Matildas matches added to anti-siphoning list
"Every Australian deserves the chance to enjoy live and free coverage of these events, no matter where they live or what they earn," says Communications Minister.
- Published by David Knox
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Future FIFA Women’s World Cup involving the Matildas have been added to the anti-siphoning list.
The move by the federal government will mean their matches must be offered to Free to Air broadcasters before Subscription TV providers.
Mens matches were already on the list.
The anti-siphoning list now includes: every match of the tournament involving the senior Australian representative team; the tournament final; and qualifying matches involving the senior Australian representative team that is played in Australia.
The inclusion of women’s soccer in the list recognises not only the recent success of the Matildas in the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, but the place of women’s sport in Australia’s sporting landscape.
The amendment has been made before the bids for Australian media rights to the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup close on 19 September 2023. This will ensure these important events are regulated under the scheme before negotiations over rights commence in earnest.
Minister for Communications Michelle Rowland said, “The Matildas’ incredible performance in the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup brought us together as a nation and will be talked about for years to come – we all shared in the excitement as the team progressed from stage to stage.
“They’ve inspired a whole new generation of Australian kids to take up soccer, boosting grassroots sports participation, while setting a number of viewership records as Australians tuned in and cheered our team on.
“Every Australian deserves the chance to enjoy live and free coverage of these events, no matter where they live or what they earn.”
The Government is also progressing a review of the scheme which has found that the composition of the anti-siphoning list needs to be reconsidered with respect to women’s sports and Para-sports.
Submissions on the proposals paper close on 17 September 2023.
The amendment to the list was registered on the Federal Register of Legislation on 14 September 2023 and takes legal effect on 15 September 2023.
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6 Responses
Great choice of timing to come up with this now straight after the last tournament, considering all the games were in Australian viewer friendly timeslots which is a rarity for women’s or men’s world cups. Better late than never I guess. The Anti Siphoning list is only covering Matilda’s matches, what about the other games without Australia in the tournament. All Men’s World Cup games featuring Australia or not I believe are covered on that list.
No. For both, the list now includes: every match of the tournament involving the senior Australian representative team; the tournament final; and qualifying matches involving the senior Australian representative team that is played in Australia.
I believe though that list doesn’t include other matches outside of the Matildas games in the world cup tournament.
They’re the same, the list doesn’t include other matches outside of the Socceroos games too. Both world cups are the same.
Good to see the Airline industry isn’t the only thing the government is being anti-competitive with.
The anti siphoning list is a relic of a bygone era. There should be 2 type of rights that an organization can buy. One is Free the other is Subscription. Not hard really.
After the success of the games at the World Cup is it likely that FTA wouldn’t buy them anyway? And if FTA doesn’t want them then the anti-syphoning laws don’t apply, so aren’t needed. Or that someone would try to out bid them and show matches that up to 7m wanted to watch and then put them behind a paywall so that only a few hundred thousand can see them? Optus certainly didn’t want to do that, they had failed at one attempt with the Mens World Cup, partnered with SBS for 2nd and made 15 games including all the Matilda’s matches at the World Cup available to Seven, all without ant-syphoning laws. This is government claiming to fix a problem that has never existed.