OPINION | Why would 10 want to invest in A-League football?

The 10 Network is reportedly set to invest in A-League broadcasting rights, but the big questions being asked by media insiders is why? 

The SMH reports 10 is seeking to secure A-League broadcast rights for the next four seasons, in a deal that would see two matches per round broadcast on free-to-air television.

The deal would certainly be welcomed by the sport’s governing body, Football Federation Australia (FFA), whom are desperate to expose the struggling code to new audiences, but would it be a good deal for 10?

SBS walked away from the football code in 2016 after years of disappointing ratings and an ongoing dispute over poor scheduling of marquee matches. Since then games have been airing on multichannel 10Boss, but audiences have continued to decline.

One senior executive from a rival network described the decision by 10 to invest in A-League as “dubious”, telling TV Blackbox the deal would struggle to make sense even if they held exclusive rights, let alone as a simulcast from Fox Sports with no ability to take a commercial break for 45 minutes.

Audiences for A-League have been in sharp decline over the past two seasons with the opening rounds of the football code struggling for eyeballs against Big Bash Cricket, Australian Open Tennis, AFLW and a resurgent National Basketball competition.

Even more challenging, the A-League Finals series’s competes for atttention against big winter codes, the AFL and NRL.

During the Summer period, Saturday night games have been averaging audiences of around 75,000 on 10 Boss, with a further 35,000 watching the simulcast on Fox Sports.

However with the return of the big football codes, last Saturday nights broadcast of the Western Sydney Wanderers vs Melbourne City fell to a disastrous low of 31,000 viewers on 10 Bold, with just 17,000 additional viewers on Fox Sports. An appalling figure considering the match featured teams from Australia’s two biggest cities.

Under the current broadcast agreement which is set to expire at the end of this season, Fox Sports pays the FFA approximately $2 Million per season for the Free-To-Air (FTA) broadcast rights. Fox Sports then leases airtime from Network 10 allowing it to simulcast it Saturday Night game coverage. Fox Sports receives the bulk of the adverting revenue from these broadcasts, meaning 10 has little incentive to promote the code.

If signed, The new deal would see 10 secure FTA broadcast rights directly from the FFA. The addition of two new teams to an expanded A-League competition would allow 10 to broadcast two games per weekend. With 10 producing its own coverage of the football code, the network would have a much bigger incentive to promote the sport.

The 10 deal would be non-exclusive, with Fox Sports retaining full pay-tv and streaming rights for every game across the next four seasons.

FFA chief David Gallop confirmed negotiations were taking place, telling SMH:

“We are in discussions with Channel 10 but it’s not appropriate to go into the details at this point,” “We need to protect the substantial investment that Fox Sports have made in the A-League while recognising that free-to-air coverage opens the game to more eyeballs.”

Since being taken over by CBS in 2017, 10 has been looking to rebuild it’s sports programming library. The loss of Big Bash Cricket destroyed 10’s ability to promote its 2019 programming line-up, sending the channels ratings into fourth place, well behind the ABC.

10 has recently invested $100 Million to secure non-exclusive rights to the Melbourne Cup carnival for the next 5 years, a figure which stunned its rivals. The network has also secured a limited numbers of World Cup Rugby matches which will be broadcast in prime time later this year.

The network certainly has plenty of CBS cash to spend and the FFA will be hoping to secure approx $20 Million for new deal, but with a failing primetime line-up, you would have to question if investment in a struggling football code is really the highest priority.

The one shining light for 10 in 2019 was the ratings for I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here. With its solid casting and family fun format the show regularly outrated cricket coverage on SEVEN and served as a reminder that consistent, quality programming is a much better strategy, than simply buying any available sporting code just because you have some hours to fill.