Australia NewsSky To Show Phoenix-Victory Final |
EXCLUSIVE: Four hours after telling au.fourfourtwo.com the Pre-Season Cup Final would not be shown on Sky NZ, the broadcaster did a backflip with the game now also on Fox Sports in Australia.
The much anticipated Wellington Phoenix versus Melbourne Victory final will be the first time a pre-season cup match will be shown in full on TV in Australasia.The decision comes after much media pressure from this website together with public pressure from fans keen to see this historic game.
"We're delighted. Not only for Phoenix fans but New Zealand fans," Tony Pignata, CEO of Wellington Phoenix, told au.fourfourtwo.com late today.
After securing a spot in their first cup final on Saturday night against Sydney FC, Wellington Phoenix arrived back in the New Zealand on Sunday night.
This morning, Pignata led a delegation from the club for a 30 minute chat with SKY NZ about the game and its importance to the club and country.
At that time, the Pay-TV broadcaster decided against broadcasting the game. SKY NZ CEO John Fellet told au.fourfourtwo.com that they didn't have the rights to the game and that it was not financially viable.
He added: "We could get the rights if we wanted but we're not geared up for it and it's hard for something like this to help drive subscriptions to make it worth doing. Hopefully we'll do better next year."
But after the story of the meeting ran on this website, we were inundated with emails from fans wanting to see the game.
And according to insiders, SKY NZ was also inundated with fan requests to show the game.
By 5pm today, SKY NZ had had a change of heart. Fellet rang au.fourfourtwo.com to apologise for the late change but confirmed they would now televise the final on Wednesday night.
"They may not have realized how big this game could be for Wellington," added Pignata.
Fox Sports will cover the game at 5.30pm on Fox Sports 3.
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