Pay-television provider Foxtel will televise four AFL matches a week live until 2011 after shelling out more than $315 million to free-to-air rights holders, the Seven and Ten Networks.

In a deal the AFL described as the best broadcasting arrangements in the game's history, Foxtel has emerged with more matches than either free-to-air network in a move certain to polarise television viewers.

Seven and Ten will each televise two matches per round - Seven to keep the plum Friday night match and show one match on Sunday afternoon.

Ten will maintain the Saturday afternoon and night matches it televised under the previous broadcast arrangements.

But Foxtel will show the other four matches per week live - a move likely to provide a major upward spike in subscribers for the pay-TV channel.

Foxtel had been locked in a stand-off with Seven and Ten, which otherwise would have been forced to show all eight matches per week free-to-air under their deal to televise AFL until 2011.

But with just over a fortnight to go until the start of the pre-season competition, the AFL helped the parties come to the agreement.

There were some late jitters before final contracts were signed though, with the official announcement delayed for two hours because of last-minute haggling.

Under the five-year deal, Foxtel will pay Seven and Ten $315.5 million plus $10 million per year in contra advertising for the rights to four games a round.

That is slightly less than half the $780 million the two free-to-air networks agreed to pay the AFL last year for the television rights from 2007 to 2011.

Foxtel's first year costs will be $50 million plus the $10 million in contra advertising.

Key points of the deal include:

+ All matches involving the Adelaide Crows, Brisbane Lions, Fremantle, Port Adelaide, Sydney Swans and West Coast Eagles will be broadcast on free-to-air television in their home markets either live or on same-day delay;

+ Friday night football will be telecast live into NSW and Queensland for the first time via Foxtel;

+ Three matches will be broadcast in full in Victoria on free to air television and pay television on Sunday afternoons for the first time;

+ Foxtel to televise new Sunday twilight match live.

But the deal means viewers in South Australia and Western Australia will for the first time have to subscribe to pay-TV to see every Adelaide, Port, West Coast and Fremantle match live.

All away matches involving the four clubs will be shown live or near-live on free-to-air, while Showdowns and derbies will also remain live on Seven or Ten.

For other home matches involving the four clubs, the alternative is a delayed replay of up to four hours on one of the free-to-air networks.

AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou said his organisation was delighted with the agreement.

"The aim was to have more of our football supporters, more people in more locations, able to watch games either live or near live than ever before," Demetriou said.

"These are the best national broadcasting arrangements in the history of the game.

"This agreement ... underpins the greatest investment into our game in the history of Australian football, which will secure all our 16 AFL clubs and provide record investment for the game at all levels."

All Foxtel matches will be shown on Fox Sports' three existing sports channels.

The now-defunct Fox Footy channel will not be revived, with matches and other AFL content to be shown on Fox Sports 1, 2 and 3.

The deal has come just in the nick of time, with Seven's first televised match under the arrangement the pre-season NAB Cup clash between the Kangaroos and Collingwood on February 23.

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