Another government review, OneHD's move away from its sports-only format and the AFL's mega television deal: three recent developments that will, according to many, reaffirm Australian football's place in this country; as a fringe code burdened by immense expectations.
The AFL's billion-dollar deal ($1.25 billion, to be exact) and the prospect that the NRL's deal could get close to that mark, only confirms that there's some gap between the big two codes and the rest. Following the demise of North Queensland Fury, the stillborn Sydney Rovers and the failed World Cup bid, it's imperative Football Federation Australia gets back on track soon to not lose too much ground relative to the other fringe codes.
While the government review will give the game some direction to navigate through this difficult period - a positive direction the FFA can hopefully move towards - critical to funding the next stage of growth is the next television deal.
In the wake of the AFL's billion-dollar football fans have pondered whether it's a good or bad development for the roundball game. The reality is once the NRL completes its deal there'll be little if anything left for the rest of the codes on free-to-air, particularly with OneHD's move away from sports-only content.
The temptation is to look at the situation and panic. A free-to-air presence is undoubtedly a positive, but it needs to be the right presence otherwise it's wasted - see Super Rugby's late-night highlights package as an almost useless free-to-air presence.
Accepting that there'll be little to no free-to-air interest post-OneHD (see my last column), the FFA's focus will be on squeezing as much as possible out of Fox Sports deal while working away on a Socceroos free-to-air deal.
But in the wake of the AFL deal, staying on Fox Sports isn't such a bad thing. Fox Sports has remarkably scored every AFL match bar the grand final live across the country. With angst rising against Channel Seven over its delayed coverage (there'll still be delays to key states in their new AFL deal), Foxtel subscriptions are expected to increase for 2012 - reaffirming Fox Sports' position as the place for premium sporting content.
If Foxtel's reach extends beyond its current 34 per cent of Australian homes, then that's critically important for the A-League and its future growth. Those AFL fans that are suddenly signing up for Foxtel are likely to still be watching Fox Sports throughout the summer, when the AFL is hibernating. It's critical that the A-League entices this wider reach and potential new audience, winning over some new fans.
Like it or not, the A-League's broadcast future is tied to Foxtel. OneHD tried and failed to deliver Australia's first-ever sports-only free-to-air channel, for various and complex reasons, so Fox Sports is the place to be guaranteed the coverage current fans want and new fans need to stay watching. The key is winning those new fans over and standing out in the summer months, where only domestic cricket can be considered a genuine rival for ratings.
The size of the A-League media deal is critical, but so is the size of Fox Sports' reach; and thus the A-League's.
