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After 35 years of broadcasting football to Australia, SBS has become known as the ‘home of football’. However, that title looks to be in its final days with news the network is looking to offload its football coverage for the foreseeable future.
While the extent of their split is not yet known, reports emerging on Thursday morning indicate that ratings pressure has seen football coverage flagged as expendable.
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Currently SBS has deals in place that see it broadcast Friday night A-League games, the UEFA Champions League, Socceroos matches and, of course, the World Cup.
Despite moving their Friday night A-League coverage from a delayed to a live telecast in recent seasons, the ratings have not seen a dramatic boost. A potential issue at play here is the heavy weighting of derbies and traditional high-audience matches being scheduled on Saturday nights, when Fox Sports hold the sole rights.
Although interest has been seen from other major networks, it is unlikely that the Friday night match would gain any prominence on a network’s flagship station, instead reserved for a digital offshoot.
Ratings aside, the move appears to have clear links to a major restructure triggered by the government’s decision to cut funding to the ABC and SBS.
An insider speaking to Fairfax Media told the Sydney Morning Herald “There is a very fundamental change occurring at SBS. Those in charge at the network have made it clear to everyone they intend on taking a new path.
“They want to increase ratings by any means and appear prepared to stray from the charter, if necessary.
“If it wasn’t for SBS, football would never have found a home on Australian television all those years ago. But those in charge of content have come in from outside and have dismissed its importance.”
The question for Australian football fans then becomes, who will broadcast the World Cup? If the offload plays out, their current agreement to broadcast the 2018 and 2022 World Cups could be a tasty revenue earner for the station.
Could the next World Cup end up locked to a pay TV network? That would certainly be a rude shock for fans that have experienced every World Cup since 1990 on the national broadcaster.
As well, with just two months left on their Champions League contract, it appears that Europe’s finest are also destined to be solely broadcast on pay TV networks from 2016 onwards pending a battle for the rights between ESPN, Fox Sports and beIN Sport.
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