The Australian Football League has abandoned the usual sports strategy of trying to play different broadcast bidders against each other for rights deals, and instead has dealt with a consortium that includes all three major outlet streams: free-to-air TV, pay TV, and internet streaming.

The result is a A$1.25bn five-year broadcast rights deal across three platforms, which will see live streaming of all AFL matches to Telstra mobile devices, commencing in 2012.

Foxtel and Channel Seven will carry matches on pay TV and free-to-air, respectively.

The arrangement will see mobile phones and tablets on the NextG network able to stream AFL games (including pre-season matches and the Brownlow Medal, surely the country's most-watched dead-boring awards event).

Telstra will also be including the AFL games on its soon-to-launch “Foxtel on T-Box” service, and the carrier says it is now considering whether to extend its offering to IPTV users on Telstra broadband accounts. ®