AFL AND TELSTRA THROW UK AUSSIE RULES FANS A LIFELINE WITH ONLINE BROADCAST FOLLOWING SETANTA DEMISE
Ben Jensen 26 June 2009

By Ben Jensen TELSTRA STEPS IN FOLLOWING SETANTA DEMISE GOD BLESS THE AFL AND TELSTRA; Never thought you'd see that on The Cattery, eh? Well, these two have surprisingly came to the party, throwing Aussie Rules fans in the UK a lifeline, allowing them to watch each and every game live online for at least this weekend (hopefully beyond but who knows). Hats off to Mr McLachlan and co for letting common sense prevail; something you pretty much never see when it comes to Sport and TV rights these days, in fact since TV was invented.

AFL STATATEMENT

http://www.afl.com.au/news/newsarticle/tabid/208/newsid/79434/default.aspx

THE AFL and digital media partner Telstra announced on Friday that UK fans will be able to watch this weekend's matches live online following the demise of the AFL's UK television rights holder, Setanta Sports, earlier this week.

AFL chief operating officer Gillon McLachlan said the one-off free trial to viewers in the UK would give fans access to all eight matches live.

"We are pleased to be able to deliver free, live AFL content to our growing UK fan base this weekend and we thank our digital media partner Telstra for stepping in to help at short notice and significant expense," McLachlan said.

Telstra Media Head of News and Sport David McGrath said BigPond had promptly assisted the AFL and its UK supporters in delivering this interim solution.

"AFL fans in the UK who log on to BigPond this weekend can catch every minute of live footy action. We worked quickly with the AFL to make a live video stream available free of any subscription fees to fans in the UK, while the AFL's UK broadcast rights are being sorted out," McGrath said.

UK fans wanting to see the Essendon Carlton clash live at the MCG tonight, as well as the seven other games in round 13 should click here: http://bigpondtv.com/aflliveuk

Mr McLachlan said the AFL was in discussions about selling its UK broadcast rights to an alternative television network for the remainder of the 2009 season, and that UK fans would be kept updated on progress via the AFL website.

In a further note, subscribers to Setanta's AFL package in Ireland, North America and Canada will be able to view this weekend's matches via the usual television channels.

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