Foxtel breaks A-League broadcast deal

Foxtel has backed out of its deal with Football Federation Australia to broadcast domestic football, including the A-League.

The current broadcast deal was originally signed in December 2016 and is worth around $57 million a year. The current agreement was set to run until 2023.

The Australian Financial Review reported that a clause in the broadcast deal in regards to content not being delivered for a certain amount of time has consequently allowed Foxtel to exit from the contract.

Foxtel is expected to seek a more affordable deal to broadcast the rest of the 2020 season. A new arrangement could be announced as early as today, with negotiations continuing between Foxtel and the FFA.

Foxtel has also removed all A-League and W-League content from its platforms. Match replays and highlights are now no longer available on both Kayo Sports and Foxtel Go.

On Thursday, Peter Campbell, the head of the Fox Sports told the Herald and The Age that Fox Sports was looking into its football content.

“We’ve got no live football at the moment and we’re currently reviewing all our football offering, and that’s the reason why it’s not there at the moment,” he said.

The A-League season was postponed on March 24th, with the season set to resume on July 16th with Melbourne Victory taking on Western United at AAMI Park.

A-League clubs were able to return to training from Wednesday ahead of the remaining 27 games of the regular season. The games will be played over 28 days before the finals series gets underway.

Foxtel and Fox Sports has been a broadcast partner of the FFA for 15 years, but in recent times TV ratings have been declining.

Many broadcasters and sports have renegotiated broadcast deals following the coronavirus pandemic.

Last week the Australian Football League reached an agreement with Foxtel and Seven West Media for a reduction in payments for 2020. The AFL extended its deal with Seven by two years but was unable to come to an agreement for an extension with Foxtel.

Meanwhile the National Rugby League lowered its broadcast fees and agreed to a new deal with Foxtel and Nine Entertainment Co in late May.

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MLS soccer wraps up record season

The 2024 Major League Soccer regular season was the most successful for the American-based football competition yet. The regular season wrapped up in October and shattered several records, proving that the competition is in a healthy state and set up for long-term success.

More fans are consuming the MLS product than ever before, and it is experiencing year-over-year growth. Growing soccer in America has proven to be challenging, but the record-setting attendance highlights the breakthrough MLS is achieving.

The attendance average for the MLS season was the highest in the league’s history, at 23,234 fans per regular-season game, a +5.1% increase from the 2023 MLS regular season. In total, 11.4 million fans attended matches during the regular season, smashing the 2023 number of 10.9 million.

These figures will grow throughout the 2024 Audi MLS Cup Playoffs, from October 24th to December 7th. Based on their regular season numbers, MLS has projected that they will be in the top three across all soccer leagues globally in terms of attendance average after the 2024 Audi MLS Cup Playoffs, alongside the English Premier League and Bundesliga.

Due to the successful season, the league has experienced a 13% sponsorship revenue increase and a 13% club sponsorship revenue increase compared to the 2023 MLS season.

Ten out of the 29 clubs beat or tied their regular season attendance average, this statistic highlights communal growth beyond the Lionel Messi effect and keeps the league in a healthy spot going forward.

MLS social media grew faster in 2024 than the rival major men’s North American sports leagues, which consist of the National Basketball Association, Major League Baseball, and the National Hockey League.

  • MLS TikTok saw a 26% growth in followers
  • MLS YouTube saw a 21% growth in subscribers
  • MLS Instagram saw a 10% growth in followers

The MLS x Adidas Archive Collection was credited with huge financial success, and on July 16, 2024, the MLS retail store had its most successful day in history.

Beyond the American audience, MLS has been making waves in the European market. Attempts to expand the league overseas were pioneered by opening 800+ MLS retail stores across France, Spain, Germany, and other major European countries in partnership agreements with Primark and Bershka retail stores.

The broadcast deal between MLS and Apple TV, signed in 2022 for 10 years and worth 3.7 billion dollars, has injected valuable funds into the league to improve its overall product from broadcasting and on-field standpoints.

Apple TV, which broadcasts all MLS games, invites fans to easily access the league while airing MLS content beyond the live match broadcast. The investment has shown success since 2023, but fans have criticised the league for its match scheduling, Apple TV broadcasts in 100 countries, so the platform opportunity for MLS is substantial.

The mass financial figure has been credited with being a key reason why the league has been able to sign the likes of Lionel Messi, an 8-time winner of the Ballon d’Or and the captain of the 2022 FIFA World Cup-winning side Argentina.

The bigger picture for the MLS competition will be the continual rise of quality international players choosing to sign into the MLS and improving the match quality. The 2024 MLS season had a very successful summer transfer window, including star players Olivier Giroud, France’s all-time leading goal scorer, and Borussia Dortmund and Germany international Marco Reus.

Common fan complaints have been centred around the season’s kick-off in February and the Audi MLS Cup Playoffs finishing in December. The lengthy season means that the league is miserable to attend during winter from a fan’s perspective, the freezing and windy weather hurts the product, while thunderstorm delays have been common for the league in these cold months.

MLS games being played in Canada and Northeast America during the winter months will continue to jeopardise the product and growth of the sport.

Additionally, the gripes come from the lack of pauses throughout the 10-month season, which leads to a mass exodus of players from MLS teams during the international break, again hurting the product.

Given that the competition has 29 teams, broadcasting the matches in the evening on Saturdays and Wednesdays, with rare occasions when matches are played in other time slots, has made it challenging for football enthusiasts to follow the league as a whole.

Hosting games in earlier windows invites a family aspect to the matches, with Saturday/Sunday afternoon games working for the Premier League.

A huge positive of the Apple TV broadcasting deal is MLS 360, which takes fans all around the league with live coverage of the matchday. MLS 360 showcases the best action of every game, from goals to saves, play-by-play and analyst breakdowns of teams.

The analyst and play-by-play team consists of 60 people broadcasting in English and Spanish. Key football minds hosting the MLS 360 are Kevin Egan, Sacha Klejstan, Kaylyn Kyle, and Bradley Wright-Phillips.

As the MLS prepares for the 2024 Audi MLS Cup Playoffs, a recent change in playoff formatting kicked off in 2023 and proved to be a successful business model. The format was changed to include a best-of-three series with no ties and a mix of single individual knockout matches.

Also, allowing 19/29 MLS teams into the playoffs from a business standpoint meant more matches, more revenue, and more opportunities to grow the league as a whole.

Each MLS team has a fluid salary cap, this is to keep the league fair for all teams and give each team an equal opportunity to win on paper. There are ‘designated players’, such as Messi, who each team is allowed to sign even if it breaks the salary cap in an attempt to boost the league’s big-name talent. 

The absence of a regulation/promotion system and a player draft awarding lower-ranked teams with better talent is a welcome site for struggling teams to rebuild faster. This system improves the quality of the MLS competition and is a tool to prevent lopsided affairs. 

Garber has credited MLS teams’ business approach to investing in soccer-specific stadiums with the growth of team evaluations. Investing significant funding into building these stadiums for teams to risk relegating would harm the league and its revenue/team sponsorship. 

The 2026 FIFA World Cup in North America is gearing up to be a potential takeover opportunity for American soccer. MLS is expecting mass residual effects from this, similar to Australia and New Zealand hosting the 2023 Women’s FIFA World Cup.

The MLS’ business-savvy approach to running the league and ability to adapt to the sporting landscape surrounding it in an oversaturated sports market has worked in favour of the league. There’s a lot to be excited about looking at the future landscape for the MLS.

This league’s continual growth and development have fans in the box seat to enjoy some of the best football action in the world.

AFC aligns with AIAC for improved football dispute resolution

The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and the Asian International Arbitration Centre (AIAC) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), highlighting their dedication to fortifying football law and to providing multiple sports dispute resolution pathways in Asia.

The MoU, signed in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on Monday, is a three-year agreement which aims to cultivate greater collaboration between the AFC and AIAC.

The agreement is the latest in a long running partnership for the AFC and AIAC. Since 2015, the organisations have cooperated to host seminars, conferences and training programs, focused on educating the public and officials about sports law and dispute resolution.

AFC General Counsel and Director of Legal Affairs, Andrew Mercer, expressed his excitement for the agreement via press release.

“We are delighted to formalise this important collaboration with the AIAC, who share common interests and values to promote academic and practical training in sports specific alternative dispute resolution in Asia,” he said.

AIAC Chief Executive Officer, Datuk Almalena Sharmila Johan, conveyed a similar sentiment.

“As we embark on this partnership, we celebrate the convergence of our expertise, values and dedication to raising the standards of ADR within the sporting community. The ASIAN Sports Arbitration Rules exemplified our commitment to advancing the spirit of justice in the sports industry as a whole, by providing a comprehensive framework for expedient dispute resolution that best preserves fairness and integrity within sports,” she said via press release.

This latest agreement will facilitate the AFC’s and AIAC’s desire to operate a yearly workshop or conference concentrating on sports law.

Both organisations wish to voice a plurality of opinions across Asia to explore conversations about recent sports law trends and developments across the continent and the world.

Additionally, this space would also provide an opportunity to discuss and review best law practices and alternative dispute resolution methods to find new solutions and remedies that will strengthen the future of Asian sports law.

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