Imagine all 48 Rugby World Cup games shown live and in high definition around Australia. If you’re a football fan, you’ve got it, courtesy of the Australian taxpayer.
If you’re a rugby fan, you will have to make do with Channel Nine showing standard definition Wallabies games only. If you’re really lucky, they’ll hire a shock jock rugby league fan to commentate on the semi-final.
If you’re a football fan, you’ll get $44 million to talk to the most corrupt punters in the world in Zurich. If you’re a rugby fan, you’ll get millions taken off your high performance centre at Ballymore.
This isn’t a go at the round-ball game, of which I am a fan. It’s a go at the allocation of resources from the Australian government. It cost SBS $40 million to acquire the rights to the World Cup in 2018 and 2022. So where is the ABC’s bid for rugby fans? Where is our taxpayer support?
Thousands of rugby fans pay taxes to the Australian government, effectively subsidising accessibility of the FIFA World Cup.
The national broadcaster should be acting in the national interest. The Rugby World Cup is a big event, thousands of people want to watch it. So why doesn’t the ABC make a bid?
At a time when rugby is struggling to attract media coverage, being shafted by sponsors, with dwindling crowds and revenues, the government has left it out to dry. When football encountered a similar scenario, the government not only kept the organisation afloat, but subsidised the increased interest with grants to set up the A-League, and the continual purchase of broadcasting rights.
So where is the equivalent treatment? Where is the ABC’s Rugby: The Gentlemen’s Game site, presented by Gordon Bray? Years ago when the ABC had rugby it did a great job of showcasing it to the public. It seems grossly unfair that only football gets that treatment now.
Bakkies
Guest
As far as I know SBS has broadcast the AIs previously
joe b
Guest
Simply not true, the AFL offered up the MCG for 10 weeks in the middle of the AFL season. The FFA accepted that Docklands stadium was not available before they bid. Both the AFL and NRL had concerns about the impact of the soccer WC on their season...but they did not undermine the bid, it was undermined by FIFA members taking bribes.
Billy Bob
Guest
What I don't get is that SBS gets tax money to provide multicultural content. Why is there only one multicultural sport on SBS? Sth African, NZ, welsh, Emglish Freench expats all follow rugby. Why do SBS have Zero rugby content? While having blanket soccer coverage. Does SBS stand for SoccerBloodySoccer?
44bottles
Roar Guru
If I recall, football was used by upper class, lower class didn't like it, and so adapted it from asSOCiation football. It's why some americans call our sport Rugger. (RUGby football being the official name). This is what I recall, open to someone more educated on it correcting me. It's also a very simplified explanation of what happened.
Harry Jones
Expert
What is that etymology?
Bakkies
Guest
The problem was that the Rugby broadcaster at the 10 was flat broke like it is now (the ARU were also skint) and wasn't going to contribute significantly to the $USD500 million 10 year deal that was signed by the unions who were competing with Super League and the WRC. As highlighted by Francois Pienaar in his interview with John Smit there was a dispute going on in SA with the unions as well that had to be resolved quickly. A few Boks had jumped to Super League and others had signed with Packer and Turnbull.
Bakkies
Guest
The AFL did their best to undermine the bid by not moving games away from potential World Cup venues. Pathetic behaviour. Get their own stadiums or take the games to the bush with compensation to the clubs due to reduced gate takings. It's also an opportunity. The Top 14 Final will be in Barcelona has met some opposition but there isn't another 80,000 seater in France that is free. The Nou Camp packed for Rugby will be a sight to see
Bakkies
Guest
Racing interrupting live coverage is one of my pet hates. Channel 4 and 9 did it. I remember watching a domestic Lords Final. Packed house and most of the second innings wasn't broadcast because of the bloody races and you got 15 to 20 minutes of interviews with it. No wonder the ECB went with Sky people were up in arms about pay tv but 4 weren't exactly televising the Cricket giving preference to Racing.
pjm
Roar Rookie
The ABC has their budget tied up in leftist propaganda. They probably think Rugby is mysoginistic.
HiKa
Roar Rookie
Those precious about "football" instead of soccer don't appreciate the history of the derivation (etymology) of soccer from Association Football. Soccer is as correct a term for the round ball game as rugby is for what this place is about.
AndyS
Guest
True, I was tending to overlook the radio side of things. I does tend to be heavily biased toward the racing and what they feel the 'local' sport is though, and back on point good luck hearing anything much of the RWC. I'm not sure they even provided much more than partial coverage even when it was here.
HiKa
Roar Rookie
The answer to your question about why the ABC ceded the field to Fox is all about the Murdoch family's view of the proper role of publicly financed media, i.e. not competing to provide services provided by private enterprise. See their (Rupert and James) comments on ABC's news running a 24 hour channel. The rugby audience isn't big enough for either side of politics to take up an argument with the Murdochs, especially when their company has been a primary source of revenue to rugby for so long. This argument goes back to the ARU's decision to go to Pay-TV years ago, which surrendered the mass market approach forever.
SM
Guest
The bitterness is strong in this one.
RobC
Roar Guru
Excellent article. Thanks.
Matt
Guest
This is more of an argument for ending public subsidies for soccer than starting new ones for rugby union.
Tigranes
Guest
Sport on free to air tv is pretty rare in the world. Rugby in south Africa and NZ, soccer in the UK, there are pretty much all on Pay TV. Hyundai A-League rates extremely well on SBS, and in all likelihood a rival channel will pay more to have games live.
Unanimous
Guest
To get a soccer world cup the government has to grow the sport. Australia won't get a shot at a rugby world cup for a while, and the government expects to get it pretty easy and more easily in fact if rugby needs a boost in Australia rather than if it is doing relatively well.
Unanimous
Guest
Stop using the word "football" as a replacement for soccer. It took three paragraphs to work out what you were talking about. Soccer is the unambiguos and clear name of the sport.
Bakkies
Guest
Radio is vital for people on the go (radio coverage of live Rugby is really good in the UK and Ireland) but you need to be able see the games. From what I have read the BBC is addressing it's radio network as a lot of its stations are past their used by date and just chewing up money. This is what they raised in 2014 http://www.bbc.co.uk/annualreport/2014/executive/finances/licence_fee.html
JVGO
Guest
ABC radio is the best most comprehensive sporting coverage in the country.