The ABC in partnership with the Victorian Football League (VFL) has announced a new television and radio broadcast partnership.
The VFL will return to ABC TV for the first time in 12 years, with the deal ensuring Australian football fans can continue to watch matches on free-to-air television as well as ABC iview.
The ABC coverage will be led by expert commentator Jason Bennett, one of Australia’s most recognisable football voices. He will be joined on the ABC commentary team by Matt Clinch, Gemma Bastiani and Daniel Harford.
The VFL match of the round will be broadcast into Victoria on ABC TV, and available live and on demand nationally on ABC iview. The matches will be simulcast on ABC listen, and the AFL’s distribution channels.
The ABC will broadcast one match each round of the VFL home and away season, along with one final in each of the first three weeks of the VFL Finals Series, and both preliminary finals and the Grand Final.
The ABC first broadcast a Victorian Football Association (VFA) match in 1957, and throughout the 1960s and 1970s regularly televised last quarters and replays of featured games. In 1987, the ABC secured a long-term agreement to televise the VFL, continuing its coverage through to 2014.
ABC Managing Director Hugh Marks said: “We’re delighted to partner with the VFL to deliver live action to footy fans of this foundational AFL competition. Australian football is at the heart of the nation’s sporting culture, and this deal gives us a fantastic opportunity to serve the Australian sporting community, bring live sport back to ABC TV and further strengthen our offering on ABC radio.”
AFL Executive General Manager of Finance, Broadcast and Infrastructure, Matthew Chun said: “The return of the ABC as a VFL broadcast partner for the first time since 2014 marks an exciting new chapter in a relationship that previously spanned 27 years when the ABC served as the host broadcaster of the VFA/VFL. The new broadcast deal demonstrates our ongoing commitment to providing football fans with high-quality and accessible coverage and we look forward to working with the ABC to deliver an exciting product for all viewers.”
With more than three decades of media experience, Jason Bennett is one of the most accomplished callers in the game, with a career across AFL, VFL and AFLW including nine VFL Grand Finals and eight AFLW Grand Finals.
Jason Bennett said: “I’m so grateful for the chance to remain involved with the VFL, which is a competition I hold in the highest regard, with players, coaches, volunteers and fans who invest so much into it.
“They’re all in it for the right reasons, and it makes for a league that bridges old-fashioned community footy with the elite level. It retains its raw, old-school appeal, but with a healthy dollop of elite AFL-quality talent that makes for some scintillating footy.”
The ABC currently holds radio broadcast rights for the AFL, AFLW, NRL, NRLW, cricket and the Australian Open tennis.
VFL Scores Kayo
Meanwhile, Kayo SPORTS is also expanding its AFL coverage with the addition of the VFL, adding to its line-up of AFL and AFLW games and programming.
As part of the agreement, Kayo SPORTS will stream 16 matches, at least one match per round, across the opening 13 rounds of the Smithy’s VFL home and away season.
A number of Kayo SPORTS’ VFL broadcast games will serve as curtain-raisers to AFL matches, giving fans the opportunity to watch their favourite VFL and AFL teams back-to-back on the platform.
In addition, Kayo SPORTS will broadcast live VFL Finals coverage.
The Kayo SPORTS VFL coverage will also be available on FOXTEL, and internationally on WatchAFL.
Foxtel Group Executive Director – Commercial, Sport Adam Howarth said: “Adding VFL coverage to our extensive AFL and AFLW line-up on Kayo SPORTS and FOXTEL supports the talent and pathways that underpin Australian football. The VFL plays a vital role in the AFL ecosystem and the expansion of our partnership with the AFL to include VFL will help increase visibility for the competition while strengthening the development layers that keep the game thriving.”
AFL Executive General Manager of Finance, Broadcast and Infrastructure, Matthew Chun, said: “We are thrilled to be expanding the broadcast coverage of the Smithy’s VFL. This a wonderful result and will bolster the exposure of the competition right across the country.
“The new broadcast deal demonstrates our ongoing commitment to providing football fans with high-quality and accessible coverage and we look forward to working with Kayo SPORTS and our other broadcast partners, to deliver an exciting product for all viewers.”
The VFL season commences on 21 March. Kayo SPORTS will broadcast the Richmond Tigers versus Southport Sharks game at 10am AEDT.
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