FFA unveils lucrative new broadcasting deal

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DAVID GALLOP: "Every sport wants to run a competition with a belief that their team can beat any other team, and that's the sort of competition that the A-League is at the moment."

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Football Federation Australia (FFA) has unveiled a new $160 million four-year broadcast deal for the code, double the previous agreement.

On a day new FFA CEO David Gallop declared was "very exciting" for football, he announced the new television rights deal would be shared between Foxtel, Fox Sports and SBS, with some A-League matches to be shown on free-to-air television for the first time on SBS.

"The former sleeping giant of Australian sport is awake. He's out of bed, he's in the street and now has some cash in his pockets," Gallop said.

Beginning at the start of the 2013/2014 A-League season, SBS will show one live match every Friday in the deal that ends on July 1, 2017.

The network will also broadcast all finals matches, including the grand final, on a one-hour delay and a weekly highlights show.

FFA chairman Frank Lowy hailed the new deal.

"The outlook for Australian football is increasingly positive," he said.

Gallop said the $160 million consisted of $140 million cash and $20 million in advertising.

The A-League salary cap will not be raised despite the increase in money coming into the game, Lowy said. 

- AAP