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SBS without soccer? “We intend to bid competitively.”

SBS insists it is committed to football, in the wake of media reports it is planning to scale back coverage.

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SBS without Soccer? It would be enough to make Les Murray see red, if he were still with the broadcaster.

SBS today reaffirmed its commitment to the sport in the wake of an alarming report that claims the network is preparing to dump the game.

Fairfax reports SBS is preparing to scale back its coverage of football coverage, following government funding cuts, and numbers for the A-League at around 100,000:

The network has also been frustrated by a lack of access to premium games, with primary broadcaster Fox Sports requesting the FFA schedule big matches – like most derbies and traditional clashes – on Saturday nights.

But perhaps most shocking is the thought that the next World Cup may not be on SBS, which has broadcast each tournament since 1990.

It claims chief content officer Helen Kellie and TV and online content director Marshall Heald presented their recommendations to the SBS board, “who offered a tentative green light. The next few months will be critical in determining how deep the proposed cuts run.”

Seven this week also indicated their interest in purchasing the TV rights for Australian soccer with the Socceroos’ games highlighted by HSV7 managing director Lewis Martin as a major drawcard.

“We’re going to be there when the business case supports it but I have to tell you that nothing captivates a nation like the green and gold jersey of the Socceroos,” Martin told Fairfax.

Today Jessica Harris, Head of Group Communications said, “SBS has an esteemed 30 year pedigree in football and is committed to the game’s future.

“SBS delivered the biggest World Cup in Australia’s history in 2014, with all 64 matches live on all platforms for the first time.

“Our current contracts are for the exclusive rights to the World Cup until 2022, the Friday night A-League games until 2016-17. The rights for the Champions League are up for renewal this year and it is our intention to bid competitively for those rights.

“SBS continues to invest its modest resources into content which delivers on the SBS Charter and football, which unites our diverse communities, is an important part of our commitment.”

17 Responses

    1. The World Game which used to be screened online and at 11pm on SBS ONE was scrapped last year. Now if you want to follow the football results over the weekend, you have to watch the videos from the website.

  2. Network Ten is interested in securing the A League rights off SBS which are believed to be willing to onsell the final two years of their A League broadcasts and FFA are understood to favour a partnership between Ten and Fox Sports for the 2015/16 and 2016/17 seasons. David Barham went even further then the A League and saying that they were keen on the FIFA World Cup – which SBS is reportedly also willing to onsell, UEFA Leagues – which comes up for grabs in two months time and Socceroos mathces.
    David Barham said “We’d definitely be able to make a bid for them, no problem”

    1. The A League might clash with the BBL during the non-ratings period. I believe that Perth viewers might miss out live telecast of A-League due to news commitments.

  3. I wouldn’t want to see Seven purchasing the rights for A league football…unlikely they’d broadcast it in HD,they’d probably screen it after midnight & there’d definitely be an ad break during every 6 minutes of play!

  4. All these rumours started when the FFA got unhappy with very low A-League ratings on SBS and FoxSports and looking to cut the current broadcasting contract short and thinking that SBS would be inclined to do so to save money inlight of budget cuts to that network. The FFA wants a major commercial network to take the place of SBS in terms of broadcast rights to boost their audience.
    I wouldn’t like to see SBS lose any more football, Foxtel pretty much has a monopoly on football events as it is from the EPL, A-League games and all Socceroo matches excluding the world cup. However though we need a major cashed up free-to-air network to challenge Foxtel for rights particularly the Socceroos which shouldn’t be exclusively on Pay TV in the first place.

  5. Can someone please explain the difference between a Chief Content Officer and TV & Online Content Director. Too many cooks! They really need to get back to the business of multicultural broadcasting and stop messing around. Fed up with hearing about SBS’s woes and this is a ridiculous decision. Agree with @jezzathefirstoriginalone; SBS must do everything to retain the soccer.

  7. football/soccer is the most multicultural major sporting code in Australia, SBS should do everything to continue their coverage and maybe dump some of their less multicultural offerings like ‘A walk thru History’

  8. If they can’t at least break even on World Cup coverage they are doing it wrong. How about covering it all from here – any sacking that smug Foster guy?

    If the World Cup ends up anywhere else you know it will be Australia games only live and then coverage will fall off a cliff when they don’t make it out the groups. In SD.

    2. One of the few things FIFA do right is to prohibit any broadcaster from doing just that.
      Should a broadcaster bid for the World Cup, they have to show all games, and not just their own country’s and those between the higher profile teams.

  9. Its just silly that the usually sold out Melbourne derby is not shown on free to air as it falls on a Saturday. If you want to promote your sport you need to air the best games on free to air to reach the greatest audience. Like the Asian cup deal the a league deal was not created in the best interests of soccer in Australia. A leagues free to air coverage needs major fixing.

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