https://mobile.twitter.com/OptusSport/status/1470997801173536771
I am probably reading far too much into this but could this be the beginnings of a glimmer of interest from Optus into streaming the NPLs and thus by extension the NSD in 2023???
South Melbourne and Liverpool,on Optus, during the same season?????  I think I might actually piss my pants, this would be the ultimate. Can I dare to dream?

You’d think given the FA’s contract with 10/P+ it would have to be on there. Would love to see everything in one place though. Go from watching NSD or NPL in early afternoon to A-League to Premier League (fellow Liverpool fan here!). 

I'd suggest this is a test run for Optus and the local game.

bloody hope so, OP is the best imo.

Does anyone know if this will be the typical FFV one camera setup or is Optus also doing the production work?
I hope it goes well, Ill be watching :) With a million subscribers, it could be a really good result for local football if the production goes well.

JJ was talking about having the second division up and running in 2023... wonders aloud if he is floating its broadcast with both Optus and CBS... 

Those local stories they were doing were pretty good. 

That would be HUGE...... but strange that CBS isnt involved from the get go.
It seems to be more that Optus is trying to "dabble in local football" with the possibility of bidding for the rights to more, separate to the FAs deal with Paramount........ maybe?

And all their panellists seem to be really spruiking the need for a NSD... Maybe this is the carrot FA needs to be dangled in front of them to make it happen :)

My brother what time is the game I’ll try check it out 

Silver Lake/Viacom,CBS,Paramount & the APL don't give a flying fuck about the local game unless it involves an APL club in some way ( i.e the FFA Cup ) & to be honest nor should they, those deals are signed, the party's are locked in & they're ready to move to see if they can make a go of the A League in some way moving forward.

This potential Optus thing in regards to a NSD is something that they should talking to the FA about, separation is separation.   

Essentially the FFA has been waiting 7 years for someone else to fund the NSD if they're still interested and now they've picked up their 5% scraps from the private equity deal & Optus may or may not be interested in broadcasting it they've found someone.  

Still like the NSD itself I'll believe everything when I see it.

Personally I think the AAFC should tell everyone to fuck off & run the thing themselves.  

Optus are the real parasites in the game. Happy to send $100m a year over to the EPL but not spend a cent on the local game, apart from hiring a few washed up players to shit-talk Australian football. In doing so they've probably screwed over the A-League, which would have benefited immensely from being on the same platform as the Premier League (and Paramount made a serious bid for the rights).

This state league friendly match is no exception, Optus didn't pay anything for it, they're just hosting it like YouTube or any other video upload site would do. There is no way they would stump up broadcast fees for an NSD, which would be much better off being aligned with the rest of Australian football (A-League, ACL, national team matches, FFA Cup) on Paramount.

From fairfax.... https://www.smh.com.au/sport/soccer/football-australia-targets-national-second-division-for-2023-20211214-p59hdi.html

Copied the first bit only in a very long article...

A national second division could be played by as early as 2023 with Football Australia set to invest in the establishment of a professional football competition to sit below the A-League.

3.30 Sunday kickoff bruv :) both teams going into final with convincing wins in the semis. Should be a fiery match.

This is an odd angle? Why would Optus promote the Aleague? They pay $100 million a year to show the EPL because that is what football fans want to see in Australia. The fact that Optus ALONE have been talking up anything even remotely to do with football in Australia outside the franchises is proof that they actually care about the game....  They dont care about the APL or the 12 x franchises ROI nor should they.... The make documentaries about local football clubs and communites, and do it bloody well too - where is the Aleague engagement?
Youve got this the other way around, its the APL itself that should want to align with the "rest of Australian football" but 17 years and counting (apart from the FFA cup which is an ethnic food reality show for the Aleaguers) they clearly dont want to engage......

Yeah I saw that mate and wasn't questioning it. More so that CBS would be involved in any way as a broadcast deal .... who knows, I hope they do. 

Me too..... CBS IMO doing an amazing job we have more content than ever before and a lot on 10 play so its free... Tara become a regular on the Project as an example....

Things don't change overnight and many people kinda wanta to go from whatever position we find ourselves in to a traditional FIFA model overnight.... 

You can't change decades of administration overnight I honestly think we are on the right path... further will are  laying plans to evolve .... best example I have is the discussion of the second division.... JJ has said their are a number of models being discussed... the best is a national one with a number of teams... However... this may be too expensive ... so a regional approach with regional competitions being played with some kinda regional play off knock out competition... tis in JJ's words not perfect but is affordable and can be the path to follow to a more traditional second division... 

I also agree with those who say we should start to respect past and present clubs for achievements take South Melbourne & Sydney United as example of clubs that produced heaps of juniors going on to be Socceroos... equally take my Mariners who have given the first professional game I think to 12 Socceroos including 4 who have captained the Socceroos... 

They weren't even interested in bidding for the A-League when the rights came up, even though they clearly had some money stashed away (since they were able to increase the amount spent on EPL rights from $60m to $100m a year). And not just A-League, they didn't bid for the FA's Socceroos/ACL/FFA Cup package either. They haven't spent a cent on broadcasting or promoting NPL or grassroots level football, except for the handful of documentaries you mention (and they aren't even doing these any more as far as I can tell).

A more mature approach would see a synergy between broadcasting Euro leagues and Australian football. This worked well for Fox Sports for a time, and this was the thinking behind Paramount's bid, but they were trumped by Optus, who will now spend $100m a year to stroke the egos of Eurosnobs while doing nothing for the local game.

??? We already have an NPL which does EXACTLY what you described mate... Thats what everyone is up in arms about.......
"in JJ's words not perfect but is affordable and can be the path to follow to a more traditional second division... " Ofcourse its affordable, it has been going for nearly 9 years now............. I get you have big faith in ol' JJ but surely even you can see he is taking the piss sometimes.... changing the names of NPLVIC, NPLSA, NPL NSW etc etc and calling them all NSD(insert state here) isn't doing ANYTHING!!!!!!!! Its not even pretending to do anything.

So hang on, let me get this straight. You are upset with a broadcaster like Optus NOT wanting to bid for any Aleague "content" for whatever reason their business plan dictates, yet in the same breath expect a "mature approach" by whom exactly? If anything, as proven by Foxtel, its the APL who needs to be on the same brodacast as EPL NOT the other way around.These broadcasters are in it to make money right? A synergy between Euro Leagues, Australian Football and Franchise football would be the ideal for everyone here but that isnt going to happen anytime soon.
* Optus sees their value, presumably, in subscription driven by EPL and Korean/Japan leagues and their 1 mill subscribers (although I agree a huge chunk of these would not even care ) proves their gamble paid off. I hope they realise that the local Australian game can get them a few hundred thousand more subscriptions, and if so they will, again hopefully, drive the need for a NSD and a fixed pyramid for Australian football.
* Paramount are doing the same thing, gambling on the Aleague and the ACL/Socceroos/Matilda's rights to boost their streaming service subscription numbers...  What have they EVER done for the local game... or let me rephrase, what WILL they do for the local game?  Optus has made the first move streaming the Womens Vic Cup final, wake me up when Paramount streams a non Aleague/FFA cup game in this country

I'd say the Optus approach is more about signing up people to Mobile and Internet plans rather than making money directly from the actual content. I know a bunch of people that switched their mobile and internet plans over to Optus purely for the included access to the EPL. The football is just a carrot to Optus. If a person is paying $65 per month with another Mobile carrier, they are not going to then go pay Optus $15 a month for the EPL. Instead they'll just switch over.

Sorry yes, that is exactly what I meant, just phrased it wrong.... 

Paramount decided to put in around $60-70m per year to Australian football (combining the APL and FA contracts), at a moment when the sport was at its most fragile. They have demonstrated confidence in the local game and a willingness to promote it and broadcast it widely (including FTA games on 10 for both internationals and league matches). Their current deal with the FFA means they will almost certainly be the broadcaster for an NSD when it comes into existence.

Optus has shown zero interest in investing in the local game at any level. Not Socceroos, not A-League, not NPL, and I doubt they will show an interest in the NSD. It would be a different matter if they made a substantive bid and lost out to Paramount, but they made no effort to do so. Their business model relies on squeezing money from Eurosnobs who look down their noses at local football, and in doing so they are limiting the reach of Australian football (since many fans will be more apprehensive about subscribing to two separate streaming services and there won't be the chance to cross-promote the leagues). You yourself said having everything on the same platform would be ideal for everyone, and the existence of Optus has thwarted that possibility for at least the next six years.

That's why what they're doing is parasitic.

So Paramount bought the Aleague rights and Socceroos Matildas rights ( no local Australian football, no matter how you want to twist and turn the argument, just Aleague and ACL and Socceroos and Matildas.... FFA cup for this year only and still not on Paramaount, just ten play eh, what a coincidence?)  At a time when the foreign owners where on their knees and selling the cheapest and this is because CBS have a confidence in the sport.... and  nothing to do with the fact that they couldn't acquire any other sport here and CFG assured them they would sell equity to Silver Lake if they did so? .  OK If you say so. 
Don't get me wrong, Optus are absolutely using footballs popularity to their benefit too but to suggest Paramount are football saviours and Optus parasites for showing EPL? Hahaah that's delusional... What about Stan, are they parasites too? Hahahahahah Bein? 
Oh and BTW why would the premier event series in Australian  franchise football need the EPL to cross promote like you said.... people who watch the EPL look down their noses at the Aleague and won't watch it you said, I certainly don't its a shit Mickey Mouse competition so maybe your right. I'll join the majority of football fans in this country in watching Liverpool or Chelsea or Spurs tomorrow morning on the parasitic streaming service and for the next 6 years.... Whatever happens it will always be the most popular soccer, and maybe sport code overall in this country. HOPEFULLY parasitic Optus streaming a real Australian club competition  on Sunday is a success for them and they go on to get a taste of what it is their viewers know and want,  and push for more.  I'd rather team up with a parasite that also have the EPL than a parasite that only has Aleague to offer as an alternative.....

Mono at a restaurant...
"What are you eating? Oh gross! That's disgusting how can you eat that crap?! I would never be caught dead here"

Mono at a bar.....
"Is that what you are going to order? Oh man, you have no idea how shit that drink is hahahahahaa"

Mono at his mate's house....
"you chose those tiles for your bathroom? Mate, I just don't know what to tell you if you think that's good taste"

Mono in a retail shop...
"is that really what you are going to sell? Good luck not closing down and losing your family bro hahahahaa hey calm down if you don't like what I'm saying it's you that has the problem hhaahahahahahaaaaa"

We get it mate, we get it

The laughable thing is, the Eurosnobs look down their noses at the A-League, but they despise NPL even more, and that's if they are aware it even exists, which the vast majority of them aren't. There is far more overlap between interest in the A-League and interest in the NPL than between the EPL and the NPL, a few bitters like Mono excepted.

Optus are only showing the pre-season match because it's free so why not. They won't spend even a cent on broadcasting rights for local football, even if it is a "real Australian club competition" rather than a "shit Mickey Mouse league" (hahaha). Anyone who thinks otherwise is deluding themselves.

WTF is wrong with you Davide? Seriously man, seek help.

Ummmm df have you EVER been to a live soccer ground during an NPL match? I'm gonna have to call a massive bullshit on this... Find me one spectator at any suburban Melbourne ( and assume Australia wide) soccer ground, from state leagues to  NPL, on a Sunday afternoon match who not only knows all the EPL results, from that weekend and has an EPL club to follow and probably one or two others from other countries around the world they have varying  connections with.  Just one fan that isn't a so called "Eurosnob".... I bet you can't.  Every NPL match I have ever watched live is filled  with talk about Liverpool or Man U, Messi vs Ronaldo, the UEFA qualifiers etc etc. The Aleague is NEVER mentioned except for the rare FFA cup matches or when some clueless dildo or another decides to 'slum it with the peasants" and  rocks up to a Hellas game with a Victory cap on.  Or when Manchester City is discussed and their cheap Melbourne satellite club is ridiculed. Maybe other segments of your eurosnobbery ecosystem look down on the NPL but the NPL fans themselves are eurosnobs, as per your definition,  also ...... I hear this is frownd upon in franchise customer circles? Following the EPL is against the Aleague or something right?  Do your franchise owners not like you buying merchandise from other stores or something? Is it something to do with metrics or fishing where the fish are or something like that? Where is the overlap between Aleague and NPL by the way? When the Victory NPL side was in the NPLVIC1 they would get crowds less than  50???? to a game, what overlap? Where is the interest? 

Yep, been to many, many NPL-level games over the years, and I can tell you that your description is not representative of the 100+ clubs playing NPL. Eurosnobs by definition have no interest in the local game, whether A-League or NPL. The majority of people involved in NPL clubs are interested in the fortunes of Australian football as a whole, how players are developing, etc. There might be a few who are interested in NPL and European football only and have a deep antipathy for the A-League, but they are mostly concentrated in the crowd of NSL bitters you hang out with at South Melbourne games.

BULLSHIT........ If your gonna have a conversation at least base it on the truth you plastic piece of shit ( see I can get personal too  buddy)