THE AFL's New Deal - the long-awaited agreement with the Seven Network, Foxtel and Telstra for its new broadcast rights - is easily the most lucrative TV rights agreement negotiated by any sport in the country.

But the deal took its sweet time coming to fruition. Whereas the previous two TV rights announcements were both made more than a year before coming into play, this agreement, which comes into effect from next season, was made with the 2011 season more than a month old and means that planning for next season will take place at a frantic pace from now.

Almost from the time the last agreement was signed off in early 2006, the AFL has been touting a $1 billion figure the next time it sat down to negotiate the rights.

Even though the AFL had an extra game each week to offer this time around, thanks to the entry of new teams on the Gold Coast and Greater Western Sydney into the competition, it was a figure still scoffed at by several media industry commentators.

They argued that the economic downturn of the last few years and uncertainty over the outcome of changes by the Federal Government to anti-siphoning legislation, and the upsurge in digital broadcasting would restrict the League’s ability to extract the outcome it was seeking from the broadcasters.

Informal chats about the new agreement were ongoing almost from the time the ink dried on the previous one, but the serious talk for the new broadcasting agreement started in earnest in late 2009.

But before the serious number-crunching began, discussions were then put on hold while the AFL and the TV industry waited for the government to draft its new anti-siphoning legislation and to learn in particular, whether pay-TV operators would finally be granted the freedom to bid directly for a slice of the weekly broadcasting schedule.

Just as it appeared as though the new policy was close to being finalised in June of 2010, Julia Gillard replaced Kevin Rudd as Prime Minister and with a Federal election on the horizon, the legislation was put on hold again until after the result of the August poll was known.

Once the Labor government was re-elected, the drafting a new anti-siphoning finally returned to the government’s agenda and on November 25 last year, it was announced that the pay-TV industry could bid directly with the AFL to exclusively broadcast up to five games per week.

This was a key moment for the League as it was for the other major sports in Australia, although one it had long anticipated and had planned for. As Gillon McLachlan, the AFL's chief operating officer said: "The Government's input insured the agreement reached the right balance between free-to-air and pay-television."

Apart from the obvious increase in the rights fees (the 2002-2007 rights were sold for $500 million so the value has doubled in a decade, and two agreements) the main difference this time around is that the pay-TV has stepped out of the shadow and is very much an equal partner with the free-to-air broadcasters.

Under the previous anti-siphoning agreement, the rights had to be purchased by free-to-air broadcasters, who then had the option to on-sell selected games to Pay-TV, or between each other.

Between 2002 and 2006 the Fox Footy Channel purchased three games per round, while between 2007 and 2011, Foxtel, through Fox Sports, bought four games a round.

This time around, Foxtel's faith in the sport has been rewarded with the rights to live telecasts of every match except the grand final, and the Brownlow Medal, and rights through its Internet Protocol TV network (IPTV).

For Foxtel, the extra AFL coverage could be the elusive carrot - as was the case in Great Britain when coverage of the Premier League moved almost exclusively to pay-TV - to lift its penetration in the Australian market from its current level of around 35 per cent to more than of 50 per cent.

The benefits to Foxtel and Austar (the regional Pay-TV network) are clear - every match, in every state, live.

The online rights have also grown significantly in value in relation to the total amount earned in the rights agreement. This will be Telstra’s third five-year partnership with the AFL and from next year, its mobile subscribers will be able to watch all games live on their Telstra Next G mobile devices.

Now the deal is done, the AFL’s next step is to determine how to spend the bounty. McLachlan again: "The is a great outcome for all our stakeholders - our fans, our clubs and our players."

Last time around, in the ‘Next Generation: Securing the Future of Australian Football’, the funding blueprint released by the AFL in 2006 in the wake of the previous rights agreement, the clubs were tabbed to receive 46 per cent of the game's revenue and it was from this pool that the players earned their income.

About 24 per cent went towards managing the AFL competition, while the remainder was divided between game development, facilities and infrastructure and grants. In addition, six per cent was placed into what was termed a ‘future fund’, for investments into projects that will bring further revenue into the game.

Presumably the next item on the AFL agenda is the next collective bargaining agreement. The informal discussions preceding that will now turn serious.

Once that is resolved, expect another major announcement from the League as to how its plans to spend its newly-earned fortune.

FOOTNOTE: An indication of the amazing growth of the AFL since the national competition began in 1987 with the inclusion of the Brisbane Lions and the West Coast Eagles can be gauged via the growth in broadcast rights. In that era, of course, the internet, mobile phones and Pay-TV did not exist. The rights, for those with short memories, were sold to a consortium for $1 million, and onsold to the ABC. How times change.