There’s not enough Women’s World Cup on TV. Feel free to air your fury

Save articles for later

Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time.

The 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup was heralded as the biggest sports spectacular in Australia since the 2000 Olympics and, thus far, it has delivered. From record-breaking attendances and ticket sales, to almost 2 million viewers tuning in to catch the Matildas’ opening match, it truly has been a landmark moment for women’s sport.

But there’s a frustrating catch.

Spectacular viewing in the Women’s World Cup included the Italy v Argentina match in Auckland this week, but it wasn’t screened free-to-air in Australia.Credit: Reuters/David Rowland

In what’s become a painful case of deja vu for World Cup connoisseurs in Australia, just 15 of the 64 matches are available on free-to-air TV, which begs the question: Have we learned nothing from the past? From the technological disaster with SBS and Optus in 2018, to the limited offering of free-to-air matches for the 2019 Women’s World Cup, history has had an unfunny way of repeating itself.

Perhaps most jarring is that this particular World Cup is on Australian soil, and given our tapestry of cultures, which encompasses more than 270 ancestries, it’s baffling. Each of the 32 nations competing at this tournament has a proud community living in Australia. For a side like Morocco, the first Arabic nation to feature at a Women’s World Cup, this is a dream for almost 10,000 fans already living here.

So what do you do if you’re a fan who can’t attend a match, or you’d like to watch history in the making with your daughter who has aspirations to be a footballer? You sign up for a subscription! That’ll be $24.99 a month, or $6.99 if you’re an existing Optus customer.

Never mind that most households are already paying good money for a plethora of other streaming services, and that a box of cereal can set you back almost $10 these days. What’s one more thing to add to the ever-increasing cost of living?

Understandably, fans have expressed their frustration, many calling it a “missed opportunity” and even “shameful”. So who dropped the ball here?

Amid a metamorphosis of sports broadcasting with modern technology, the federal government’s anti-siphoning laws concerning football have shown a dogged determination to remain stuck in the past, where a woman’s only valuable role was in the kitchen rather than on the football pitch. The anti-siphoning laws were introduced in 1992 to protect show-piece sporting events from the clutches of Pay TV – and to ensure they could still be viewed on free-to-air channels.

Almost every major event in the country has been included on the list, from the State of Origin, to the AFL and Commonwealth Games. But as it stands, the Women’s World Cup is not protected. And this tournament on Australian (and New Zealand) soil wasn’t deemed to be “nationally important” or “culturally significant” for the Australian public, according to the federal government.

This is startling, given the investment in the Women’s World Cup and the barrage of rhetoric from all and sundry encouraging us to support the growth of women’s sport.

A close look at the Broadcasting Services (Events) Notice 2023 reveals the FIFA Women’s World Cup is considered a separate event to the men’s World Cup, which is why it has been excluded.

Worse, “the minister can also choose to add or remove events from the anti-siphoning list at any time”, meaning there was ample opportunity to add the women’s event – from the moment the hosting announcement was made in June 2020 and the broadcast deal was struck in August 2021.

When I asked direct questions of Communications Minister Michelle Rowland, a spokesperson offered the following: “Broadcasting key sporting competitions in which Australian teams participate, such the FIFA Women’s World Cup, fosters a collective Australian identity, and contributes to grassroots community-based participation.

“The government is currently reviewing the anti-siphoning scheme to ensure that it operates effectively in a contemporary media environment. The review is considering the application of the scheme to streaming services, and the composition of the list.”

When it comes to broadcasting football rights, meanwhile, FIFA is fluent in the language of the almighty dollar. In 2022, football’s world governing body revealed it generated an unprecedented $7.5 billion in revenue through four years of commercial deals tied to the World Cup in Qatar.

When Optus secured the rights, the Australian Financial Review reported it paid an estimated $US8 million ($A10.4 million) and would on-sell the rights to a free-to-air broadcaster. At the time, the Optus vice-president of TV, content and product development, Clive Dickens, said “the right free-to-air broadcast partner must want to join FIFA and Optus Sport on the journey of promoting women’s sport. That’s the most important criteria.”

With the exception of the two broadcasters which have done a superb job in broadcasting the event thus far, none of this deal sanctioned by FIFA smacks of promoting women’s sport and “accessibility”, as stated in its core principles. After all, the television rights deals are a vital cog in the FIFA cartel’s financial stratosphere.

Australia has a better chance of producing more Sam Kerrs if the world game is free for all. Credit: Reuters

To see any broadcast arrangement as a chance for every person to consume the beautiful game is evidently romantic. While the broadcast ownership rights rest solely with FIFA, I did dare to wonder whether Football Australia executives broached the subject with their government counterparts given their devout Legacy ’23 strategy to “harness the growth of women’s football and deliver enduring benefits for Australia’s largest community sport beyond 2023, including becoming the first community sport to reach gender parity in participation”.

“We did hold discussions with the communications minister’s office a few years [ago], who inquired about how the media rights would be structured, and they appeared comfortable after we explained how FIFA was approaching it,” a Football Australia media spokesperson said.

The next time you think to criticise Optus or Channel 7 for the lack of accessibility, think again about where your anger should be directed. You will have given more thought to this issue than the custodians of both the game and the country.

I have always been a firm believer in the old adage: if you can’t see it, you can’t dream it. Right now, the only little girls seeing this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity in its entirety are the ones with an Optus subscription or a match day ticket.

Lucy Zelic is a television sports presenter and journalist.

The Opinion newsletter is a weekly wrap of views that will challenge, champion and inform your own. Sign up here.

Most Viewed in Sport

From our partners

Source: Read Full Article