The Roar
The Roar

Advertisement

Opinion

It's early days yet, but Network Ten might just have saved football

31st October, 2021
Advertisement
Autoplay in... 6 (Cancel)
Up Next No more videos! Playlist is empty -
Replay
Cancel
Next
Expert
31st October, 2021
97
3404 Reads

It was halfway through the Matildas’ 2-2 draw with Brazil in Parramatta last Tuesday night when I realised something I hadn’t felt for a while – I was actually enjoying the broadcast.

The Aussies were leading 1-0 at the break and Andy Harper had just launched into one of his passionate halftime reviews either side of panellists Grace Gill and Georgia Yeoman-Dale.

Clare Polkinghorne had earlier scored her second goal in as many games to open the scoring and the Network Ten coverage, featuring Simon Hill in commentary, was as slick as anything we’d seen for a while.

I’m by no means the biggest Matildas fan around. That’s not to suggest I don’t enjoy watching them, but rather that I don’t have the same reasons to be as emotionally invested as many others do.

What I most enjoyed about their two-game series with Brazil was simply the chance to watch some high-quality, professionally broadcast football in prime time on free-to-air TV.

And it’s that final point that surely means football is, at long last, on the right track in Australia.

You could write a book about all the reasons Aussies decided not to shell out for Foxtel in the same sort of numbers that watch Pay TV overseas, but it always starts with the attitude the service is too expensive.

Advertisement

The fact that football fans must now shell out comparative amounts for multiple streaming services to watch the same content once available on Fox Sports was entirely predictable.

But if some fans have long struggled to understand how broadcast content is created, what it costs to create it and who’s paying for it, the two Matildas games at least suggested there are better days ahead.

That’s because the two broadcasts were the best we’ve seen yet on Network Ten. Just as importantly, they were supported by the sort of ancillary content that helps drive new viewers to the game.

He may not possess the verbal dexterity of Andy Harper, but watching Archie Thompson on Celebrity Masterchef – he’s a surprisingly good cook, for those who don’t know – as well as Ten’s Melbourne Cup Carnival coverage, is the sort of cross-promotion we could once only dream of.

Network Ten’s news coverage now features football as a matter of course, while Adelaide United defender Josh Cavallo spoke at length to The Project’s Carrie Bickmore last week after coming out as the world’s only current openly gay male top-flight footballer.

And the recent announcement that Network Ten and Paramount+ had nabbed the rights to broadcast the FA Cup – a competition virtually every football fan in Australia is familiar with – means a similar bid for English Premier League rights is arguably just around the corner.

Fresh from covering Lionel Messi’s surprise switch to Paris Saint-Germain, commentator Robbie Thomson is another who has just bid adieu to the French capital to presumably take up the microphone alongside the likes of Hill and Harper in the A-Leagues.

Advertisement
Clare Polkinghorne of the Matildas celebrates kicking a goal

Clare Polkinghorne scores the opener (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

And ViacomCBS, which owns Network Ten and Paramount+, have been vocal about using football as a vehicle to target viewers. Put simply, they see football and its band of intensely passionate supporters as a vital demographic.

It’s the sort of renewed investment football so desperately needed after years of stagnation.

It’s not all sunshine and smiles though, as Macarthur FC skipper Adam Federici’s shock retirement and Mark Milligan’s sudden decision to quit as assistant coach might suggest.

The A-Leagues may have a real problem on their hands in south-western Sydney this season, and that’s on the back of Western United’s ongoing struggles to find a suitable home ground.

But for the first time in a long time, I feel optimistic about the direction football is heading.

Yes, closed borders and coronavirus restrictions are still making life difficult, particularly for Perth Glory and Wellington Phoenix.

Advertisement

Sports opinion delivered daily 

   

But after a frustrating few years wondering if the A-Leagues would even survive, it finally feels like we can start planning for football to thrive once again.

close