Australian Football League Seeking $75 Million For Online/Mobile Rights

[by James Pearce] The Australian Football League is seeking AU$100 million (about US$75 million) for a five-year contract for the mobile and web rights to its games…in contrast, TV rights went for AU$780 million.
“Under the contract, the AFL will allow mobile phone and internet rights holders to show two 30-second action clips during each quarter of a game, a three-minute highlights package after each quarter and a five-minute package at the end of the game.”
It seems a lot of money to pay for 18 minutes of footage, and I think it really comes down to what the companies involved think the mobile market will be like in 2010 — the web market is more mature, and therefore more predictable. Telstra has already balked at the price, but Hutchison is reportedly interested, and Optus, Ninemsn, Yahoo!7, Fairfax Digital and News Limited are also mentioned as being in negotiations.
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