Foxtel

Gillon McLachlan, chief executive of the AFL, has said that free-to-air coverage of the Aussie rules football competition is likely to drop in 2017 after revealing that Australian commercial broadcaster Channel 10 is unlikely to acquire a rights package.

Australian pay-television operator Foxtel has entered into a three-season partnership with English Premier League football club Tottenham Hotspur.

Talks between Australian commercial broadcaster Ten and pay-television operator Foxtel over a sublicensing deal for coverage of the Australian Football League Aussie rules competition have stalled, according to the Fairfax Media news service.

Australian pay-television operator Foxtel has struck a carriage deal with beIN Media Group to add three beIN Sports channels to its sports package.

Australian pay-television operator Foxtel’s loss of English Premier League rights has been downplayed by its parent company News Corporation, with the media conglomerate’s chief executive, Robert Thomson, questioning the value of the top division of English club football.

England’s Premier League this week completed the first set of deals across Asia for its rights in the 2016-17 to 2018-19 cycle, with mixed results. It saw significant increases in value from Australia and New Zealand, but a decline in Thailand, Laos and Cambodia, while Malaysia and Myanmar are proving difficult.

Telecommunications company Optus has acquired exclusive rights in Australia for football’s English Premier League top tier.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has approved pay-television operator Foxtel’s deal to acquire a 15-per-cent stake in commercial broadcaster Ten, stating its concerns the agreement could reduce competition for premium content such as sports rights had been allayed.

The new deal with Racing Victoria, the representative body of the state’s four racing clubs, covers domestic and international broadcast rights, plus digital rights.

Nine’s capture of additional National Rugby League free-to-air rights helped drive a record fee for the Aussie Rules Australian Football League, as both codes agreed new deals this month.

The Australian Football League, the top division of Aussie rules football, has awarded its next cycle of domestic rights to commercial broadcaster Seven, pay-television operator Foxtel and telecommunications company Telstra.