FOX SPORTS will be the home of the A-League until at least 2023 after agreeing to a new broadcast deal with Football Federation Australia worth $346 million.

FOX SPORTS, Foxtel and News Corp have substantially increased their financial commitment to football as part of a deal described by FFA chairman Steven Lowy as a “quantum leap”.

Under the terms of the new six-year deal:

- FOX SPORTS remains the undisputed home of Australian football after agreeing to broadcast all A-League games live on Foxtel TV, Foxtel Go & Foxtel Play services,

- Socceroos, Matildas, W-League and FFA Cup matches will continue to be broadcast on the Foxtel platform,

- One A-League match will be broadcast live on free to air television on Saturday nights in a deal to be concluded next year.

The Socceroos will remain on Fox Sports. Source: AAP

Return at 2.15pm for a live stream of the announcement from FFA HQ, or follow the best bits in the blog below.

Chief executive Patrick Delany said FOX SPORTS was excited by the opportunity of taking football in Australia to the next level.

“Today’s announcement sees FOX SPORTS remain the home of football in Australia,” Delany said. “We have been there from the beginning, and have walked the hard yards, and we will be there to see Australian football reach its full potential. For us it’s a celebration.

“We will serve up more football, across more platforms live, ad break free during play and in high definition. The way it should be.

“Today’s deal sees FOX SPORTS home to every major Australian football code until 2020. That’s your team, every round live, no compromises.”

FFA chief executive, David Gallop, said some of the additional funds from the new broadcast deal would be used to recruit world class talent to the A-League.

“We have seen the enormous impact that our current marketing and marquee player strategies are having,” Gallop said. “This year TV audiences, crowds and club memberships are all up and it is our intention to re-double our efforts in these areas under the new deal.

“The new arrangements will benefit all areas of football in Australia, but in particular the A-League clubs and players who will receive additional funding as a result of today’s announcement.”

The launch of the summer of football bonanza. Source: Getty Images

Lowy said football “is now entrenched as a mainstream Australian sport”, adding that the new broadcast deal would benefit the game at both the elite and grassroots levels.

“Our game has never seen a deal of this magnitude before,” Lowy said. “This six-year agreement gives us the certainty to continue to implement our strategy to grow the Hyundai A-League and the Westfield W-League and invest more in grassroots football development and the women’s game.

“It also allows us to continue football’s highly successful partnership with FOX SPORTS, which dates back to 2005. The reach of FOX SPORTS, Foxtel and News Corp Australia is unrivalled in Australia. They are the perfect partners to promote football which is the world’s biggest sport and the biggest participation sport in this country.”

Foxtel CEO Peter Tonagh said: “Foxtel is thrilled to be continuing our long standing partnership with FFA.

“This doubling of our investment provides the long term support to further grow the game at both an elite and grassroots level. We strongly believe in football and know our customers share the passion and love for the game we do.

“I am also pleased to confirm that this new agreement continues our commitment to promoting the game at a grass-roots level, partly through initiatives such as Foxtel All-Stars Tim Cahill Ambitions program.”

The new broadcast deal does not include the rights to final round Socceroos World Cup qualifying matches, the Asian Cup and the Asian Champions League. FOX SPORTS and Foxtel hold those rights as per a previous agreement with the Asian Football Confederation.

Some of the great moments of Fox Sports’ A-League journey from day one, until today:

Dwight Yorke (L) in season one. Source: News Limited

Archie Thompson, Kevin Muscat in 2007. Source: Getty Images

Brisbane’s maiden grand final win in dramatic penalties over Central Coast. Source: Getty Images







Sydney Fc's Alessandro Del Piero thanks the fans. Source: News Corp Australia







Tomi Juric in the Wanderers’ historic ACL run. Source: Getty Images

The current A-League champions. Source: News Corp Australia





Melbourne City lift the FFA Cup. Source: Getty Images



