Can SBS raise the A-League’s profile?

 
Davidde Corran Columnist

By , 18 May 2010 Davidde Corran is a Roar Expert

Tagged:
 , , , , ,

50 Have your say

Related coverage



There was an interesting offshoot to the discussion on Mike Tuckerman’s article on this very site about the rising prominence of the Asian Champions League last week.

With one member of The Roar community, Hoolifan, commenting that “sticking (The ACL) on Foxtel so only a fraction of the potential audience can view it” was a “funny way to promote a sport”, the point was made that SBS should seriously consider broadcasting Asian Champions League matches not already covered by Fox Sports.

That idea got me both commenting and thinking, but now I’d like to push the discussion even further to a topic that is always highly controversial on this website: could broadcasting the A-League on SBS help raise the competition’s profile?

Firstly let me mention my “conflicts of interest”. My work as a freelance football journalist often sees me working for both Fox Sports and SBS (not to mention a range of other publications and media outlets). However, as I said in the comments section of Mike’s article last week, I’m not sure whether having interests in both sides of the debate makes me bias or objective!

Still I’m going to put this idea out there and leave it open for discussion as I think it’s a fascinating topic.

Now, it might seem an odd time to bring up the A-League TV rights as attention across the country turns towards the upcoming World Cup in South Africa. Instead, I’d argue now is the perfect moment.

When I was back in Australia over Christmas, I came across some old newspaper cuttings of mine. One that caught my eye was a piece taken from the front page of The Age’s 1st of June 2002 edition. It was a captivating article on the opening game of the 2002 FIFA World Cup.

Of course, the beauty, in more ways then one, was in the detail: this article was written by the Senior Football Writer for England’s The Daily Telegrpah, the talented Henry Winter.

Eight years on and you can bet The Age, along with pretty much every other publication and media outlet in the country will be sending their own journalists to South Africa. Considering the continuing fluctuations within the media industry, it is another sign of the tournament’s increasing relevance to an Australian audience.

Only surpassed by the Socceroos themselves, I have no doubt that SBS’ continuing coverage of the World Cup has been a major factor in driving the profile of the tournament in this country.

Would 16 years of The World Cup receiving the kind of commercial network coverage in Australia that the Australian Open is still suffering from have brought us to this very same point? Let alone taken us even further?

(http://www.theroar.com.au/2010/01/31/channel-7-has-stifled-this-years-australian-open/)

The final caveat to all of this is that Fox Sports have done and continue to do a great job of broadcasting the A-League. For their part, I doubt the A-League would be where it is if it wasn’t for Fox Sports brave investment in the game back in 2005.

Yet, while I could be wrong, I suspect it would be in everyone’s best interest including Fox Sports, for at least some portion of the A-League to receive Free To Air coverage.

So to those who doubt whether SBS can help the A-League take the next step up, consider this: if SBS has managed to almost single-handily raise the profile of the World Cup in this country, why couldn’t they do it for our domestic competition?

Enjoy sports? Enjoy a bargain? All Sports Online has your favourite sporting brands at up to 70% off. Online only, premium quality sporting goods and merchandise at discounted prices. Get a deal now.

Get a daily football email

Our daily emails are only sent if there is content for the sport. You can subscribe to multiple daily emails; or get the daily Roar email with all our content in it.

We value privacy. More.