Pubs TV footy shutdown

[fishmonger]

The greedy AFL grubs won't have an audience at all before too long.

Serves them right, but unfortunately it might make it much more difficult for you to see your team during away games ....

$5m Foxtel football deal cancelled

March 18, 2008 12:00am
FOOTY fans who don't have Foxtel at home will soon find it harder to pop down to the local pub to watch a game.

Bruce Mathieson, who owns more than 260 pubs, has cancelled a deal with Foxtel worth more than $5 million a year.

Two months of negotiations between the pub-and-pokies magnate and the pay-TV operator broke down last Friday.

Under the AFL licence agreement, Fox Sports broadcasts four games each week -- half the round.

Fans without the pay-TV service may have to find another way to watch their team in action.

Bruce Mathieson Jr, who helps his father run the pub-and-pokies empire, told the Herald Sun the right to show AFL games had become far too expensive.

He said showing footy games on Foxtel cost each pub more than $20,000 a year.

"For a pub it's in the thousands and it gets to one of those things, it's a question of value," Mr Mathieson said.

"Our fees go into the millions. We just didn't think we were getting value for money."

Mr Mathieson said Foxtel would be switched off on Friday. But free-to-air AFL games would still be shown.

"We get the best games on free-to-air and it's just a business decision we've made," Mr Mathieson said.

"They were trying to sting us a fair bit more.

"With all the new AFL broadcast deals they brought out a new price list and it's pretty expensive.

"We had a contract for two years. It was up for renewal and we went to negotiate and we didn't see the value in it."

The Mathieson empire also controls more than a quarter of Victoria's 27,500 poker machines.

An AFL spokesman said it couldn't comment on the issue last night. The Australian Hotels Association also declined to comment.

 

[Brock Machine]

Probably another business sinking in a mountain of debt crying poor to generate a bit of public sympathy. Just vote with your feet and find another pub.

 

[fishmonger]

Probably another business sinking in a mountain of debt crying poor to generate a bit of public sympathy. Just vote with your feet and find another pub.

hardly, with a quarter of Victoria's poker machines and 260 pubs I doubt that would be sinking in a mountain of debt.

 

[doodlefeatures]

Most people at these places are too busy mindlessly feeding the weeks shopping money into pokies to worry about watching the tv.

 

[Brock Machine]

hardly, with a quarter of Victoria's poker machines and 260 pubs I doubt that would be sinking in a mountain of debt.

If he paid too much for them, yes he could. Hard to have any sympathy for anyone making money off pokies crying poor.

 

[MarkT]

Greedy AFL grubs? What does it have to do with the AFL? The dispute is over what Foxtell charge a massive 260 pub business and Matheson is angling for a cheaper deal and negotiating through the media to make Foxtel the bad guy.

 

[scarecrow2k1]

The greedy AFL grubs won't have an audience at all before too long.

Did you read the article mate? Wasn't the AFL who did it


edit: just realised someone had already wrote this...

 

[bourbons]

Anyone have a list of pubs that will be affected?

 

[Brock Machine]

All I could find is http://www.alhgroup.com.au/our_venues.html LOL, this group is part owned by Woolworths, they screw every supplier and Foxtel will be no different.

 

[mwalker]

All I could find is http://www.alhgroup.com.au/our_venues.html LOL, this group is part owned by Woolworths, they screw every supplier and Foxtel will be no different.

You have that right!! I have had first hand experience dealing with that group, a-hole of the highest order and his son is a tool.

 

[Didaics]

I will be in Canberra this weekend- does this mean I won't be able to find a pub to watch the Pies' round 1 game (a Fox game) against Freo on Saturday?

Spewing if I can't.

 

[Brock Machine]

I'm sure you can find a pub in the city that isn't controlled by ALH group. If not, just go to a bowls or RSL club with Fox sports.

 

[Hawkamania!]

I'm sure you can find a pub in the city that isn't controlled by ALH group. If not, just go to a bowls or RSL club with Fox sports.

You can always find another pub.

Many years ago, we had a group of people who liked to watch NFL games at pubs. At one pub, the duty manager switched all the games to the keno results. We inquired about this and she said along the lines of "No one is interested in that shit. They want keno.".

So about two dozen people finished their drinks, cancelled their meals and left for another pub. We were invited back next week by the general manager who knew one of our group and gave us discounted meals and drinks as an apology.

If you vote with your feet, businesses take notice. Find a pub/club with the game and go with your friends/family.

 

[Suffolk Lad]

Fishfood is a habitual AFL basher, bit frustrated with all their continued growth and success. So of course he thinks this is the AFL's fault.

 

[shoe]

Greedy AFL grubs? What does it have to do with the AFL? The dispute is over what Foxtell charge a massive 260 pub business and Matheson is angling for a cheaper deal and negotiating through the media to make Foxtel the bad guy.

Was about to post this. What does the AFL have to do with it?

 

[Spongebob]

One of the morning mob on SEN was talking about their pub in relation to this. Said he is charged $1500 per month for Foxtel.

Guess it might end up like the races on the TVs, tried to charge sooo much and the pubs just cut them off until a better deal was done.

 

[HFC082]

Looks like i'll be finding another local, if this worm owns it.

No stress...many great establishments around

 

[DST]

hardly, with a quarter of Victoria's poker machines and 260 pubs I doubt that would be sinking in a mountain of debt.

If you know the industry, you will know that while he is not starving the way he does business is under threat.

Very highly leveraged and in a lot of cases struggling to bring people into his pubs and clubs after he has whacked poker machines into them and cut back on services/enviroment they provided previously.

Poker machines are great when the economy is booming with spare cash, but are now under serious threat from futher government regulations and a public that is now starting to rein in the free spend.

Very interesting time for the pub and club industry at present and this shows he is hurting.

DST

 

[DoggyStyle]

Was about to post this. What does the AFL have to do with it?

Whilst I agree this is not directly the AFL's fault, they did however drive up the price that Fox had to pay for the rights, which in turn means they have to try and recoup the money. It could quite simply be a case that Foxtel has paid too much (or the AFL price is overinflated) and they need to claw it back somehow.

Regardless- they now have to find approx another 5,000 home subsrcibers to cover this hole. Not looking good for Foxtel

 

[godons81]

Whilst I agree this is not directly the AFL's fault, they did however drive up the price that Fox had to pay for the rights, which in turn means they have to try and recoup the money. It could quite simply be a case that Foxtel has paid too much (or the AFL price is overinflated) and they need to claw it back somehow.

Regardless- they now have to find approx another 5,000 home subsrcibers to cover this hole. Not looking good for Foxtel

you may find that it is actually a fox sports issue, not foxtel itself

 

[Borgsta]

Whilst I agree this is not directly the AFL's fault, they did however drive up the price that Fox had to pay for the rights, which in turn means they have to try and recoup the money. It could quite simply be a case that Foxtel has paid too much (or the AFL price is overinflated) and they need to claw it back somehow.

Regardless- they now have to find approx another 5,000 home subsrcibers to cover this hole. Not looking good for Foxtel

Wrong again. AFL had nothing to do with the prices for Foxtel. The AFL was offered an amount of money by two commercial stations. Foxtel / Fox Sports than negiotiated with those two stations.

Nothing to do with the AFL.

 

[Dackers]

I own a pub, a small pub well out of the city - and I know what this guys is on about. The minimum fee is $1500 a month -$18,000 a year. As was stated, it is a business decision - it needs to provide value for money. No way can we afford that. The big guys - the woolworths pubs I'm sure will be fine but we a going to end up eventually all the pubs being the same owned by one or two big companies.

 

[sackrash]

Regardless- they now have to find approx another 5,000 home subsrcibers to cover this hole. Not looking good for Foxtel

Hmm. they must be worried, i mean after all, they only rang up a post tax profit last year of $65 million.

I will bet, that this pub group will go back. This is purely a tactic to try and get a better deal from Foxtel. If not, patrons will vote with thier feet.

 

[MagooTheRoo]

How long before each FTA network is allowed to have a second digital channel? This might result in Foxtel being squeezed out completely come the next TV contract. I can at least live in hope.

 

[rancidpants13]

hardly, with a quarter of Victoria's poker machines and 260 pubs I doubt that would be sinking in a mountain of debt.

it's a business decision
those pesky TV screens, especially the really big ones, just take up too much valuable space that could be used better by cramming more pokies in