Weekly News Wrap | Rugby broadcast rights concerns, A-league sponsorship woes, and more

A-league and Soccer

• Rd 17 of the 2019-20 A-league season saw 45k people watch the ABC metro coverage on Saturday, with a season average of 49k. Fox coverage was watched by 91k, with an estimated season average of 28k.
• Rd 17 of the 2019-20 A-league season was attended by 37,738 people – the lowest 5 match round tally this season. So far this season 826,570 folks have attended A-league matches at an average of 9,840 per game. This is -7.65% on R1-17 last year, and -5.92% on the final season ave
• Nine media reports that Football Federation Australia is bracing for the prospect of losing its biggest sponsor, with Hyundai prepared to walk away from a 15-year affiliation with Australian soccer when their current deal expires in June. However SBS reports that Chris Fong, deputy chair of the Australian Professional Football Clubs Association (APFCA), the umbrella body for the clubs, is confident Hyundai will remain part of the domestic football fabric, even if they are potentially no longer the main naming rights holder.
• SBS reports that Brisbane Roar’s dream of relocating to a purpose-built boutique stadium is edging closer to reality, with the club in negotiations over the refit of an existing venue which could be rolled out within three years.
• Indaily reports that a new Adelaide city stadium that could see A-League soccer shift from Hindmarsh to the CBD is now firmly in the State Government’s sights

ABL

• SA’s sole baseball club has gone from wooden spooners to playing in the ABL Championship Series since being taken over by the Crows two years ago. The venture has been a huge success, says Adelaide CEO Andrew Fagan.

AFL

• BetEasy and the AFL have signed a new deal meaning the league will have an official sports wagering partner until the end of 2025. Football and betting industry sources said the agreement is worth around the same as the last deal which was reportedly $10 million per year, but that there will be a reduction of betting ads shown during AFL games at Marvel Stadium and the MCG.
• North Melbourne has reported a consolidated profit of $47,484 on revenue of $44,605,593 for 2019. This included 17.6m in AFL distributions, 11.5m in sponsorship, 8.2m in gate/membership. Notably the AFL distro notes include $609,491 in AFLW funding.
• Victorian club revenues were up 4.92% to $624 million in 2019. Led by Richmond (92m), Collingwood and Hawthorn (73m) and Carlton (71m).
• Victorian club consolidated profit was down 36% to $34.57m, mostly due to reduction in grants. Melbourne the only club in 2019 to report a loss. Profits led by Collingwood (12m), Carlton (6.2m) and Hawthorn (5m)
• Victorian club match returns from gate takings and memberships was up 11.87% to $148m (and more given Richmond didnt report these figures in either year). Top clubs were Collingwood (31m), Essendon and Geelong (20m)
• Victorian club corporate revenues rose 3.46% to $135m in 2019. Led by Collingwood (20m), Hawthorn (16m) and Richmond (15m).
• Victorian clubs took $145m in AFL distribtions – all of them taking more than the base figure of 11.003m in 2019. Led by St Kilda (21m), North Melbourne (17m), and the Western Bulldogs/Melbourne (16m). Vic clubs do recieve additional AFL distros from centralised revenues in Vic.

NBL 

• With two rounds and finals to come, the @nbl total season attendance currently stands at 774,248, an 8% increase on last season. Average Attendance per Game is 6,733, a 6% increase.

Netball

• Netball Australia chief executive Marne Fechner has questioned the business models some codes have applied to their women’s leagues as her own sport prepares for a crucial new television broadcast negotiation.

Optus Sport

• ‘Active Subscribing Accounts rise to 825,000 up from 700,000 in August last year.

Rugby Australia

• Numerous outlets have reported that Rugby Australia’s 25-year marriage to Fox Sports looks to be over, with the code’s bosses going to the market as early as this week in the hunt for a new broadcast partner. Rugby Australia (RA) wants to package all rugby games, including Wallabies Tests, Super Rugby, Sydney’s Shute Shield and Queensland Premier Rugby in a new deal from 2021 to 2025. [Nine Media][NewsCorp][Guardian]
• Head of Fox Sports Peter Campbell said rugby union would remain on Fox Sports for 2020, but decisions about broadcast rights from 2021 were in the hands of Rugby Australia.
• Nine Media reports that Rugby’s billion-dollar, four-nation broadcast deal is being held up by a battle over the future of the Sydney club competition. Once the forlorn, forgotten gem in the crown of Australian rugby, the Shute Shield has emerged as the prized bargaining chip in the fraught negotiations over the sport’s next broadcast deal.

Superbowl

• NFL #ticketing partner @Ticketmaster reported its average price for tickets sold to the Super Bowl reached $8,507 each, the largest figure for any single live event in the history of the Live Nation-owned company.
• Super Bowl LIV averaged 102 million viewers across several channels and streaming outlets, according to Fox. It was the 10th most watched Super Bowl ever

Tennis

• The Australian Open, which concluded on Sunday night, averaged 531,660 metropolitan viewers and 726,935 when including regional areas. In 2018, the Open averaged 453,381 in the capital cities – a figure that media buying agencies rely on – and 622,307 nationally.
• Last year’s @AustralianOpen crowd record of 796,000 has been bettered. Tournament attendance was an all time high of 812,174.