Seven’s coverage of the Round One of the 2023 AFL Premiership kicks off on Thursday, March 16, at 7 pm AEDT on Seven and 7Mate.
The season starts with the first game of the year as Richmond Tigers take on the Carlton Blues at the MCG.
Taking to the field is for Carlton is Brownlow medallist Patrick Cripps who has overcome an ankle complaint, set to join him are Mitch McGovern, Jack Martin, and Jesse Motlop.
The Tigers will see Dion Prestia, Jayden Short, Jack Riewoldt, Maurice Rioli and Dustin Martin on the G.
This comes after Mediaweek spoke to Seven West Media’s national sport sales director, Rob Maclean, ahead of the Round One.
See also: Before the centre bounce: What Seven’s AFL kick off means for brands in 2023
In September last year, Seven (alongside Foxtel) signed on the dotted line to lock in the AFL broadcast rights from 2025 until the end of the 2031 season, in a deal worth $4.5 billion – the biggest broadcast deal in Australian sporting history. The current contract is set to expire at the end of the 2024 season.
For Maclean, being able to take that new deal – that covers broadcast and, for the first time, digital rights – to advertisers has been “really significant.”
“We’ve got long standing supporters of Seven AFL, and what it’s really enabled us to do is to go to them and say, ‘we have the certainty of having this wonderful product that can connect with heartland Australia – a truly national audience – all the way up to 2031’. That enables us to forge and really strengthen these partnerships with advertisers, with the kind of longevity which we know will deliver brand health outcomes that they are looking to achieve.
“Footy, as it stands already, has broad appeal amongst our audience. It contributes to a significant amount of the streaming minutes on 7Plus, and that’s in the absence of live streaming. It’s given us an opportunity to say that we’re not waiting until 2025, we’re starting now – we’re looking to prime our product to ensure that we serve the best and most relevant, footy-related content on that platform.”