I want to welcome everyone seated here.
• Andrew Demetriou, AFL chief executive officer.
• Gillon McLachlan, AFL chief Operating Officer
And our broadcast partners for 2012-2016
• David Leckie, CEO of the Seven Network
• Kim Williams, CEO of Foxtel
• JB Rousselot , Executive Director, Telstra Media
• David Malone, chief Executive Officer, Premier Media Group
• Deanne Weir, Group Director of Corporate Development with Austar
Welcome. We are looking forward to working with you over the next five years.
Firstly, I want to pay tribute to our broadcast partners for the last five years -Channel Seven, the Ten Network, Telstra, Foxtel and Austar - and thank them all for their support of our game.
Before I turn to Andrew to outline the details of our new broadcast arrangements I want to just make the point that the overwhelming guiding principle of these negotiations was to deliver our supporters a better TV deal wherever they are around Australia.
We believe we have achieved that. This is a landmark agreement that will take the game to more people than ever before, in ways never seen before.
In the next five years our supporters will have better access to live games on TV, better access to live games on mobile phones, better access to live games online and, most importantly, that coverage will be better than ever before.
This has been achieved in an environment of unprecedented change in the media landscape. New anti-siphoning legislation, new ownership, new FTA channels, IPTV, broadband mobile, digital and HDTV. The media world is transforming, and this transaction has sought to capture that to benefit football.
Right across the country every fan of the AFL game has a better TV outcome than the last deal and will be able to watch games in ways never seen before.
Some will see this deal in terms of dollars.
Something that is often forgotten is that the AFL is a not for profit community organisation and revenue generated by our game goes back into our game. To help grow the game at all levels.
We will be focussed clearly on what this deal means:
• for our clubs and their role in communities across Australia,
• for our players and the development of the next generation of stars who will inherit the game
• for our state and territory bodies and their vital role in providing the foundations of our support
• for our volunteers who love the game
• and for our supporters who are the heart and soul of the game.
Although we must balance the needs of our clubs, our players, our state and territory leagues, our development programs and our facilities, we will do so while ensuring our football admissions prices are kept low and our clubs memberships affordable.
We want our clubs to have the opportunity to be financially secure, we want our players to be well-paid and to share in the rewards, we want our venues to provide excellent facilities for our spectators, we want our development programs starting with NAB AFL Auskick to be accessible and affordable for all families.
We recognise our role as a leader in the community and will continue to work with our state and territory bodies and with all levels of government to provide benefits to the broader community.
I want to thank Andrew Demetriou and Gillon McLachlan and the team at the AFL including AFL General Manager of Business and Legal Affairs Andrew Dillon, Head of AFL Media Broadcasting Sam Walch and Broadcasting, Scheduling and Legal Affairs Manager Simon Lethlean.
They have delivered a first-rate outcome for our football community and our football supporters.
This is a great deal for football and a great deal for all of the football industry which has contributed to the growth of the game.
Most importantly this is a great deal for football supporters who remain the heart and soul of our game.
