West Aussies could be forced to pay to watch Eagles, Dockers match broadcasts under Foxtel deal

Rebecca Le MayThe West Australian
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Camera IconSeven currently holds the free-to-air AFL broadcast rights while the pay TV rights are held by Foxtel. But that could change under a deal being thrashed out for 2024-2029. Credit: Daniel Carson/AFL Photos/AFL Photos via Getty Images

WA footy fans could be forced to pay to watch Eagles and Dockers games under a News Corp-backed proposal as the AFL seeks to ramp up the money it makes from the league’s lucrative TV rights.

Seven currently holds the free-to-air rights while the pay TV rights are held by Foxtel, which is 65 per cent owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp.

But the deal expires in 2024 and the AFL has been holding high-level talks with those media giants as well as ViacomCBS-owned Network Ten and its Paramount+ streaming service, and Nine Entertainment.

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According to News Corp’s The Australian, the AFL wants Seven and Foxtel to increase their bids to as close to $600 million annually to keep them as rights holders until 2029, but Network Ten is considering blowing them out of the water with an offer for both the free-to-air and pay TV rights.

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Camera IconWest Aussies could be forced to pay to watch Eagles and Dockers matches under a Foxtel proposal. Credit: Paul Kane/Getty Images

One option on the table, the publisher wrote on Monday, is for Foxtel to broadcast more live games of Perth and Adelaide’s local teams - both AFL mad cities.

That would mean supporters of the West Coast Eagles, Fremantle Dockers, Adelaide Crows and Port Adelaide Power would no longer view their beloved teams on Seven, and instead be forced to fork out for Foxtel.

Meanwhile, Nine is reportedly after a package of Thursday night games but the AFL is believed to be opposed to splitting the rights across more than two broadcasters.

But that all depends on how much is offered.

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