EXCLUSIVE: SBS2 will soon start negotiations with advertisers after a period of exclusivity closes with the official FFA partners, including Qantas, Nike, Me Bank, Westfield, Fox Sports, Hyundai, Optus, Sony, NAB and TAB.
The FFA exclusivity period will close in mid-June. After that, its game on for other brands that want to advertise beside free to air football.
Andrew Cook, SBS media sales director, told AdNews that it will air games live on Fridays bar the semis, finals and grand finals on SBS 2 and simulcast in high definition. The finals will be delayed by one hour.
SBS2 will also launch a new weekly magazine show with with an hour of highlights and a new A-League preview show, The Real Footy Show, on Thursdays, with a panel and a live audience. The games will also be broadcast simultaneously on SBS radio and streamed live to tablets, said Cook.
The SBS World Game website will include dedicated A-League coverage as well as football leagues from around the world, he added.
"The aim ultimately is to become the home of football for all Australians. Free-to-air is an opportunity to grow the game in Australia. We are providing it for the first time ever for free."
Cook would not disclose to what extent integration would be offered to partners, but that negotiations over "advertising opportunities across multiple platforms" were ongoing.
The football will be one of the core properties of the newly relaunched SBS2. See an interview with the man driving its rebrand here.
Amendment: This article originally stated that all games would be shown live bar finals. That is incorrect. SBS will air games live on Fridays.
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