As the Australian Championship kicks off tonight, the Australian public will be able to watch the games on SBS and its streaming services. Returning these storied clubs and exciting new tournament to a familiar broadcaster.
Just last month the Australian Championship announced that SBS and their streaming service SBS on demand and SBS VICELAND would be the broadcasters for the inaugural season of the new second division.
It’s poetic that a league whose teams are born in the footballing roots of the NSL clubs should be shown on the free to air channel that for so many years brought football of all types to the living rooms of all Australians.
The big questions will be asked of course. What about the revenue? As we know viewership rights are what makes the serious profits in football.
One only needs to look as far as the English Premier League’s rise in status, coinciding with its TV rights deals to know that revenue boosting is primarily through these means.
Even nation states who use sport to boost their own soft power use this to great advantage.
But the new National Second Division must be observed in a different and more unique lens.
Yes, the major question floating around this competition is how this league will bridge the gap to the A-League.
A recent interview through the championship media page, showcasing players interviews of the league brought a sense of reality to this, players voiced their excitement at telling family members that they can watch them on TV.
To the drive, knowing they are being aired on such a prestigious channel, one is reminded that they are in truth semi-professional footballers, not used to the limelight of prime-time TV or viewership. That is what this is, placing this league up a level, giving these clubs, players and whole footballing ecosystem more publicity.
If giving publicity will reap viewership rewards and increase consumers, the ability for money and investment to come from this is huge.
Looking at the recent Australian Cup final, some of the biggest numbers in viewership ever with 873,000 viewers, a year on year increase of 40% was confirmed.
This final had an NPL and soon Championship team Heidelberg United no less, take centre stage.
The attraction from the public is there, it’s evident, to take down barriers to offer it to them is critical. That is why putting it on SBS is such a potent option and one that can exacerbate future rewards.
This new experience is fashioned from the great roots of Australia’s unique footballing past. These clubs built in the era of the NSL and migrant community clubs, is central to this tournament.
As many would probably say in a marketing sense, it actually makes perfect sense.
To have two nostalgic but present footballing institutions merged, it will give fans the full experience, a love for the old with the embracement of the new ideas.
This economic strategy is a long game, more in line with the realities of the modern Australian footballing landscape.
Playing it smart early on and not trying to get the most money out of it straight away is in many ways a great idea.
SBS was there when it gave us moments that shaped football forever and filtered it into this country, world cups, continental competitions, foreign leagues showcasing football’s best.
It was importantly there to deliver Australia’s own great sporting moments, 2006 World Cup qualification, our Asia Cup victory in 2015.
SBS is known to yield great moments in Australian Football, that power it holds can infuse the Australian Championship as well.
Football isn’t all about the money. The championship is only in its beginnings, the format has been adapted, it is a new experience for Australian football enthusiasts.
SBS is the place where we saw the birth of modern Australian football. It should be the place where this next chapter is played onto our screens, in our homes, in fan zones and for little to no cost.
