The Minister for Communications and the Arts has declared that a $30 million program to promote women’s sport on pay television has exceeded expectations.
The Minister, Senator Mitch Fifield, said the increased broadcast coverage of women’s sporting exploits had given Australia’s female sports stars greater opportunities.
“In 2017-18, the total coverage for women’s sport, as well as niche and emerging sports, represented a 39 per cent increase in broadcast hours when compared to the 2016-17 financial year,” Senator Fifield said.
“As part of the 2017-18 Budget, the Government provided $30 million to Fox Sports over four years to broadcast under-represented sports.”
He said a report on the project found that Fox Sports broadcast more than 4,800 hours of content on women’s, niche and emerging sports, including about 1,600 live hours in 2017-18.
“This exceeded expectations and shows the funding is making a real difference. It is an outstanding result for women’s and niche sports,” Senator Fifield said.
“In addition to the funding, Fox Sports works closely with a range of sports bodies and rights holders to help them develop and become more commercially viable.”
He said an example was the Women’s National Basketball League partnership with Fox Sports that led to the signing of a major naming rights partner.
“In 2018-19, Fox Sports will provide enhanced coverage of sports including all W-League soccer games, the inaugural Hockey Pro league, the ICC Women’s World 20-20 cricket and Women’s World Cup basketball,” the Minister said.
