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While I applaud and greatly respect all SBS has done for football, I also believe the network has had some shortcomings.
Recently, there have been a number of articles indicating FFA were less than pleased with SBS’s development of a free-to-air football product. Their ratings are well below even what SBS believed they would be.
Given the current A-League set up is very close to the PFA model SBS supported before the A-League – and given football’s ever stronger media cover – the ratings are poor.
What has become obvious is there are essentially three main Football markets in Australia: Socceroos, A-League and Europe. The Socceroo market gets ratings from across other codes.
Without doubt SBS has helped in building support for the Socceroos, culminating in the World Cup achieving huge ratings – particularly for Socceroos games.
The A-League has grown well, yet the ratings are poor. Will a move to a free-to-air station be beneficial in ratings terms? Would the commercial station be as prepared to build the product as SBS are?
How would SBS react? Would it be a repeat of the bad old days of A-League seasons two to six?
One should not cast all blame for the football war on SBS. Fox had limited SBS to almost no footage of A-League and Socceroos matches, taking the game away from fans who did not have cable.
Eventually sanity resumed and SBS was allowed more footage and in time they got a free-to-air match and limited Socceroos matches.
However, these gains have done little to paper over the real issues with football in Australia.
It would be a brave FFA CEO to walk away from SBS mid-contract. SBS still enjoys considerable support and many are happy with the ratings.
Would SBS react badly and become almost anti-football? With no Les Murray, could SBS become rugby union’s saviour? And would it even benefit the FFA?
For now, football remains in a growth stage and I think it would be foolish for the FFA to leave. SBS have provided support during the dark times and the sport and SBS should continue to grow together.
That said, Johnny Warren famously predicted that once a commercial network outbids SBS for the football rights, that football will have made it.
How long until this takes place?
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