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NEP previously oversaw production of the A-Leagues when they were on Fox Sports and produces the telecasts for most other codes in Australia.
The announcement landed just hours before the Central Coast Mariners were scheduled to face Western United in the A-League Women at 7pm on Thursday. Earlier on Thursday, a Paramount spokesperson said the company was confident Global Advance’s administration would not affect its coverage of the A-Leagues.
Sources familiar with the situation, who weren’t authorised to speak publicly, said that some APL directors had expressed doubts about Global Advance’s viability in mid-2022, and that costings were sought from NEP and Gravity in the event of a collapse of the company. Global Advance’s eventual demise has left APL about $1 million out of pocket, money the league will attempt to recoup.
Former Socceroo Robbie Slater called the situation “an embarrassing disaster” on social media platform X (formerly Twitter).
It has been a tumultuous period for the APL, which split from Football Australia at the start of 2021 and has been beset by controversy ever since, with almost all the organisation’s key leaders having departed within the past six months.
In January, the APL made nearly half of its staff redundant in a bid to stabilise the body amid financial woes, having spent almost all of a $140 million cash injection provided by private equity firm Silver Lake.
The companies behind the A-Leagues broadcast are scrambling to get this week’s matches to air.Credit: Getty
Most of the staff were cut from the APL’s digital content arm, KeepUp, with new league commissioner Nick Garcia saying it was pivoting from attempting to be a “media business” to a renewed focus on the football itself.
Signing with Global Advance, instead of a proven production company, contributed to the APL’s financial problems. Sources have previously told this masthead that costs blew out to about $12 million per season due to technical issues.
Two clubs, Newcastle Jets and Canberra United, are also facing uncertain futures. The Jets have been propped up by other A-League club owners for several years, who now want out, but are yet to clinch a deal to sell it to a new investor.
Canberra United, which has played in the A-League Women for more than a decade and has been run by ACT federation Capital Football, is in limbo as the APL seeks a new owner to absorb the club and add a men’s division.
The Newcastle Jets A-League club are facing financial problems.Credit: Getty
The APL’s new chairman, Stephen Conroy, recently declared the league was no longer in a position to prop up struggling teams.
In 2022, this masthead reported that the APL had taken the unpopular decision of selling off the hosting rights to the men’s and women’s grand final, partly due to a shortfall in broadcast income, having failed to hit benchmarks in the first year of their TV contract. The grand final decision was reversed after an intense fan backlash.
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Ahead of the A-Leagues’ second season with Paramount, the company moved its single weekly game on its main channel, Channel 10, to one of its secondary channels. The majority of games are shown behind a paywall on streaming service Paramount+.
Despite speculation the broadcast deal could be cut short before the contract expires, both parties have consistently insisted they remain committed to the partnership.
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