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Australia’s peak women’s sporting body fears that young female athletes will be left without role models due to cuts in ABC TV coverage.
Cost-cutting at the national broadcaster will see the end of coverage of the women’s national soccer league at the end of the current season, with a similar fate likely to befall the Women’s National Basketball League.
Australian Womensport and Recreation Association executive officer Leanne Evans says taking the two leagues off the air would leave a gaping hole.
“You’d struggle to find much at all in terms of women’s sport on television,” she said.
“It’d be a massive disappointment for those athletes, teams and people who support it.”
The ABC has been asked to find $254 million in savings over the next five years by the federal government, with sport one of the major casualties in a response outlined on Monday.
An ABC statement outlined an “overhaul” of its sport coverage.
“With the ABC facing declining audience interest in local sport competitions and some codes chasing commercial opportunities, ABC Television is revising its sports strategy to ensure the most cost-efficient use of resources and optimal audience impact,” it read.
An FFA spokesperson said the move would not affect the viability of the W-League.
“Football Federation Australia today received final confirmation of ABC TV’s decision to cease broadcast of the Westfield W-League for the 2015/16 season as part of widespread budget cuts that affect sporting codes and competitions all over Australia,” an FFA spokesperson said.
“FFA is disappointed with the decision to cut the broadcast of Australia’s premier women’s national sporting competition.”
Various ABC journalists said on Twitter they understood the two leagues would be axed by the broadcaster.
For the WNBL, that would mean the end of a 35-year partnership.
The more recently formed W-League has been broadcast on ABC television since its inception.
It conflicts with the ABC’s most recent television strategy which states the ABC has “a long-term commitment to women’s sports”.
Evans suggested top-level teams – including the high-performing Opals and Matildas – could expect to see the impact of a lack of exposure in the future.
“Young girls look up to elite female athletes,” she said.
“Without that television coverage it’s just that much harder to see those players and see the pathway ahead of them.”
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