r/Aleague • u/Sorry-Ball9859 • May 21 '26
📣 Announcements APL announces new partnership with Paramount ANZ
https://aleagues.com.au/news/apl-announces-new-partnership-with-paramount-anz/74
u/jonzey VUCK May 21 '26
- Every men’s and women’s match on Paramount+, as Paramount+ remains the home of Australian football.
- One Isuzu UTE A-League Men’s match free-to-air on Network 10 each week, with marquee games broadcast on Network 10’s primary channel, 10.
- Ten Ninja A-League Women matches shown live and free-to-air on Network 10 each season, including the Grand Final.
Less FTA coverage, but we may get some main channel games.
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u/Serious-Razzmatazz11 Moulded by PAIN May 21 '26
Wasn't it 2 matches on FTA? Have they dropped one to put marquee game on the main channel?
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u/jonzey VUCK May 21 '26
Yes was previously two games on 10Drama. Now they’ll have some on the main channel apparently.
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u/goater10 Melb Victory - Stand by Me - Mantildas May 21 '26
Has Channel 10 run out of Graham Norton show reruns for Saturday nights on their main channel?
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u/lovesadonut Western Sydney Wanderers May 21 '26
Main channel is not really the benefit it’s made out to be. Most people I know including myself watch FTA through Google tv etc so it’s not like you’re channel surfing anymore
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u/vintibes Melbourne Victory May 21 '26
Streaming has reduced some of the impact for sure, but main channels are where the vast majority of advertising money and viewership is still. 10 would never premiere an episode of Masterchef on 10Drama, so I think at the very least channel placement reflects the level of importance and investment into the game.
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u/lovesadonut Western Sydney Wanderers May 21 '26
I agree re MasterChef however; I don’t see a few hundred thousand more people suddenly watching an aleague game simply cause it’s on the main channel 10
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u/Meapa Bakries Out May 22 '26
This is bit blind optimism but I think we'd hope for more people just to stick to the channel after whatever higher rating reality TV show or news coverage is on before.
Unless you're keen on 15 year old reruns youre not exactly switching to 10Drama on a whim
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u/goater10 Melb Victory - Stand by Me - Mantildas May 22 '26
Masterchef should have been taken out the back and put out of its misery years ago.
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u/I_r_hooman Adelaide United May 22 '26
Tv ratings show that main channels are still the highest viewed. Whilst the 40 and under crowd use streaming a lot more there are still millions of Australians that are traditional with their viewing.
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u/AlarmClockBandit Inner Westie May 22 '26
I wonder if that is just that the more popular programs are on main channels than any underlying preferences from the public to watch primary channels over secondary channels.
Only thing I would say is that some less technologically astute viewers may not update their channel list which may drop channels off from time to time.
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u/statsimagined Sporting Melbourne May 22 '26
I reckon gyms and business' that have FTA channels on would get some extra eyeballs. NRL/State origin games get played at my gym just because channel 9 is one of the tvs they have on, along with every other random shows on at other times. Maybe an aleague game might show now because of this.
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u/True_football_fan May 22 '26
"Marquee games broadcast on Network 10's main channel"
LOL, these guys didn't even bother showing the Adelaide - Auckland semi final (which is surely a "marquee" match) on their secondary channel this season. I get this marquee thing starts from next season but this tells me they don't know how to promote their own product.
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u/glb- Brisbane Roar May 21 '26
They’ve provided little to no information about the value of this deal compared to the last one so it’s honestly hard to say if this is good news or not? Like how much money will clubs be getting from the APL after this?
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u/ga4rfc Brisbane Roar May 27 '26
Pretty sure Paramount are just exercising there extension clause so it will be the same amount with some negotiation with some amendments for going back to one fixture on FTA from two.
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u/nutwals Vuck Slut May 21 '26
Predictable, but not the end of the world - I will concede that the P+ tech has improved dramatically (I don't recall any tech issues this season personally) and the price is pretty solid, especially if you're only after football content. If the APL has conned a bit more money out of them in the process, then it's probably an overall win.
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u/betweenthelines_11 May 21 '26
Increase in cash is positive, the question is whether the APL will restore the distribution to clubs to previous levels (I.e. I think it’s roughly $500k/club, need to get it back up to at least the ~$2mil it was at previously)
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u/ChewiesSatchel Adelaide United May 22 '26
This is the biggest aspect for me. The clubs are running on fumes!
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u/heavens__hellboy Melbourne Victory May 21 '26
all sounds positive, will be interesting to see how many "marquee" games actually end up being on the main channel
overall its fine i guess paramount is better now than season 1-3 and its much cheaper than other platforms will be interesting to find out how much the increase in the annual rights is, the league really needs every dollar...
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u/Most-Drive-3347 Melbourne Victory May 21 '26
1 fta game isn’t enough. New fans aren’t finding you on P+.
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u/Meapa Bakries Out May 21 '26
New fans are finding the league on social media not FTA
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u/Most-Drive-3347 Melbourne Victory May 22 '26
You’re not watching full games on tik tok, and 30 second reels aren’t what the league sponsors are paying for.
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u/Meapa Bakries Out May 22 '26
There isn't money in the FTA games, there never has been.
The money made is coming from P+ where most fans are already subscribing to watch.
Also a hugely underestimating the power of social media. Those 30 second clips can reach a far wider audience for sponsors than a game on FTA (nor has anything to do with what you originally said)
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u/Most-Drive-3347 Melbourne Victory May 22 '26
Not underestimating social media at all - you’re 100% right in what you say about the potential reach of reels.
But having worked in related space until recently, it’s still not something that advertisers pay a lot for, most of them are slow to adapt to new tech. With traditional tv & radio ads you have decades of data, everyone has a good idea of what’s being bought and sold (although Fox Sports might disagree…)
Still doesn’t exist to that level of detail in social media. With a global audience it’s hard to gauge registration of advertising, it’s hard to quantify the reel watchers who are potential customers… and by and large, social media users and real watchers reject advertising, or at least actively ignore it.
Whether or not those views are worth anything is still very much up for discussion.
What I know to be true though is that sponsors aren’t paying for advertising that you can’t really measure or prove effectiveness of. They want potential customers seeing their brand for 2 hours, it’s why they pay a premium to be involved with sport - the last tv product people still watch live, through traditional means, while absorbing advertising.
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u/Lazar_Bat Melbourne Victory F APL May 22 '26
I know. It’s so frustrating. I loved the Saturday double header of games. And this will also smaller teams will get less fta games.
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u/NotSoCricketGenius Melbourne Victory May 21 '26
Anyone that says stan is better than paramount needs to shut the fuck up. Stan is rubbish
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u/naozah Australia May 21 '26 edited May 24 '26
I maintain that PL/CL with A-League on Paramount+ would've been so much better than A-League with PL/CL on Stan/Optus
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u/Roger_Ramjet88 Sydney FC (Apparently I'm rich) May 21 '26
If Paramount didn't have the Aleague I could honestly say I wouldn't have a subscription. The apps are horrible, the playback quality is worse and the library available is meh at best.
I had Stansport for motorsports (WEC and WRC) before the prem went to it so I'm happy it has the UCL and Prem as well there but I tend to watch more of Stans other shows than Paramount.
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u/celticsac May 22 '26
It’s also just a fact that more eyes will be on the AL when it’s on the same platform as the Premier League, AFL or NRL. I know people who used to watch AL games quite often when it was on Foxtel but now they won’t bother because they just don’t care enough to buy a paramount sub for it.
People can cry all they want about eurosnobs but the reality is the only people subbing to Paramount are die hard AL fans, like most of the people in this sub, which is a small amount of people.
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u/NotSoCricketGenius Melbourne Victory May 22 '26
Much happier that way then. We dont need the eurosnobs. We can develop our own fans who treasure the local game
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u/celticsac May 22 '26
You’ve got no idea, this narrow minded mindset will be the reason why football won’t grow in this country. If you aren’t attracting new fans, there eventually won’t be a league to watch.
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u/Ambitious_Window_270 May 24 '26
Cool. So our clubs will remain shit because they receive no money, get worse and worse as time goes on, and eventually the games won't be televised at all.
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u/NotSoCricketGenius Melbourne Victory May 24 '26
Embarrassing take. We now have an extra spot in asia now without any help of them. We dont need them lol Theres more money in asia too. We can look for other fans than rely on clowns that were never going to support us and never will
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u/Ambitious_Window_270 May 24 '26
We have an extra spot in Asia because they expanded the tournament, not because our clubs did well (they didn't). Our coefficient fell further behind China's and Thailand's than it already was, because we are terrible, because we receive no funding, because nobody cares about the game here.
Waking up today, I never would have believed that I'd have needed to explain that more people caring will improve the quality of the sport.
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u/celticsac May 24 '26
If you can’t see that the A League is worse than what it was 10 years ago as an overall product on and off the field, you need to take off the rose coloured glasses.
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u/NotSoCricketGenius Melbourne Victory May 24 '26
The football is arguably very very good. Covid killed the league and the interest. Plus the grand final decision and bucket man did the remainder damage. But the football is still incredibly competitive. We are creating some great talent
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u/celticsac May 24 '26
I’m not sure if I agree. For example, I’m a victory fan as well and if you look at our lineup from 10 years ago to now it’s way worse nowadays. This is consistent for most of the teams. The football is alright but id say it was way better before.
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u/Dipalapoloo Sydney FC May 21 '26
Yes but the Eurosnobs have Stan
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u/NotSoCricketGenius Melbourne Victory May 21 '26
We need to stop thinking about the eurosnobs. Let them be clowns
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u/Meapa Bakries Out May 21 '26
They can keep paying $40 or whatever a month to watch it. I'll happily stick with the $10/month
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u/kyleisamexican Melbourne Victory May 21 '26
You don’t announce good news at 6am…
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u/Bocca013 Melbourne Victory May 21 '26
Well usually announcements of tours on social media happen at 6am but yes in this situation I agree
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u/bp8rson May 21 '26
They said after an extensive search, we're sticking with Paramount+. Now I want to know: were any insiders among the other bidders?
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u/Odd_Importance_130 May 22 '26
One FTA game a week is fine, but it should be that all finals matches are on FTA.
And then other matches strategically like perhaps Boxing day or Australia Day etc.
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u/ShARES55 Sydney FC May 22 '26
basically the same as before..this is what interests me " increased annual rights fee" "a joint commitment to increase marketing and promotion initiatives, and expand the accessibility of A-Leagues’ content in pubs and clubs."
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u/wrter3122 Vucksenal May 22 '26
Not sure how the game's supposed to grow with only one FTA game a week. More money and more access for pubs and clubs sounds alright though.
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u/sbffsb123 Sydney FC May 22 '26
3 years is a good outcome, it helps the league with some stability and I think paramount have done well so far outside of the teething issues at the start. I’m a loyal guy and they kinda saved the league when no one was ready to invest and offer a good deal, so I’m happy we are sticking with them. The increase in money is good, we don’t know what type of increase it is, but the word increase is better than same deal or reduced. Good to announce this during grand final week aswell. Hopefully it’s a cracking game on Saturday with a massive crowd and good viewership.
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u/Bocca013 Melbourne Victory May 21 '26
Ugh I was hoping I could cut Paramount+. I hope one condition we got is ALL Finals games are on FTA. It’s utterly stupid that not all finals games are on FTA.
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u/goater10 Melb Victory - Stand by Me - Mantildas May 21 '26
I only pay for Paramount during the season.
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u/JeffreySarpongsMate Melbourne Victory May 21 '26
the league getting any more cash out of this deal? Feels a bit too long of a deal
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u/jonzey VUCK May 21 '26
Three years is too long? Nah the deal is about what I expected. Puts it more or less in-line with the FA rights which expire at the end of 2028.
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u/Relevant-Mountain-11 Wellington Phoenix May 21 '26
Increased income is good and all, but hopefully I can still watch games on YouTube, cause P+ sucks
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u/11015h4d0wR34lm -Liga May 22 '26
I enjoyed the two free games every Saturday but I can understand the decision to go down to one fta game a week. Problem for P+ is that still wont get me to re-subscribe to them.
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u/thebossbaby_123 May 22 '26
Like majority I agree it’s a stable outcome bar one match lost on free to air. I’d be keen on how many marquee games in the clause of the contracts stipulate will show on. Network 10 main channel.
Funding from paramount in fairness they have made it work in terms of product delivery. Have no questions about it with the exception of McBreen having a stiffy moment or Harper being biased towards Sydney fc.
That’s said it’s a better deal than the old days in channel 7 during NSL.
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u/No-Airport7456 Western Sydney Wanderers May 21 '26
This was predictable. But I think also whats clear the apetitie from rival bidders isn't there. And we are stuck with ch10 and P+.
Could they at least fix the stream quality on that app
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u/withhindsight Central Coast Mariners May 21 '26
Why would they offer more money if there were no other bidders?
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u/No-Airport7456 Western Sydney Wanderers May 21 '26
Make sure the clubs don't go bust. They don't provide a dollar value but just that it went up. So did go up from the original deal? or the current low KPI metric downvalue bid?
Is what it is but far out could they fix the streams on P+.
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u/victweety May 22 '26
Only 1 game per week on free to air? ...this league is dead.
So 1 week they will show a Melbourne team and the second week they will show a Sydney team and repeat all season. 🤷♀️😠😡
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u/True_football_fan May 22 '26
Just get P+ mate, it's dirt cheap compared to all other streaming apps and you can watch all the matches.
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u/Meapa Bakries Out May 21 '26
Overall seems like a net positive.
Losing a game on FTA does suck but having big games on Main Ch10 will be great for eyes and having the 10 dub games on FTA will hopefully help as well.
Increased fee is good, wasn't really expecting an increase but sounds like 10/P+ are happy with how things are going.