LumpofCoal Morrison is saying prepare for 6 months in current "hibernation" - basically, to see the country through winter flu season. Lots of businesses here planning on some restrictions easing a bit in October. International travel will be low on that list.
General A-League discussion
"There are opportunities globally. This is a tough thing that’s happened, but there will be phoenixes that rise from the ashes. People will do very, very well because of this happening."
Interesting article, could definitely see A-League clubs being targeted. Sounds like the typical American type thing to do though - swoop in when prices are low and organisations are at their most vulnerable and cut basement bargain deals.
"There are opportunities globally. This is a tough thing that’s happened, but there will be phoenixes that rise from the ashes. People will do very, very well because of this happening."
Interesting article, could definitely see A-League clubs being targeted. Sounds like the typical American type thing to do though - swoop in when prices are low and organisations are at their most vulnerable and cut basement bargain deals.
But would an A League club be an attractive investment? Don't they all operate at a loss apart from Victory.
Still I guess you have the City group owning Melbourne City, and Bakrie Group with the Roar.
An American owner or two of an A League club might be good thing, come in with some fresh ideas & networks, to somehow increase the overall value/TV rights of the League.
Still NRL clubs especially those with large Leagues clubs, and pokies might be a more attractive investment - for some Yank casino owner or similar. Think Australians per capita are the biggest gamblers in the world.
"There are opportunities globally. This is a tough thing that’s happened, but there will be phoenixes that rise from the ashes. People will do very, very well because of this happening."
Interesting article, could definitely see A-League clubs being targeted. Sounds like the typical American type thing to do though - swoop in when prices are low and organisations are at their most vulnerable and cut basement bargain deals.
But would an A League club be an attractive investment? Don't they all operate at a loss apart from Victory.
Still I guess you have the City group owning Melbourne City, and Bakrie Group with the Roar.
An American owner or two of an A League club might be good thing, come in with some fresh ideas & networks, to somehow increase the overall value/TV rights of the League.
Still NRL clubs especially those with large Leagues clubs, and pokies might be a more attractive investment - for some Yank casino owner or similar. Think Australians per capita are the biggest gamblers in the world.
It might be attractive to some as a 'cheap' vanity project for someone that wants the ego boost of owning a sports team, but doesn't have the cash to purchase a US franchise. Whether they understand that they aren't buying a cash cow like a US franchise is where owners are worshipped and are able to pull money out of a franchise rather than making significant ongoing investment like is necessary here... who knows?
See that LaMelo Ball an 18 year old hot NBA prospect (predicted by some to go No. 1 pick), who skipped the normal US College path to play a season in the Australian NBL, just purchased part ownership of his Aussie team Illawara Hawks.
Pretty amazing comment amongst that article.
Ball’s arrival in the NBL helped the league set several viewership and attendance records. The head of the league said the NBL received $1.4 billion in global media deals after Ball joined.
"There are opportunities globally. This is a tough thing that’s happened, but there will be phoenixes that rise from the ashes. People will do very, very well because of this happening."
Interesting article, could definitely see A-League clubs being targeted. Sounds like the typical American type thing to do though - swoop in when prices are low and organisations are at their most vulnerable and cut basement bargain deals.
But would an A League club be an attractive investment? Don't they all operate at a loss apart from Victory.
Still I guess you have the City group owning Melbourne City, and Bakrie Group with the Roar.
An American owner or two of an A League club might be good thing, come in with some fresh ideas & networks, to somehow increase the overall value/TV rights of the League.
Still NRL clubs especially those with large Leagues clubs, and pokies might be a more attractive investment - for some Yank casino owner or similar. Think Australians per capita are the biggest gamblers in the world.
I would say most teams would be a fair investment even if they were potentially sold at a cut-throat price. Would love to see a good amount of investment and exposure to allow the game to grow (when we eventually get back underway that is).
Maybe just my own opinion too, but would love to see investment in each teams own specific stadiums. Obviously have to scale down compared to what the league currently has to work with in terms of capacity and increased cross code use, but that'd probably come into it further down the track.
Breaking: Foxtel has made 200 employees redundant; and stood down another 140 until the end of June.
Terrible for those inolved. And likely bad news for the A-League as well
Yes feel sorry for anyone losing their job right now. I guess Fox weren't being so greedy after all, trying to keep the A League going.
Can only be bad signs for the league itself. Such a large cut of staff, must mean some plans to reduce content and channels.
Clubs that have stood down players/staff: Perth, CCM, Roar, Adelaide, Jets, WSW. Predicting WU and Nix next cabs off the rank. Leaving only the big 3.
I reckon there’s a better than even chance the next football season is sure to include some old NSL clubs.
There is no mechanism by which the Phoenix can "stand down" players/staff.
Closest thing to it would be redundancy, correct? But that would mean releasing them all from their contracts, meaning they'd all be free agents - not great if we hope to keep many of them around for next season.
Pretty sure that players aren't employees. Would be interesting to know what the terms of those contracts are, from memory they are all templated? Which means that the contracts that players in Aus are on would be the same as the contracts the Nix players on.
Really? That's a bit of sophistry. If you compare to say a plumber, the players can only have one job/person they work for and they don't have much flexibility about where and when they do a job.
An owner/operator plumber isn't the right comparison here. Essentially players (and coaching staff) are contractors. The background/admin staff I suspect could well be/are employees.
I am not an expert, but I would imagine that players are akin to courier drivers, who are self-employed contractors limited to one client.
Encouraging if at all true:
Auckland International Airport chief executive Adrian Littlewood has told BusinessDesk (paywalled, worth subscribing) that it’s time to start planning for a “trans-Tasman” travel bubble – even if such an eventuality is months away. “We need to test and trial those mechanisms across the Tasman, even if it’s state-by-state for a start,” he told Pattrick Smellie, editor of the online business news startup. He said that such a move would provide a huge boost to each country’s respective tourism industries, particularly given that much of the rest of the world is likely to be closed off for at least a year.
Think that may be some time away judging by the Prime Minister's comments today.
Think that may be some time away judging by the Prime Minister's comments today.
"even if such an eventuality is months away" - but I agree that this is the right time for planning.
Think that may be some time away judging by the Prime Minister's comments today.
"even if such an eventuality is months away" - but I agree that this is the right time for planning.
The impression I got from the presser yesterday is that we're not necessarily talking months. Some of the journalists tried to get a commitment on this being opened by the end of the year and she wouldn't go anywhere near answering that.
my feeling is that the plan is to get out of level 4 on the 22nd, however level 3 will be the next step, we wont go from 4 to 2. Level 3 will be almost as tight as 4, no unnecessary travel, especially international. It's unlikely that sports will be played at any level. Likelihood is that we'll be in 3 for at least another 2 weeks, as that seems to be the infection period for the virus, maybe 4 weeks. We will still be working form home - those of us that have jobs and can continue to be at home working. Level 2 wont be for another 6 weeks and at that point I'd expect to only arrive when no new cases of Covid-19 have eventuated - but our borders will still be locked up tight with only those who can prove they are not infected and have come from a 'safe' place will be allowed in.
Whether this means the league can finish or not - who knows?
my feeling is that the plan is to get out of level 4 on the 22nd, however level 3 will be the next step, we wont go from 4 to 2. Level 3 will be almost as tight as 4, no unnecessary travel, especially international. It's unlikely that sports will be played at any level. Likelihood is that we'll be in 3 for at least another 2 weeks, as that seems to be the infection period for the virus, maybe 4 weeks. We will still be working form home - those of us that have jobs and can continue to be at home working. Level 2 wont be for another 6 weeks and at that point I'd expect to only arrive when no new cases of Covid-19 have eventuated - but our borders will still be locked up tight with only those who can prove they are not infected and have come from a 'safe' place will be allowed in.
Whether this means the league can finish or not - who knows?
I think we're still looking enforced quarantine at the border even when we're at level 2 with an exception potentially of Pacific islands.
my feeling is that the plan is to get out of level 4 on the 22nd, however level 3 will be the next step, we wont go from 4 to 2. Level 3 will be almost as tight as 4, no unnecessary travel, especially international. It's unlikely that sports will be played at any level. Likelihood is that we'll be in 3 for at least another 2 weeks, as that seems to be the infection period for the virus, maybe 4 weeks. We will still be working form home - those of us that have jobs and can continue to be at home working. Level 2 wont be for another 6 weeks and at that point I'd expect to only arrive when no new cases of Covid-19 have eventuated - but our borders will still be locked up tight with only those who can prove they are not infected and have come from a 'safe' place will be allowed in.
Whether this means the league can finish or not - who knows?
I think we're still looking enforced quarantine at the border even when we're at level 2 with an exception potentially of Pacific islands.
agreed, I'd expect the borders to be effectively shut until a vaccine is available.
I think we're still looking enforced quarantine at the border even when we're at level 2 with an exception potentially of Pacific islands.
Samoa has eliminated Corona, I don't think they'll be letting us in until we do the same.
I think we're still looking enforced quarantine at the border even when we're at level 2 with an exception potentially of Pacific islands.
Samoa has eliminated Corona, I don't think they'll be letting us in until we do the same.
and only after New Zealand makes MMR vaccination compulsory rather than a matter of parents' personal opinion.
LumpofCoal Morrison is saying prepare for 6 months in current "hibernation" - basically, to see the country through winter flu season. Lots of businesses here planning on some restrictions easing a bit in October. International travel will be low on that list.
LumpofCoal Morrison is saying prepare for 6 months in current "hibernation" - basically, to see the country through winter flu season. Lots of businesses here planning on some restrictions easing a bit in October. International travel will be low on that list.
I think we're still looking enforced quarantine at the border even when we're at level 2 with an exception potentially of Pacific islands.
Samoa has eliminated Corona, I don't think they'll be letting us in until we do the same.
sauce?
Any news on the FFA receiving their $AUD12M due from Fox today?
Read somewhere that every A League club (incl Nix) gets $900K each from that.
Any news on the FFA receiving their $AUD12M due from Fox today?
Read somewhere that every A League club (incl Nix) gets $900K each from that.
Don't hold your breath.
Any news on the FFA receiving their $AUD12M due from Fox today?
Read somewhere that every A League club (incl Nix) gets $900K each from that.
Don't hold your breath.
Well without it I imagine things will get deeply serious cashflow wise, around the various clubs.
LumpofCoal Morrison is saying prepare for 6 months in current "hibernation" - basically, to see the country through winter flu season. Lots of businesses here planning on some restrictions easing a bit in October. International travel will be low on that list.
Like talking about Mr Pell without qualifying Barrister or Minister
So will any money be sitting in the FFA bank account this morning -
Part payment will show intent to pay if followed by letter of dispute. IMH -
This should stop breach of contract. Putting them into discussions about supply of product? Only guessing -
Thoughts -
Richard Parkin’s article on Fox deal in the Guardian this morning provides no answers either.
At the very least would have thought that Fox will be negotiating a reduction in the 12m broadcasting moneys that are supposed to pay. Part payment like you say.
Lack of any broadcasting content would give them some sort of grounds to negotiate. Now comes down to the wording in the broadcasting contract. Fox will be desperate though and hurting at the moment. And there will obviously be pressure on FFA to get something happening sooner rather than later.
I'm glad though, that the FFA have come out and said nothing is going to happen before July. Lets sit back and see what becomes of the NRL plans to start up again next month.
So will any money be sitting in the FFA bank account this morning -
Part payment will show intent to pay if followed by letter of dispute. IMH -
This should stop breach of contract. Putting them into discussions about supply of product? Only guessing -
Thoughts -
I'm picking a very dirty shark fight. Fox are bleeding money. They have just laid off 200 staff. If they can find some clause that allows them to get out of their $57M/year contract, their lawyers will be all over it.
They were wanting to exit their FFA deal, well before Covid turned up. Reverend Pell's solicitor will have his work cut out.
Though still think there will be a lower contract price Fox will accept, as what other sport product do they have for their subscribers over summer apart from cricket. That's unless they are planning to dump 1-2 Fox Sports channels completely.
If the latest $900K per club payment hasn't been made, how long can clubs wait before they cut expenses to the bone.
Look how quickly Rugby Australia has gone into a financial black hole, after it's Foxtel called it's game of bluff, compounded then by Covid seeing all pro rugby being suspended.
Samoa has eliminated Corona, I don't think they'll be letting us in until we do the same.
[/quote]
sauce?
so Covid-19 never actually arrived in Samoa?
"There was a time when Fox Sports needed football as much as the newly rebooted code needed cold hard cash. The initial seven-year $120m deal penned in 2006 gave head office financial security and the pay TV operator a loss-leading subscription driver. With only Super Rugby and NBL on its books, the A-League – and more importantly, the Socceroos – were a comparative blue-chip asset."
The Key to TV deal - imo
For any that couldn't be bothered registering to The Guardian is worth a read.
Australian football's Fox Sports conundrum – looming disaster or reset opportunity?"Could FFA emerge from the coronavirus crisis with a better broadcast platform? It sounds fanciful, but the building blocks are there
A cameraman prepares to screen the derby between Western Sydney and Sydney FC in March. The arrival of Wanderers in the A-League gave football a golden asset to sell to broadcasters, but its value has steadily diminished. Photograph: Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images
It’s the $58m question. Amid more rumblings of reluctance from Fox Sports to see out the final three years of its six-year broadcast deal, how best can Australian football secure its future?
In the coronavirus-imposed suspension of the A-League, the chief broadcaster has identified a potential escape clause – but with Football Federation Australia’s coffers bare, neither party is keen to accommodate.
It’s a collision course that has been a long time in the making. In 2018, Fox Sports posted a $417m loss and announced an immediate deprioritisation of “non-marquee sporting content”, triggering cuts to its football department and production budget. The fruit of a 15-year relationship had well and truly soured.
There was a time when Fox Sports needed football as much as the newly rebooted code needed cold hard cash. The initial seven-year $120m deal penned in 2006 gave head office financial security and the pay TV operator a loss-leading subscription driver. With only Super Rugby and NBL on its books, the A-League – and more importantly, the Socceroos – were a comparative blue-chip asset.
The 2007 A-League grand final set audience records for the broadcaster, while the drama of Australia’s Asian Cup penalty-shootout exit to Japan delivered Fox Sports its first ever million-plus total audience.
But as Australian rugby can attest, handing subscription TV the keys to the castle can have disastrous outcomes for a sport’s reach, let alone growth. As Channel Seven’s director of sport sales, Pat Moloughney, argued last year: “If you look at sports that have gone behind a [pay]wall, they’ve taken significant cash upfront, but they’ve actually killed the participation.”
More than the lack of eyeballs, within a year football was also suffering a lack of love. Fox Sports’ acquisition of AFL rights and increasing investment into NRL relegated the A-League, alongside Super Rugby, to bastard offspring by decade’s end.
By 2012, FFA had responded, securing a free-to-air partner for four seasons, with long-time guardians of the flame SBS returning the world game to households across Australia. In what now seems a halcyon era, the A-League – with the financial muscle of Fox Sports and the mainstream access of SBS – appeared to have finally rendered “dollars v eyeballs” a false dichotomy.
The arrival of Western Sydney Wanderers brought a derby to football’s biggest marketplace; with two rival broadcasts – each with their own big characters with big opinions – debate flourished and interest in the game grew. Four of the A-League’s six top campaigns, by average attendance figures, came under the hybrid broadcast model – the environment around the game had never been more robust.
But in an act of bastardry/shrewd corporate manoeuvring – depending on which way you see it – nestled in the fine print of the landmark $346m six-year deal were provisions to preclude the public broadcaster, with Fox Sports safe in the knowledge it could still promise FFA a free-to-air presence, given parent company Foxtel’s 15% share in Channel Ten.
Plummeting ratings tell the subsequent story of a free-to-air broadcaster with little affection for football, and an aggressive subscription TV business model that prioritised market-share capture over return-on-investment for the myriad offerings within its stable.
As football’s key stakeholders went to war with each other over the governance of the game, the offering from the chief broadcaster grew stale – demanding more of its reduced production team with every season.
And so to Covid-19 – a historically unparalleled disruption to professional sport, undoubtedly. But does it also offer a gilt-edged opportunity to reframe football’s broadcast mix, and thus its status in Australia?
A lot has changed since 2016. With more than a billion fans tuning into last year’s World Cup in France, the Matildas are a hugely undervalued commercial property, amid a global context in which women’s football is booming. By bundling the W-League and Matildas’ rights together, FFA could offer a large global audience, especially in Europe and the US, to both local and overseas broadcasters.
In an increasingly fragmented media landscape new players are emerging – including Optus, which has not shied from investing in football since its aggressive play to strip Fox Sports of Premier League rights.
Faced with the prospect of lawyers at 12 paces, Fox Sports might be amenable to a reduced fee for its rights, in exchange for concessions that enable the return of a free-to-air presence that values the game, and with additional room for new partners through digital or overseas rights.
The devil would inevitably be in the detail, but Fox Sports’ position as the kingmaker of Australian sport – fuelled by years of unsustainable largesse – has never looked more open to challenge.
And unlike domestic competitors, football’s truly global power may yet be brought to bear. This week the Fifa president, Gianni Infantino, suggested the sport’s governing body could be prepared to underwrite the game at a regional level. Given the FFA CEO James Johnson’s strong connections inside AFC and Fifa, the rivers of gold could yet flow again.
Whether FFA can pull it all together remains the $58m question. But while rugby league drifts between NRL Island and the “Penrith bubble”, and rugby union goes into Fox Sports-fuelled meltdown, football could just emerge from this period of furlough an unlikely winner.
The World Game says Friday is P-Day
FFA is girding for a legal stoush with broadcaster Fox Sports over the payment of $11.5 million due on Friday, according to a source close to the peak body.
And with $9.5 million in disbursements nominally earmarked for the clubs the fiscal picture for the competition has never looked more unstable.
UPDATED 17 HOURS AGO
BY DAVE LEWIS
For any that couldn't be bothered registering to The Guardian is worth a read.
Australian football's Fox Sports conundrum – looming disaster or reset opportunity?
"Could FFA emerge from the coronavirus crisis with a better broadcast platform? It sounds fanciful, but the building blocks are there
That all seems...very hopeful.
Bullishness of the NRL continues.
Be interesting to see what plans FFA announce next week, re a possible restart date, and how Nix fit into that.