Sport on Television: A Study of the Australian Football League Television Rights

The purpose of this study was to determine the revenue generated from the telecast of a major sports league. Three rounds of Australian Football League (AFL) matches were reviewed providing an inventory of advertisements. This information was analyzed to determine the value of the advertising revenue generated through the telecast of Australian Rules Football. Total revenue generated from the sale of the advertising space for the Melbourne metropolitan market was determined. Results indicate that potential earnings in excess of ÄD 32 million from Melbourne advertising sales during the 1995 telecast were achievable. The rights payment figure to the sport of ÄD 13.5 million for the 1995 season, indicates that the Seven Network is able to generate significant profits from its football programming.