{"id":472586,"date":"2026-02-11T09:53:09","date_gmt":"2026-02-11T09:53:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/472586\/"},"modified":"2026-02-11T09:53:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-11T09:53:09","slug":"afl-fans-are-paying-the-price-of-monster-tv-deal-with-kayo-price-hike","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/472586\/","title":{"rendered":"AFL fans are paying the price of monster TV deal with Kayo price hike"},"content":{"rendered":"

But there is a crucial difference.<\/p>\n

Less than a year after fans were told they must subscribe to Kayo or Foxtel to watch every AFL game, the price has gone up again.<\/p>\n

Saturday afternoons on Seven, once defined by footy, have increasingly been replaced by horse racing and weekend news, forcing supporters into a simple choice: pay more or miss out. Now, they are being asked to make that choice again \u2014 during a cost-of-living crisis<\/a> in which household budgets are already under extreme pressure.<\/p>\n

\"Darcy<\/p>\n

Darcy Cameron and Jacob Weitering on their way to Perth for Saturday\u2019s State of Origin clash.Credit: AFL Photos via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Kayo points to additional content, including this weekend\u2019s State of Origin match<\/a> and the introduction of a wildcard weekend. But the Origin clash will also be broadcast live and free on Seven. So will the additional games. That argument does not hold.<\/p>\n

When the wildcard weekend was announced,<\/a> AFL chief executive Andrew Dillon framed it as a gift to supporters.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur fans love finals games,\u201d Dillon said. \u201cWe think it provides opportunities and hope for our fans. We know those games are the best-attended and most-watched on television.\u201d<\/p>\n

That may be true. But this decision is not driven by sentiment. It is driven by revenue.<\/p>\n

Kayo does not disclose subscriber numbers, but industry estimates put the figure at around 1.5 million. Conservatively, if just half are premium subscribers and accept the $6 monthly increase, Kayo\u2019s annual revenue rises by more than $50 million.<\/p>\n

Late last year, Foxtel\u2019s parent company DAZN began telling figures within the industry that it was unhappy with its financial exposure under the AFL broadcast deal<\/a>, and could try to claw back some of the money.<\/p>\n

Loading<\/p>\n

DAZN denied this was the case.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cWe categorically refute any claims that we are unhappy with Foxtel\u2019s AFL deal,\u201d a DAZN spokesperson said at the time. \u201cFoxtel and the AFL share a long and successful history. We stand by Foxtel\u2019s commitment to the AFL and fully support the continued growth of their partnership.\u201d<\/p>\n

These are the facts: there is limited room for subscriber growth. And DAZN\u2019s deal, which is worth about $420 million per year, has not been renegotiated. And now the cost has been shifted onto the fans.<\/p>\n

The AFL cannot wash its hands of this outcome.<\/p>\n

For a league that routinely describes itself as a custodian of the national game, the decision to prioritise broadcast dollars over accessibility is a profound failure of responsibility.<\/p>\n

The Kayo hike was revealed in the same week the AFL announced a price freeze on general admission tickets for the eighth straight season.<\/p>\n

But for those watching at home, it\u2019s a kick in the hip pocket for fans who were told the game belonged to them.<\/p>\n

Keep up to date with the best AFL coverage in the country. Sign up for the Real Footy newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"But there is a crucial difference. Less than a year after fans were told they must subscribe to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":472587,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,55,639,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-472586","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-afl","8":"tag-afl","9":"tag-au","10":"tag-australia","11":"tag-australian-football-league","12":"tag-australianfootballleague","13":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/472586","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=472586"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/472586\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/472587"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=472586"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=472586"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=472586"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}