Watching from overseas

[The Coon Dog]

Hi, just curious, when overseas, what's the best way to watch AFL games live?

[The Pie Man]

You in the UK?

Does the Telstra pass or a Foxtel App work while O/S? Not too sure what other live streaming there is out there for AFL

Walkabout / Aussie themed places may have games?

Old friend of mine was working in China ages ago and managed to watch that years GF at the Australian embasy!

[bornadog]

You in the UK?

Does the Telstra pass or a Foxtel App work while O/S? Not too sure what other live streaming there is out there for AFL

Walkabout / Aussie themed places may have games?

Old friend of mine was working in China ages ago and managed to watch that years GF at the Australian embasy!

Foxtel doesn't work overseas, unless you have a VPN or Geo blocking to trick the app.

AFL Global pass is a pay service, but not sure if you can get just one game. There is a monthly pass.

http://watchafl.afl.com.au/

[LostDoggy]

Foxtel doesn't work overseas, unless you have a VPN or Geo blocking to trick the app.

AFL Global pass is a pay service, but not sure if you can get just one game. There is a monthly pass.

http://watchafl.afl.com.au/

Yeah, AFL Live Pass Global version, good value for the season, best get on that TCD! You don't want to miss this.

[KT31]

AFL app worked brilliantly for me whilst I was overseas last season.

[merantau]

In Indonesia the Australia Network broadcasts four games live every weekend and it costs very little.

[Bulldog Joe]

Have been overseas for both rounds (and next 3) and signed up on http://watchafl.afl.com.au.

Had to pay the monthly subscription but have been able to watch both games live and also watched full replays. Even caught up with snippets of other games.

[boydogs]

+1 for http://watchafl.afl.com.au

I know someone in Australia who signed up to that using a VPN instead of getting Foxtel

[FrediKanoute]

The Global Pass is good - I use it.

TCD - where are you?

[bornadog]

The Global Pass is good - I use it.

TCD - where are you?

He will be in London.

[Mofra]

I'll be in Cuba for the Hawks game - unfortunately I expect to miss it

[Dry Rot]

I'll be in Cuba for the Hawks game - unfortunately I expect to miss it

Whenever I think of Cuba, I think of Harry and Paul and Nelson Mandela's iPhone

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tG98-FxBYgA

[bornadog]

I'll be in Cuba for the Hawks game - unfortunately I expect to miss it

Wow, love to go to Cuba. Have a great trip

[Ghost Dog]

http://cricfree.tv/

[bornadog]

App aims at AFL’s global fan base

Watch AFL is the perfect test bed for the sports broadcaster’s first serious foray into live streaming

The AFL will continue to go global in 2017 after teaming up with Fox Sports to live stream matches around the world, taking the code to a whole new audience.

A paid-for app will offer Australian expats and an emerging generation of AFL fans around the world every AFL game live in addition to popular entertainment-based programs like AFL360 and Bounce.
To exploit untapped commercial opportunities and increase the AFL’s global audience reach, the code has appointed Fox Sports to sell international broadcast rights from 2018.
When Fox Sports parent News Corp signed a record six-year $2.508 billion TV rights deal in 2015 with broadcast partners

Seven Network and Telstra, News chief executive Robert Thomson set out a bold vision for the AFL’s future by outlining a plan to leverage the company’s global publishing assets to raise the code’s international profile.
The Watch AFL app makes good on that promise, according to Fox Sports CEO Patrick Delany. “It all started from our global CEO Robert Thomson’s mandate. When we did the deals last year he assured our sports partners that we would use the know-how of Fox Sports and the worldwide connections of News Corp to help spread the love of their Aussie sports internationally.”

Watch AFL is the perfect test bed for the sports broadcaster’s first serious foray into live streaming, Mr Delany told The Australian, as Fox Sports distributes more sports on new devices, and lets viewers pay to watch shows on demand, and in some cases live broadcasts, over the internet.

“It gives Fox Sports the opportunity to gain more expertise in streaming and broaden our revenue base beyond Australia,” he said. “It’s been a great project because we started experimenting with streaming last year with the Fox Sports Now app, which has gone pretty well, but this deal gives us the worldwide rights to deliver a consumer streaming service in addition to representing the AFL globally as a sales agent.”
Access to the Watch AFL app is blocked in Australia, where the code has a streaming service in partnership with Telstra via the AFL Live Official app.

Overseas-based fans can subscribe to Watch AFL by subscribing to one of three pricing plans. A weekly pass is priced at $19; with monthly access $33 and an annual subscription $189.
A large portion of the potential audience will come from expats in countries such as the US. Fox Sports estimates there are up to 800,000 AFL fans living abroad as well as business travellers and holiday-makers that the broadcaster aims to entice with the cheaper weekly and monthly subscription packages.

To promote Watch AFL, the club’s 18 clubs and News Corp websites around the world will run a marketing campaign to drive subscribers.

Under the new AFL TV deal, all nine games each week — including every game of every round during the premiership season — was broadcast live on Fox Sports via pay-TV platform Foxtel.
Across an average of two normal rounds of 18 matches in the regular season, Foxtel and its Fox Footy Channel produced the broadcast for 11 matches, equating to 5.5 matches per round, while broadcasting the other matches live.
With the addition of new talk-based shows, Fox Sports lifted the average audience for live matches 8 per cent in 2016 to 231,000 viewers against the prior season, according to OzTAM.

A boom in sports rights locally and around the world reflects new viewing patterns in the TV industry. Viewers are watching more programs on-demand, skipping the ads, underscoring how live sport is immune to changes in viewing patterns.

After all, nothing keeps an Australian household away from their favourite match on TV. With all the drama and tension inherent in a big AFL match, it must be watched live rather than later via a personal video recorder.
Live sport is therefore crucial for broadcasters to attract subscribers and keep big audiences. This means the top sports codes have been able to command hefty premiums from broadcasters which carry its content. New competitors such as Optus are now vying for the same rights as TV networks to package them with broadband and mobile services. This has also driven up the prices the networks pay for rights.