Broadcast rights experts have warned now is the worst imaginable time for any sport to search for a new TV partner as the A-League braces for the increasing possibility of life without Fox Sports.

As revealed by the Herald, football's powerbrokers are preparing back-up plans in the event Fox pulls out of its $57 million a year deal to cover the A-League, which still has three seasons to run.

The future of the A-League's long association with Fox Sports appears to be in peril. Credit:Getty

But the financial crisis brought on by the coronavirus pandemic has also impacted media companies, dramatically reducing an already declining capacity to spend big on rights fees and creating uncertain investment conditions, according to Global Media & Sports director Colin Smith.

"You couldn't pick a worse time," Smith told the Herald. "The world has been turned on its head and the business of sport is going to be affected, probably more than any other. This will be a reset."