SBS would have you believe it is the home of football coverage in Australia. It is a warm sentiment which harks back to the days of yore, but the reality is the network has much to do to make up ground on rivals Fox Sports.
The recent announcement that Fox Sports had purchased the rights to broadcast Spanish and Italian football – more on Serie A later – came as the Special Broadcasting Service prepared to ramp up its coverage of the A-League.
A lack of free-to-air exposure has been the Achilles’ heel of A-League coverage for the competition’s eight-season existence to date.
All that will soon change, as SBS gears up to host one live Friday night game per week – starting with this Friday’s crackerjack clash between Sydney FC and visitors Newcastle.
SBS will broadcast the evidently light-hearted Thursday FC as a precursor to the main event, as the supposed spiritual home of football makes a belated entrance to the A-League party.
It’s a far cry from the first years of the competition, when tuning into an SBS football program resulted in a cursory mention of the A-League at best.
It appeared certain pundits didn’t take too kindly to the fact that Fox Sports had paid for the rights to broadcast the A-League exclusively.
For years SBS has cried poor – even introducing advertising to help pay the bills – and it’s no coincidence that broadcasters like Simon Hill and Andrew Orsatti have furthered their careers elsewhere.
But as much as a lack of cash may have hindered their coverage – has anyone read The World Game site since Jesse Fink was axed? – so too has the niggling feeling there’s a bit of a fiefdom at work.
Log on to Twitter to discuss the finer points of any A-League encounter, and chances are certain SBS personnel will be dictating like Moses from Mount Sinai the virtues of Barcelona’s youth system.
Flick on the TV and the UEFA Champions League likewise clearly captivates, while in the past A-League analysis has been offered in the sort of comatose-inducing monotone that would put a giraffe to sleep.
European football clearly holds sway – you’d hardly know SBS has one of Asian football’s most influential journalists on their books – and for a long time the A-League struggled to get a look in.
Which makes Fox Sports’ decision to broadcast La Liga and Serie A all the more intriguing.
It’s a network which has largely gone the other way since the A-League kicked off, catering predominantly to an Anglo-Australian audience with its coverage of the English Premier League.
So prominent has its EPL coverage been, that between it and the A-League you could almost forget that football was even played outside English-speaking countries.
Which makes the move for Spanish and Italian football seem all the more like Fox is thumbing its nose at its new free-to-air football rival.
That Fox is having trouble tying up the Italian deal speaks volumes for the delusions of grandeur Serie A officials cling to.
Once a first-rate league now fallen on hard times, with dwindling attendances, decrepit stadia and ageing outfits whose best players invariably leave for foreign leagues, Serie A missed the boat on modernisation and has been playing catch-up ever since.
Perhaps it’s an apt metaphor, because despite the flashy ads and colourful variety shows, SBS too may need to do a bit of work to win over A-League fans.
Their new partnership with FourFourTwo – now the only dedicated football magazine in the marketplace – could help sew up a few more casual fans.
In the end, there is no doubt free-to-air coverage helps increase A-League exposure in millions of households not connected to pay television.
But there’ll be plenty of interest in how SBS goes about the job, with the first shots arguably already fired in a new football culture war.
mahonjt
Guest
I can though value the writing of various sports academics, economists and sociologists examine sport rigorously through the prism of globalisation and see the rise of football Australia in this context. It is a far more reasonable approach to investigating what may happen in the future than simply making the argument "sokkah is for pussies and will never be our number one sport". The changed tone of the debate here and more broadly in our society includes famous “sokkah deniers” finally beginning to understand what is happening here. You don’t have to believe me - you just have to open your eyes.
bryan
Guest
Fuss,(Gee you're high maintenance!)------------- In Test Cricket you are also watching the best players from England,South Africa,Pakistan,India,Bangla Desh,The West Indies,New Zealand.& Zimbabwe. Strangely enough,Australians are amongst the best in that group of countries. Cricket is played in quite a few other,non- Commonwealth countries who occasionally surprise everyone by beating one of the majors. Your love for Football tends to make you go over the top with demonstrably false derogatory comments about all things Australian,other than the A League. I suppose we should be grateful for small mercies! :) This comment I do agree with:- "The bottom line is … I’d rather watch A-League footballers – LIVE in the stadium – than EPL footballers, who represent a country town that I will never visit as long as I live."
Nick
Guest
I hope they find some more intelligent commentators than SBS and Fox both use, Andy Harper is a joke with how much he gets wrong plus all the other rubbish he spouts. Can't remember other other bloke, but he wasn't quite as bad.
peeeko
Roar Guru
they lost the rights to the cricket they were not reallocated
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
@Freddie So, are you suggesting Rupert Murdoch ... one of the most harsh businessmen in the world, whose media organistions hacked phones of a dead teenage girl in order to make a buck ... .. you think Murdoch's FoxSports organisation is splashing cash to the ALeague because it wants to lose money? Wow... Tell me, your First Name isn't "Blind", is it?
Freddie
Guest
You think the A-League makes Fox lots of money? You think that without the A-League they wouldn't just go and bid for something else? I'm no Murdoch fan, but without his company cash, the A-League simply wouldn't exist. SBS are paying peanuts, and that's come from the government!
nearpost
Guest
Absolutely Mike. In the early years coverage of the A-League on SBS was unbelievably negative. For three years they mocked the football and at times completely ignored the game. Was all bizarre really. I'm interested to see if their match day coverage/panel will be quality, or more of the highbrow, or should I say boring, presentation that we often get. Presenting football in a black suit - that in itself is bizarre and can help to create a sterile presentation. David Basheer and Robbie Slater is not a combination I'd be choosing to take the game forward on fta. I suspect I'm not alone. Good luck to SBS - let's hope they surprise us.
Cameron
Roar Guru
Cheers C.
Cameron
Roar Guru
I don't know AZ, but something is preventing me from making contract or possibly someone? Want to sort it out though, that's for sure!
Cameron
Roar Guru
I got not issue whatsoever with the football banter, that's the reason why I come on here. Though them you for three kind words of support Fuss. Its very much appreciated!
Bondy
Guest
Great stuff slowly but surely. Nice bloke Norenberg.
Lazza
Guest
Serie A gets the 2nd biggest TV rights deal ($3.5 B/3years) in Europe after the EPL. It’s bigger than both the Bundesliga and La Liga. Those decrepit stadiums which are community owned and no one wants to take responsibility for upgrading may not entice fans to attend but they’re still watching on TV in large numbers.
JamesP
Guest
"The AUS sports landscape is changing." No its not. One was played Saturday afternoon in ratings wasteland, the other in prime time (Sunday night) Swans membership and crowds and Tv viewers is double the Storm Keep dribbling...
Chris Kettlewell
Roar Guru
Of course, FTA coverage is far from the be-all and end-all for a sport. I believe the English division 1 becoming the EPL was on the back of a pay TV deal rather than an FTA deal, though I suspect there is still more FTA coverage than there has been to this point in the A-League. But the W-League, WNBL, Netball and club Rugby are all on FTA TV (non-commercial channels) and it's not like being on FTA TV has made them into big leagues with more people watching because they are on FTA. It takes more than that. Having one match a week on SBS 2 is a long way from a major commercial channel paying big dollars for the contract and injecting serious funds into the game. I know a lot of people hate the idea of commercial channels getting their hands on the game, but when it comes down to it, the funds from big TV contracts are the biggest part of sports income these days and that is where TV makes the biggest difference in the game, money. When you have commercial networks and Fox Sports all in a bidding war over the A-League, resulting in the sorts of contracts seen for AFL and NRL, then the league will be able to operate with significantly increased salary caps over the current and be able to attract better foreign stars and compete better head to head with other top Asian countries in the ACL and the like.
Phutbol
Guest
I dont understand why you think that? All I read is that they'll be more strict on flares and idiots commitiing illegal acts. Doesnt seem to be anything about singing, chanting, boisterous support etc. Also doesnt seem to be any reason why anyone who wasnt commitiing illegal acts would have anything to be worried about... Obvioulsy the risk is that passionate active support is confused by the authorities as hooliganism. This is where the various stakeholders need to ensure security and police etc are properly educated. Big ask though.
Midfielder
Guest
Fuss We saw it coming.... we have a lot to thank CA for ...
c
Guest
fuss agreed now we get some of the volumes of hours they allocated to cricket. good to see taxpayer funds reallocated and diverted into appropriate areas :)
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
BREAKING NEWS...!! The manager of ABC Grandstand has just Tweeted: @CraigNorenberg Big news: @abcgrandstand enters 4 year historic deal to broadcast all #aleague games. Part of the #football family, officially. This is simply massive news because it puts every ALeague match into every house & every car & every office across AUS. This is a huge change to the AUS sporting landscape.
bp2
Guest
I am not sure what you were watching when the NSL was the main league in this country but to say that the coverage given to it by SBS was quite poor must surely be a oke. After the ABC lost the rights (i believe in the very early 90's) and SBS took them back their coverage was nothing short of brilliant. There were live matches (in prime time) often to the detriment of crowds. This at a time were the clubs scheduled their own matches rather than the league working on a draw with TV. They actually worked their schedules around the teams, not the other way around as is common place now. Their was a highlights show in prime time on Monday nights and well as the world famous On The Ball program on Sundays at 11.30am - a perfect prelude to Sunday lunch before heading out to the ground to watch your team. This program was preceded by a highlights show on the previous weeks Serie A and was usually followed by some sort of soccer program as well. This was done at a time when the mainstream media couldnt give a stuff about our game. There was no money in it but the SBS crew did it primarily for the love of the game. It was the only station that recognised the power of the game in this multi cultural country. I listened yesterday at the Wanderers member launch at Channel 7 personalities Chris Bath and Jim Wilson. They remarked how the team showed how multiculturalism worked. SBS were doing this with the World Game years ago. They should be applauded, and we should rejoice in the fact that Soccer is heading back to its spiritual home, rather than using the opportunity to bag them out.
AZ_RBB
Guest
awww what :( has Hatamoto infiltrated The Roar as well!!??!?!