The Australian Football League, the top division of Aussie rules in Australia, will open talks over a new domestic broadcast rights deal after this season’s grand final on September 27.
The Australian newspaper said AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan is believed to be confident of surpassing the league’s current record A$1.258bn (€886.3m/$1.17bn) deal, but the country’s main commercial broadcasters have privately played down expectations of a significant rise in the value of the rights.
The AFL’s current five-year deal with commercial broadcaster Seven, pay-television operator Foxtel and telecommunications company Telstra expires after the 2016 season.
The league is said to be aiming to secure a new deal for the 2017 season onwards during the early rounds of next season in March or April.