ABC Radio Adelaide By Malcolm Sutton
Posted 4h ago4 hours ago
The SANFL is looking at scheduling more night games for broadcast this year.(Supplied)
The AFL's gamble to hide Saturday games behind a paywall through Foxtel and Kayo this year has handed state leagues a big opportunity to fill the gap, a media analyst says, as the high cost of living continues to bite.
One match a week is already televised free-to-air for each state league by Channel 7 and will continue under its State League Saturdays format.
But the WAFL is introducing Saturday night games, the SANFL is looking at broadcasting more evening games, and the VFL is reportedly in talks to broadcast live every Saturday evening.
Conversely, in a move that will "rankle supporters", all AFL games on the traditional day for football will be pay-to-view in Victoria, Tasmania and the Northern Territory.
For the rest of the country, there will be no live free-to-air games on Saturday until at least the first nine or 11 rounds, depending on where you live.
"This is a massive roll of the AFL dice," Pearman strategy and research director and media analyst Steve Allen said.
"Foxtel have got lucky, in as much as when the deal was signed, cost-of-living pressures were only building."
He said it had since become a "major challenge" for many households, despite tax cuts and a RBA interest rate cut coming in to "alleviate some of the pressure".
"Nevertheless, we do not predict a massive uptake in Foxtel subscriptions," Mr Allen said.
Barbara, from Adelaide, said she was "very cross" with the AFL for its deal.
"I'm elderly and I love to watch football, but I can't on free-to-air for about the first eight matches," she told ABC Radio Adelaide.
"I can't afford that [paying for Foxtel or Kayo]."
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Mr Allen did not believe the AFL's deal to broadcast delayed coverage of local Saturday AFL games in SA, NSW/ACT, Queensland and WA on free-to-air for about the first half of the season would continue.
"With the anticipated follower reaction, I doubt the AFL will pursue this strategy," he said.
"All Saturday matches behind a paywall will rankle supporters as all teams will ultimately be affected."
He added that up until now, there had been little evidence that increasing costs to attend AFL football had reduced its supporter base, but the paywall was "likely to have an effect".
Dynamic pricing last year saw general admission prices jump to $59 in Adelaide.
State leagues to step up
Mr Allen said the situation had presented a "huge opportunity" for the state leagues to increase their viewers, "which the VFL has taken up with Channel 7, like the SANFL."
The WAFL is scheduling more night games on Saturday this season.(Supplied)
The WAFL is introducing several Saturday night matches in its 2025 fixture, and five matches will be played on April 5 alone.
WA Football Commission head of WAFL Competitions Luke Sander said that while the traditional time slot of Saturday afternoon would continue, the night matches would "help expose the competition to more fans".
Calls to standardise AFL prices
SANFL chief executive Darren Chandler said it was televising two matches in prime evening time slots in the opening three rounds of the season, one on Saturday and one on Good Friday.
"We will look to schedule more broadcast games at night in the second half of the season," Mr Chandler said.
"However, we are limited with the number of grounds that have broadcast-quality lighting."
Commercial media has reported that the VFL was in talks to broadcast live every Saturday night.
A VFL spokesperson did not confirm that arrangement but said all the league's matches would be streamed for free via the AFL website and app, as well as its own VFL website.
"Additional broadcast arrangements would be confirmed shortly," he said.
AFL ends streaming deal
The AFL has this season ended its two-year experiment to live stream WAFL and SANFL games through its website as well, despite continuing it for the VFL.
"A change in the streaming strategy for the AFL won't see this continue in 2025," the SANFL's Darren Chandler said.
"We are, however, continuing to work closely with the AFL to ensure match highlights and other SANFL content is still featured on the AFL website and app, providing strong engagement for fans nationally."
All its games will be available to view live through the league's SANFL Now website, as will the WAFL through the Streamer platform.
The SANFL season starts on March 28, the WAFL on April 5 and the VFL on March 22.
Has anyone heard further details on how this might work and the fixture amendments?
* It's time to restore the VFA name.