Why the new A-League Women's Channel 10 broadcast deal stinks

This sentence should have set off alarm bells for A-League Women's teams, players and fans.

It did for many, as they realised it would be the first time since the league's inception in 2008 that no games would be televised on free-to-air.

A 14-season tradition out the window after Channel 10 renegotiated its broadcast arrangement for the upcoming 2022-23 season.

Instead, all games will be streamed on 10 Play; in a home World Cup year, it beggars belief.

Australian Professional Leagues' chief executive Danny Townsend said they were committed to growing football in Australia.

"With nine months to go until the FIFA 2023 Women's World Cup, we are maximising the opportunity to access the game at every level," he said.

But it seems we have different understandings of growth and maximisation.

Removing the ALW from free-to-air prevents casual viewers discovering it, and forces people to seek it out.

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I also put the question to my housemates to make sure I wasn't yelling into a vacuum: "If all games from a sport were removed from free-to-air TV and only available to watch via free streaming platforms, what effect do you think that would have?"

All of them, without hesitation, said in as many words they believed it would reduce viewership, because it lost casual viewers, forced people to seek it out and would likely reduce older generations from watching.

Townsend insisted the new deal would mean "every girl in Australia can turn on their device and have sporting role models at their fingertips".

And 10 pointed to its 66 per cent female user stats for its online streaming platform as offering "increased" access to support the growth of the women's game in the lead up to the World Cup.

Those statistics are fine, but like every season before, a combination of free-to-air and other viewer options makes sense from all angles.

My Baby Boomer, yet relatively tech-savvy, parents purchased a Paramount+ account to watch the ALW last season, and still called me most weekends due to issues.

I expect those same phone calls to take place with 10 Play, as they only go through the hassle of it all, because they love watching.

But what about those who do not love it as much?

The icing on the cake though, is two A-League Men's games will be shown on 10 Bold each weekend.

In January it registered its lowest men's viewership with 58,000 tuning in for a game, and last season experienced a gradual decline in viewership after the season opener in November 2021 with a national audience of 146,000.

And a Roy Morgan report in July 2020 does not make the case any better for the ALM viewership.

It showed the ALW's television viewership had increased by 43 per cent on the year prior, and was growing as the ALM experienced a 15 per cent decline on viewers.

The network had a major opportunity to promote the women's game and grow its audience ahead of the World Cup, but instead has prioritised the men's game and relegated the ALW to its streaming platform.

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