{"id":440257,"date":"2026-01-27T07:51:17","date_gmt":"2026-01-27T07:51:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/440257\/"},"modified":"2026-01-27T07:51:17","modified_gmt":"2026-01-27T07:51:17","slug":"channel-7-to-abandon-vfl-broadcast-coverage-afl-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/440257\/","title":{"rendered":"Channel 7 to abandon VFL broadcast coverage &#8211; AFL News"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&#13;<br \/>\n&#13;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.zerohanger.com\/introducing-myteam-your-club-your-news-your-way-166070\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"327\" height=\"40\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns=\" http:=\"\" style=\"float:right;\" class=\"my-team-banner promo-article-banner\" id=\"my-team-banner\" data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/ZH-InArticleMyTeamLink.png.webp.webp\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Channel 7 is set to cease its coverage of the VFL, ending their decade-long broadcasting rights of the league.<\/p>\n<p>The decision leaves Victoria&#8217;s state league, which also includes the reserve-grade sides for Brisbane, Gold Coast, GWS and Sydney, without free-to-air television coverage for the first time in over 50 years.<\/p>\n<p>The VFL had been showcased on Channel 7 since 2015, and in 2025, was given the Saturday night 7pm slot in Channel 7&#8217;s bid to maintain their weekend-long coverage of Aussie Rules football after Fox Footy gained exclusive rights to all Saturday <a href=\"https:\/\/www.zerohanger.com\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">AFL<\/a> fixtures in Victoria.<\/p>\n<p>Entering 2026, Channel 7 held concerns over the cost of streaming the games, which ultimately returned modest ratings, and eventually decided that continuing their coverage was not commercially viable after holding discussions with the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.zerohanger.com\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">AFL<\/a> over the summer.<\/p>\n<p>VFL spokesman Sam Zito confirmed the pending changes to the league&#8217;s coverage but assured that fans can still watch their favourite state-league sides for free, either on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.zerohanger.com\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">AFL<\/a>.com.au or the VFL app &#8211; an option that has been available since 2022.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Broadcast arrangements for season 2026 are currently not finalised and will be announced ahead of the season,&#8221; VFL spokesman Sam Zito said on Tuesday.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;However, we can confirm all VFL and VFLW matches will again be broadcast live and free via <a href=\"https:\/\/www.zerohanger.com\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">AFL<\/a> channels.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>        &#13;<br \/>\n&#13;<br \/>\n&#13;<br \/>\n        &#13;<br \/>\n                        &#13;<br \/>\n&#13;<\/p>\n<p>&#13;<br \/>\n&#13;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"&#13; &#13; Channel 7 is set to cease its coverage of the VFL, ending their decade-long broadcasting rights&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":440258,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,55,639,85],"class_list":["post-440257","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-afl","tag-afl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australian-football-league","tag-australianfootballleague","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/440257","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=440257"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/440257\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/440258"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=440257"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=440257"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=440257"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}