Instead of watching the AFL grand final kick-off on Saturday some frustrated fans found themselves watching episodes of Border Security due to a glitch with Seven’s streaming service.
People who planned to watch the game remotely on 7plus began posting on social media about the technical issue, which saw them served episodes of the popular reality show instead of the game.
Tensions flared in one Reddit thread, with those who planned parties struggling to understand why they couldn’t tune in.
“I’ve got people at my place waiting to watch. Insanely frustrating,” one Reddit user posted. Another said: “I have so many people invited and now have to cancel.”
Someone else complained that they were considering finding an illegal stream of the game saying: “Imagine pushing people towards illegal means, what a joke.”
Some fans contacted technical support, reporting that Seven had become aware of the glitch and was working to resolve it.
But even when the problem had been fixed for some users, others reported they still could not tune in on their Google TV Chromecast.
A spokesperson for Seven West Media said in a statement the issue was unique to certain platforms.
“Just to confirm that Seven only has the rights to broadcast the grand final on Channel 7 and 7plus on connected TVs only,” the spokesperson said.
“On the platforms we don’t have rights (web and mobile), the feed on those platforms goes to Border Security.
“Users in Australia will be able to stream the AFL Grand Final on their phone or other mobile devices through the AFL Live Official app.”
Seven West Media and Foxtel secured the AFL media rights in a seven-year deal worth $4.5bn signed in September.
At the time Seven West Media’s managing director and chief executive officer, James Warburton, said the network’s focus was to secure a comprehensive package of digital rights to the AFL for 7plus.
“For the first time, fans will be able to access the best AFL games and video content, live and free, in a way that suits them,” Warburton said.
Seven said it would pay a 14% increase on the 2024 rights in 2025 and “with indexation over the term this represents a 3.6% compound annual growth rate in rights fees across the period”.
Seven and Foxtel have broadcast the AFL since 2012, signing for a further two years during the pandemic in a deal worth $946m.
