days and times, regional Australians are definitely winners in this deal.”

AT-A-GLANCE: THE ARRANGEMENTS
In January 2006, The Seven and TEN networks accepted the AFL's terms for television rights for the 2007-11 football seasons, including the consideration of $780 million ($87.5 million of which is contra) over five years, and the opportunity to sub-license as many as four games a week.

Under the agreement announced today, FOXTEL will sub-license exclusive rights to four games per round during the home and away season and will have replay rights to all games, including the finals. These games will screen on FOXTEL and AUSTAR via Fox Sports.

In consideration for those rights, FOXTEL will pay to the Seven and TEN networks $315.5 million over five years, comprising $50 million in cash for the first year with an increase of 3% compounding each year, plus $10m in contra advertising annually.

AUSTAR is making a direct contribution to FOXTEL to assist it in meeting the annual financial and contra obligations. Fox Sports is responsible for production costs associated with subscription television’s live four game coverage and will also share FOXTEL’s contra obligation with AUSTAR.

The Seven Network will broadcast one Friday night and one Sunday afternoon game in each of the home and away season rounds.

Network Ten will broadcast one Saturday afternoon and evening game each round.

The finals will be broadcast live on Seven and TEN. Network Ten will have the exclusive live broadcast of the 2007 Grand Final, while Seven will telecast the 2007 Brownlow Medal Count.

FOXTEL and AUSTAR's four home and away season games will include a Saturday afternoon and evening match in each round as well as a Sunday afternoon and the new Sunday twilight match. In addition, FOXTEL and AUSTAR will broadcast Friday night AFL games into NSW, QLD and the ACT each week, for the first time delivering live coverage to many viewers in those regions.

FOXTEL and AUSTAR will enjoy replay rights to every game of every round of the season, including the finals.

The agreement also covers the pre-season NAB Cup. Networks Seven and TEN will broadcast half the games while FOXTEL and AUSTAR will broadcast half. Subscription television will also broadcast one semi-final exclusively live, with the remaining pre-season finals broadcast by the Seven and TEN networks.