Submission to the Senate Select Committee into the Abbott Government ’s Budget Cuts by the Australian Womensport Recreation Association Inc.
Submitted 23 February 2015
The Australian Womensport Recreation Association (AWRA) welcom es the opportunity to make a subm ission to the Select Committee I nquiry into the effect of the Abbott Government’s Budget Cuts.
1. Introduction:
This submission focuses on cuts to the Australian Broadcasting Commission (ABC) in relation to television coverage of women’s spo rt (i.e. the Women’s National Bas ketball League (WNBL) and the W -League (the national team competition for women’s football).
It summarises AWRA’s concerns and reiterates many of the views expressed in the media by both male and female elite athletes, coach es and administrators and women in sport advocates on the negative impact the Budget Cuts will have on the long term development of Australian sport, especially in relation to equal opportunity for women and girls.
2. Background on AWRA
The Australian Womensport and Recreation Association (AWRA) is the peak national not-for-profit organisation committed to equal opportunity for women and girls in sport and physical activity.
AWRA does this through: ● Influencing decision makers to support initiatives, programs and policies that level the playing field for women and girls ● Sharing best practice and research to engage women and girls in sport and physical activity ● Inspiring a nation of active women and girls by celebrating and supporting role models and leaders.
AWRA works primarily with national sporting organisations (NSO’s) to ensure gender equality issues are mainstreamed and integrated in all aspects of the sport deli very system.
3. Response to Terms of Reference - Reduction in Services provided by the Commonwealth
This submission seeks to address the terms of reference in relation to point ‘a’ of the Terms of Reference: ‘reductions in access to services provided by the Commonwealth’.
Specifically, this submission addresses the cuts to the television coverage of women’s elite sport by the ABC and the likely impacts to women in sport and the Australian community.
Commonwealth funding reductions to the ABC budget have resulted in ABC management announcing the recent ending of television coverage of the Women’s National Basketball League (WNBL) and the W-League (the national women’s football competition). The decision ends the 35 year relationship of the ABC with the WNBL (the longest in Australian sport). For the W-League, it is the first time since the W-League’s inception in 2008 it will not have its games telecast.
3.1 Women’s Sport receives less Media Coverage (and Sponsorship) than Men’s Sport and Horse Racing!
In responding to the impact of the cuts to television coverage of elite women’s sport, it is necessary to take a step back and provide the context in which this decision was made.
Two recent Federally funded reports highlight the disparity in media coverage of women’s sport, all published well in advance of the ABC cuts being announced in late 2014.
A major Federal Government report funded by the Australian Sports Commission (ASC) on media coverage of women in sport between January 2008–July 2009 found that:
• television news coverage of women in sport in Australia was 8.7% of all sports coverage compared to 81.1% for men • just 7% of non-news programming television content featured women versus 86.6% featuring men i.
Television news reports about female sports on average were 30 seconds shorter than reports on male sports ii .
The report confirmed that
“despite the ongoing successes and strong participation levels of women in sport...female sport and male sport receive starkly disproportionate amounts of coverage iii ”.
A 2011 article by the same authors of this report concluded that
1
“during the sample period at least, horseracing received more airtime on Australian television news than women’s sport iv .”
The relatively low volume of reporting and somewhat lower duration of air time given to female sport tacitly gives the message that male sport holds greater significance and is of more value than female sport.
A more recent 2014 Australian Sports Commission commissioned report v highlights an even more appalling reality with a decline in media coverage from the already low 2008-2009 figures and a further decline in some media categories during the July 2013 to February 2014 monitoring period as follows:
• television news sport coverage (volume of stories) dropped from 8% in July 2013 to 5% in February 2014 • online news sport coverage (volume of stories) dropped from 6% in July 2013 to 3% in February 2014 • dedicated television sport coverage (hours of coverage) was a steady 7% through the period and • dedicated print and electronic media coverage was 7% in July 2013 and February 2014 but dropped to 5% in November 2013.
This low level of television coverage is echoed globally with women in sport receiving just over 10% of sports coverage in the United Kingdom (mainly due to coverage of women’s tennis)vi .
Research confirms that media coverage is the most important variable affecting the value of sports properties vii and similarly, the 2011 article viii concluded:
“The low visibility of many female sports (the exception of tennis) in Australian television news leads to low levels of awareness among the viewing public of female athletes, teams and their successes, and in turn this leads to low sponsorship interest and so the cycle continues.”
Due to inequitable media coverage, there is a reasonable expectation that the level of sponsorship of women’s sport is also disproportionately lower than men’s sport.
Not surprisingly, a UK sponsorship study confirms that women’s sport only accounts for a pitiful 0.4% of the commercial investment going into all sports in the UK ix .
A recent report estimates that women’s sport attracts only 7% of the Australian sponsorship market x. Using this figure to extrapolate the likely value of commercial investment in Australian women’s sport based on the latest publicly available value of the overall the Australian sports sponsorship market (Aus$774 million xi ), an estimated figure of Aus$54.18 million is invested in women’s sport.
This is in stark contrast with the amounts brought in by professional men’s sports across both Australia and New Zealand which are able to negotiate significant free- to-air (f-t-a) television rights packages (in rank order): Aussie Rules US$135 million, rugby union US$105 million, rugby league (US$90 million) and motorsport (US$77 million) xii . Soccer, cricket and tennis follow.
2
Women’s sport, including the two women’s national basketball and football leagues continues to need the support of the ABC to have a chance of attracting and retaining a modest level of investment in order to build a profile over time that can attract greater commercial investment.
Using netball as an example, long term TV coverage by the ABC from 1975 to 2006 helped build a sponsorship and fan base and lay the foundations for Netball Australia in 2014 to negotiate with three commercial free-to-air networks, as well as subscriber viewing via Fox Sports Australia and SBS (Appendix A). 3.2 The ABC’s Long Standing Support of Women in Sport and the Benefits of that Support
Notwithstanding the imbalance in coverage of women in sport, the ABC historically has been recognised as a strong supporter of women in sport many times over. This is exemplified by President of Women’s Lacrosse Australia, Shelley Maher’s comments:
“The ABC has probably given the greatest ongoing support for women’s sport xiii ”.
In the five years to 2006, the ABC in a Submission to a Senate Inquiry (Appendix A) noted a steady increase in coverage of women’s sport from 2001-2002 to 2005- 2006.
This support has continued since that time with an analysis of coverage during January 2008–July 2009 confirming that both ABC1 Sydney and Melbourne television stations provided the highest level of coverage both with 11% of total reporting of women’s sport, above the average of 9% whilst commercial channels (i.e. Channel Nine Sydney and Channel Ten Melbourne) were at the lower end of the spectrum, with 6% of coverage each xiv .
Similarly, more recent research in 2014 mirrors this finding with the ABC having the second highest level of reporting at 8.8% behind SBS with 9.1% in respect to television news sport stories xv .
Over a 12 month monitoring period (1st April 2012 –31st March 2013) of 22 major sports, the ABC had the highest proportion of female sports content of all television sports broadcasting (20%) xvi . It was well ahead of rivals Channel 7 and Channel 10, both with 12% and other major Pay TV and free-to-air (fta) channels xvii .
In providing more media coverage of women in Australian sport than other free-to-air broadcasters, women in sport and the Australian community have benefitted from the ABC television coverage through:
a. the enhanced financial viability and sustainability of both the W-League and the WNBL which in turn has led to Australia fielding internationally competitive women’s teams.
3
Australian basketball and football sporting organisations have both produced high quality women’s national teams as a result of having some of the best women’s leagues in the world.
This has come about because ABC television coverage has helped Basketball Australia and the Football Federation of Australia and the league teams attract more commercial investment than would have been possible without f-t-a television coverage. This sponsorship in turn has supported the employment of coaching and admin staff, payments to some players and other costs like travel.
The results of our female basketball and football teams speak for themselves.
The world body for basketball – F.I.B.A. ranks the Opals as second in the world. The Opals have won a silver or bronze medal at the last five Olympics and won one World Championship in 2008. They were third in 2014 in Turkey at the recent World Championships, after only losing one game, to the winners, USA.
The Women’s Football team (the Matildas) is ranked tenth in the world (by the international body F.I.F.A.) and has a much greater chance of winning the World Cup than the Socceroosxviii . The Matildas managed to win an Asian Cup in 2010 some five years ahead of the men’s team.
Compared to the national male teams of both sports, female teams are well ahead: • the Australian Men’s Basketball (Boomers) team is ranked 11th (vs second for the women) and has never won any Olympic or World Championship medals and • the Australian Men’s Football (Socceroos) team is ranked 100 th (vs tenth for the women). b. the engagement with a strong and growing fan base
In late 2014, 100,000 viewers tuned in to watch Perth Glory take on Melbourne Victory in a top-of-the-table W-League clash xix , a figure higher than many games in the men’s A League.
The FFA head of women’s football Emma Highwood was quoted as saying:
“Last season for our two semi-finals we got 250,000 viewers which was more than the A League got that weekend so it’s a proven product. xx ’’
Nearly 5,000 people signed a petition (Appendix C) led by a former WNBL player to bring back coverage of the WNBL within a matter of weeks after the decision was announced.
This support by viewing audiences and the general public in signing a petition is in stark contrast to the rationale put forward by Mr. Mark Scott in defending the cuts to sport coverage saying the ABC was:
“facing declining audience interest in local sport competitions and some codes chasing commercial opportunities xxi ”.
4
Mr. Justin Holdforth – ABC TV Head of Sports and Events expressed a similar opinion earlier in 2014:
“if there is no audience interest in these things then you go well why aren’t we investing our finite resources into something actually that people are interested in xxii .”
What both these gentlemen fail to acknowledge is at some time in the history of all sports, work was done to grow audiences and participation numbers of those sports historically played by men, like cricket, Australian rules, football (soccer) and rugby league with extensive support by ABC radio and TV coverage.
Women’s sport just has not had that same access to resources to do what has taken men’s sport many, many decades to achieve partly as a result of strong support by the ABC. c. showcasing roles models which leads to increased participation in sport
One international study confirms that the past success of the German national football led to a slight increase in demand for participation opportunities or both women and men xxiii .
An Australian study confirmed “Australian females do not choose as many athletes as role models as do males (and)...activities that are high profile in the media produce most of the role models xxiv .”
‘Girls can’t be who they can’t see’ so without free-to-air television coverage, there are fewer opportunities for girls to see elite female athletes in action.
These arguments and more are outlined in detail in a media article about the WNBL petition xxv . 3.3 The ABC’s Decision to Cut Women’s Television Coverage
The ABC decision to cut television coverage of women’s sport is at odds with priorities for women in sport from the key Australian Government sport agency (the ASC), the ABC’s Charter and the ABC’s own publicly stated position in 2006; and not consistent with priorities of comparable overseas public broadcasting agencies.
The Chair of the Australian Sports Commission, John Wylie has been reported saying:
“We think Australian companies and broadcasters should jump on the opportunity and get behind women's sport because it's a rising force.
“It's incredibly successful and it will be very significant contributor to our goals at the sports commission and the AIS [Australian Institute of Sport]. xxvi ”
5
Simon Hollingsworth, the CEO of the ASC expressed his organisation’s disappointment with the cuts and acknowledged that the achievements of female athletes:
"need to be more appropriately recognised by the media. The Australian Sports Commission believes women's sport deserves increased media coverage, it is therefore disappointing to hear the ABC has chosen to cut the coverage of both the WNBL and W-League xxvii .”
The reason for the ABC’s historical support for covering women in sport to the extent that it has is as a direct result of its Charter obligations requiring it to reflect the cultural diversity of the Australian community and contribute to a sense of national identity, an obligation that commercial and pay TV stations do not have.
The ABC submission to a 2006 Senate Inquiry into “Women in Sport and Recreation in Australia” (Appendix A) clearly acknowledges this:
“The broadcast of women’s sport is an important role for the national public broadcaster in meeting its Charter requirements.”
and the ABC’s commitment to broadcast sporting codes, events and activities that:
“.....have substantial levels of community participation but are not broadcast by other media organisations. The latter include national and international lawn bowls, national and international netball and women’s basketball and hockey.
In addition, ABC TV maintains a commitment to the development of women’s sport, in particular netball, hockey and basketball.
As part of this commitment, ABC Television continues to develop longer term relationships with sports organisations in order to provide increased certainty and understanding of the ABC’s role and commitment to building audiences and extend the recognition and strength of both the ABC and women’s sport.”
AWRA believes the statements made in 2006 by the ABC about its Charter obligations are just as relevant in 2015 and highlights the decision to axe television coverage of women’s sport being at odds with the ABC’s Charter in AWRA’s recent media release (refer Appendix B).
The ABC’s recent decision to invest a reported $1.4 million in a head to head bid against SBS, another government funded broadcaster for the recent men’s Asian Cup (Football) was questioned by the Minister for Communications, Mr. Malcolm Turnbull and brought into doubt its ability to comply with its Charter.
Not surprisingly, the SBS chief executive Mr. Michael Ebeid was quoted as saying:
“I’m flabbergasted the ABC would waste $1.5m of taxpayer money on a sport we could have covered with commercial revenues and had been doing for 34 years xxviii ”.
6
AWRA questions whether the decision to bid for the Asian Cup drained the ABC’s television sports budget and left it unable to equitably meet its Charter obligations to cover women’s sport.
Meanwhile in the UK, the BBC has made women in sport a higher priority following on from their coverage of the 2012 Olympics and has created the post of Editorial Lead for Women’s Sport xxix . 3.4 The Future Impact of the ABC’s Decision to Cut Women’s Television Coverage
Basketball Australia (BA), Football Federation Australia (FFA) and the Australian Sports Commission (ASC) have all commented on the detrimental effect these cuts will have on these sports, women in sport and the sports community in general and the lack of sporting role models for girls and women.
Men’s basketball and football programs receive greater commercial investment and media coverage, enabling all players in the National Basketball League and A- League roster to earn a sustainable income.
Without support from the ABC and a commitment to comply with its Charter obligations, the return to sponsors of women’s basketball and football will be reduced. Commercial investment could dry up or be reduced due to lack of free-to- air coverage.
Long time women in sport advocate and CEO of Capital Football which operates the Canberra United W-League team, Heather Reid, AM has stated:
"Sponsors want to see their brand on TV and if we don't have that TV coverage then it's almost back to the drawing board. xxx "
A major concern is the need to sustain a high level domestic competition of 100-120 women playing in viable national leagues from which Australia can select its national teams.
In both the WNBL and W-League, a high proportion of athletes are older high school students and tertiary students, often studying part-time, to allow for training sessions and competition. With no free-to-air television coverage of women’s basketball and football, AWRA is concerned that there will be less income to pay players.
With the added possibility of changes to reduced government funding/increased university fees for students and young people, young female players will need to make decisions around supporting their living arrangements, including the need to enter the work force earlier to generate an income.
For sports such as basketball and football, the result could well see a decline in the quality of competition as aspiring athletes are forced to seek international scholarships (particularly to USA universities) and more work to support themselves or drop-out from high level competition in Australia.
7
Better media reporting of women’s sport increases the earning power of female athletes, thus increasing their commercial opportunities to secure a living more comparable to their male counterparts. Just two of the top 50 Australian sports earners in 2013 were women xxxi with tennis player Samantha Stosur the highest ranked woman at 29 th. In 2014, there was a similar result with two women in the top 50 with surfer Stephanie Gilmour highest ranked at 39 thxxxii .
A quick comparison of the earning power in one sport: cricket shows 11 male cricketers on the 2014 BRW Top 50 list with Shane Watson earning $4.5m as Australia’s highest-paid cricketer and Michael Hussey earning $1.4m as the lowest Top 50 ranked cricketer xxxiii . One journalist has described our male cricketers as being on ‘millionaires’ row’ while the best of our female players
“are grateful to be able to quit their jobs and play full-time now they are being guaranteed a primary school teacher's salary xxxiv ”
Balancing gender representation in the sports media will strengthen the health of the Australian population through greater participation in sport thereby reducing obesity costs and increasing the earning power of female athletes. With the total cost of caring for the nation's overweight and obese people at more than $56 billion a year in 2010 xxxv , a small investment in television coverage of women’s sport will help lead to more active participation in sport, leading to a stronger, healthier Australia.
The more we see women’s sport in the media, the more female role models young girls see and are likely to emulate. Research confirms that Australian females do not choose as many athletes as role models as do males xxxvi (presumably because of the disparate opportunities available for girls to see female roles in the media).
A modest increase in resources partly from a ASC’s ‘Women in Sport Media Grant’ to help promote the Southern Stars Australian female cricket team has seen a 967% increase in the media coverage since the start of the 2010-11 season xxxvii proving that the media will support successful Australian sportswomen if the right content can be generated.
8
4. Conclusion and Recommendations:
The above background demonstrates the entrenched tradition of media reporting and sponsorship of male sport, making it difficult for women’s sport to get anywhere near equal or even fair representation in the traditional areas of free-to-air television, radio and newspapers.
AWRA believes that the cuts by the ABC to women’s sport clearly breach its obligations under its Charter, are in conflict with the Australian Sports Commission’s commitment to women’s sport and do not reflect public opinion.
Women’s sport needs the ABC today just as much in it did 2006 when the ABC acknowledged the broadcast of women’s sport was an important role for it in meeting its Charter requirements.
The statistics confirm that equitable free-to-air coverage of women’s sport is still a long way off and without support from a government funded broadcaster, f-t-a coverage of women’s sport is likely to decline even further.
AWRA recommends that:
a. The ABC Board be asked to consider developing a policy that provides for a mandatory minimum number of hours of television coverage of women’s sport on both free-to-air and digital stations.
b. The ABC Board be asked to reconsider its internal priorities with a view to re-instating prior (2014-2015) levels of funding to allow for the continuation of televised coverage of the WNBL and the W-league by the ABC, subject to agreement from Basketball Australia (BA) and Football Federation Australia (FFA).
c. In the event the ABC Board can re-instate funding and that either Basketball Australia (BA) and/or Football Federation Australia (FFA) does/do not wish to have the 2014-2015 level of coverage resumed, that the equivalent level of funding be re-directed by the ABC towards televising other national women’s sport competitions or events on either free-to-air and digital stations.
d. The ABC be asked to report in its Annual Report on its hours of free-to- air and digital television coverage of national women’s sports competitions/events, women playing in national mixed sport competitions/events and national men’s sports competitions/events.
e. The Government provide an additional budget allocation to the Australian Sports Commission to fund the re-instatement of its Women in Sport Media Grants.
f. The Government continue to fund the Australian Sports Commission for a regular survey of media coverage, replicating previous ASC media monitoring surveys and analyses.
9
g. The Government provide an additional budget allocation to fund the provision of digital media training and support for national sports organisations and elite female athletes so they can self-promote and female athletes become strong public figures.
h. The Government continue to fund the Australian Sports Commission to fund non-traditional broadcasting avenues (including digital and self- broadcasting) to promote women’s sport. i. The Government provide an additional budget allocation to the Australian Sports Commission to fund a number of pilot athlete profiling style TV episodes centred on their individual stories to be broadcast on a free-to-air network, to be accompanied by intensive social media and online campaigns.
Submission authored by AWRA Executive Officer, Leanne Evans and Board Directors: Janice Crosswhite OAM and Shona McKee.
For more information on women in Australian sport the AWRA website: www. http://www.australianwomensport.com.au or contact Executive Officer Leanne Evans by email on eo (at) awra.com.au
10
Appendix A: Australian Broadcasting Corporation Submission to the 2006 Senate Inquiry into “Women in Sport and Recreation in Australia” http://about.abc.net.au/wp- content/uploads/2012/06/ABCSubmissionWomenSportJul20061.pdf
The data included in this submission presents an historical snapshot of what has been achieved for mainstream women’s sports such as netball, through the concerted support received by the ABC. The submission also highlights the ABC’s own analysis of the steady increase in coverage of women’s sport from 2001-2002 to 2005-2006.
As a result of ABC television coverage of netball from 1975 to 2006 when the submission was written and subsequently up to 2009 when Netball Australia moved to a commercial free-to-air television deal, that sport was in a position in 2014 to negotiate with three commercial free-to-air networks, as well as subscriber viewing via Fox Sports Australia and SBS xxxviii .
11
Appendix B: AWRA media release on the ABC cuts
Comments are made in regard to the ABC ignoring its Charter. AWRA notes that ABC radio will cover hundreds of hours of live male cricket (all three formats) yet there will not be one telecast of women’s sport. Where is the fairness and cultural diversity in this?
Australian Womensport & Recreation Association News – 28 November 2014
MEDIA RELEASE: AWRA calls for a response on ABC cost cutting The Australian Womensport and Recreation Association (AWRA) would like to express its extreme disappointment with ABC management for its decision to cease broadcasting of the W-League and the Women’s National Basketball League (WNBL).
In recent years, the ABC confirmed its continuing support for women’s sport, with the ABC's own Grandstand recognising the WNBL as “one of the premier domestic women's basketball leagues in the world” in its preview of the 2013/2014 season.
Janice Crosswhite OAM, AWRA’s founding President and current Secretary said “it is a real retrograde step for women's sport”, recognising the 35 year relationship the ABC has had with the WNBL.
Ms Crosswhite called on the ABC to provide an explanation to the public, the supporters and fans, “We would love to know what prompted the ABC to ignore its Charter and decide that women’s sport does not reflect the cultural diversity of the Australian community nor contribute to a sense of national identity. And why take funding off all women’s sport early next year when the ABC is to achieve a 5% budget cut over five years?”
“It is clear that as one of the first targets in reducing costs, the ABC could not have moved further away from its Charter.”
“We are not sure the ABC’s ‘declining audience interest’ rationale for the cuts is true in the case of women’s sport with viewership of a recent W-league game drawing 100,000 viewers.”
With world renowned Australian athletes and AWRA ‘s Ambassador Lauren Jackson, coaches and administrators in disbelief, concerns have been raised about the ability of our national women's leagues to continue to attract sponsorships.
It is very likely with almost zero free-to-air women’s sport on Australian TV in 2015, our next generation of female athletes and communities will be without exposure to healthy, strong women playing competitive sport. Ends
12
Appendix C: Comments from the General Public from the “Keep the Australian Womens Basketball League on the ABC” Petition (https://www.communityrun.org/petitions/keep-australian-womens-basketball-league- on-the-abc)
Of the 5,404 people who signed this petition ( as of 23 February, 2015) in support of coverage of women’s basketball, the following represent a sample of comments:
Michael S. writes “It is important for the good of Australian Basketball, the women's game in particular and also for the good of sport in general to have a decent amount of female sport publicly covered on free-to-air TV to counter the massive over representation of male sports.”
Geoff F. “If the ABC ceases to broadcast this sport I doubt if any of the other channels will broadcast it either. I see one of the roles of the ABC as being to "fill the gaps" when commercial interests do not see any value in live broadcasting elite levels of social/sporting or cultural events that so many participating taxpayers and their kin are involved in.”
Paul M. “Australian Women's basketball is second only to the US in terms of standard - an amazing achievement for a nation of 23 million. It is an important part of the Australian Sporting landscape. Opals have gone Silver, Silver, Bronze in the last three Olympics and Gold, Bronze in the last two World Champs. How can the league that has acted as a greenhouse for Opals for decades NOT be on free-to-air TV?”
References i University of New South Wales Journalism, Media Research Centre and Media Monitors joint research for the Australian Sports Commission: “Towards a Level Playing Field: sport and gender in Australian media” January 2008–July 2009 Last updated January 2014, https://secure.ausport.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0010/595567/Towards_a_level_playing_field_- _Updated_Version.pdf (Accessed 3 Feb 2015 via membership of the National Clearinghouse for Sport) ii Ibid. iii Ibid. iv Caple, H., Greenwood, K. and Lumby, C., “What League?: The Representation of Female Athletes in Australian Television Sports Coverage”, Media International Australia, Incorporating Culture & Policy, Aug 2011, Issue 140, p.137-146. v Repucum, Research for the Australian Sports Commission, “Women in Sport Broadcasting Analysis Final Report” , April 2014, https://secure.ausport.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0007/615913/Women_in_Sport_Broadcasting_Analysis _April_2012_-_March_2014.PDF (Accessed 3 Feb 2015 via membership of the National Clearinghouse for Sport) vi (UK) Women’s Sport and Fitness Foundation, “Women’s Sport: Say Yes to Success”, March 2014, http://www.womeninsport.org/system/1/assets/files/000/000/064/64/a9b842750/original/Say_Yes_To_Succ ess_FINAL.pdf?1414589558
13
vii Wishart, T., Seung P.L.and Cornwell, T.B., “Exploring the Relationship Between Sponsorship Characteristics and Sponsorship Asking Price”, Journal of Sport Management Jul2012, Vol. 26 Issue 4, p335. viii Op Cit., Caple, H., Greenwood, K. and Lumby, C. ix Op Cit., (UK) Women’s Sport and Fitness Foundation. x Mamiamia, “Why do sponsors undervalue female athletes?” 9 February, 2015, http://www.womensagenda.com.au/talking-about/top-stories/why-do-sponsors-undervalue-female- athletes/201502085261#.VOE0Gy6vv39 xi Sponsorship Today, “Australia & New Zealand sponsorship data analysis report”, June 2013, http://www.imrpublications.com/newsdetails.aspx?nid=44 xii Ibid. xiii Op Cit., University of New South Wales Journalism, Media Research Centre and Media Monitors. xiv Ibid. xv Op Cit., Repucum xvi Ibid. xvii Ibid. xviii Mamamia, “Devastating: This week has been crippling for Australian women’s sport”, 29 Nov, 2014, http://www.mamamia.com.au/news/abc-to-cut-womens-sport/#62HBDu2Rol738d32.99 xix The Advertiser, “Women’s sport coverage a casualty of ABC-TV funding cuts”, 24 Nov, 2014, http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/sport/basketball/womens-sport-coverage-a-casualty-of-abc-tv-funding- cuts/story-fnii09gt-1227133319162 xx The Australian, “Crying foul as the screens go blank for women’s sport”, 26 November, 2014, http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/media/crying-foul-as-the-screens-go-blank-for-womens- sport/story-fna045gd-1227134868513 xxi ABC News, “ABC to axe coverage of W-League, VFL and other local sports as part of budget cuts”, 24 Nov 2014, http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-11-24/abc-to-axe-coverage-of-local-sports-as-part-of-budget- cuts/5914336 xxii Op Cit., Repucum xxiii Mutter, F. and Pawlowski, T., “Role models in sports – Can success in professional sports increase the demand for amateur sport participation?”, Sport Management Review, Aug. 2014, Vol. 17 Issue 3, p324. xxiv Ewens, W. and Lashuk, M., “Role model identification and activity preferences of Australian youth”, ACHPER National Journal Spring 1989: Issue 125. p. 18-20, http://web.a.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail/detail?sid=2e1e39b2-9a71-4892-94b6- 57b6d9321322%40sessionmgr4005&vid=0&hid=4212&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=s3h& AN=SPH250446 (Accessed 4 Feb 2015 via membership of the National Clearinghouse for Sport) xxv Mamamia, “Please. We need your help to keep women’s basketball on TV.”, 21 Feb, 2015, http://www.mamamia.com.au/news/basketball-petition/?http://www.mamamia.com.au/news/basketball- petition/? xxvi Sydney Morning Herald, “Australian Sports Commission boss urges big business to back high-achieving women”, October 15, 2013, http://www.smh.com.au/sport/australian-sports-commission-boss-urges-big- business-to-back-highachieving-women-20131015-2vkpl.html xxvii Canberra Times, “Shane Rattenbury blasts women's sport cuts”, 25 Nov 2014, http://www.canberratimes.com.au/sport/act-sport/shane-rattenbury-blasts-womens-sport-cuts-20141125- 11tefj.html xxviii The Australian, “SBS chief bags ABC for wasting $1.5m to win Asian Cup”, 17 Nov, 2014, http://www.theaustralian.com.au/media/sbs-chief-bags-abc-for-wasting-15m-to-win-asian-cup/story- e6frg996-1227125013801 xxix Op Cit., (UK) Women’s Sport and Fitness Foundation. xxx The Age, “ ABC to cut coverage of W-League soccer and WNBL basketball”, 24 November, 2014, http://www.theage.com.au/sport/act-sport/abc-to-cut-coverage-of-wleague-soccer-and-wnbl-basketball- 20141124-11spqv.html xxxi BRW, “Top 50 Sports Earners for 2013: in full”, 2 February 2014, http://www.brw.com.au/p/top_sports_earners_for_in_full_Aq8HOtMH9SjuptLdDxCLiJ xxxii Channel 9 News, “Sporting rich list reveals shock result for Australia's highest paid cricketer”, http://www.9news.com.au/national/2015/02/17/18/36/sporting-rich-list-reveals-shock-result-for-australias- highest-paid-
14
cricketer#h3GbgqRGlRMumVEp.99http://www.9news.com.au/national/2015/02/17/18/36/sporting-rich-list- reveals-shock-result-for-australias-highest-paid-cricketer xxxiii BRW, “Top 50 Sports Earners list for 2014: in full” 17 Feb, 2015, http://www.brw.com.au/p/business/brw_top_sports_earners_list_for_6VLF7mok4PMxzOxHAMb9KK xxxiv Sydney Morning Herald, “Why Australia's cricketers are on millionaires' row”, 21 Feb, 2015, http://www.smh.com.au/sport/cricket/why-australias-cricketers-are-on-millionaires-row-20150220- 13k4e7.html? xxxv The Age, “Obesity costing $56b a year: study”, February 28, 2010 http://news.theage.com.au/breaking-news-national/obesity-costing-56b-a-year-study-20100228-pats.html xxxvi Ewens, W. and Lashuk, M., “Role model identification and activity preferences of Australian youth”, ACHPER National Journal Spring 1989: Issue 125. p. 18-20 xxxvii Sydney Morning Herald, “Women’s sport and the quest for a level playing field’ 13 Sept, 2014, http://www.theaustralian.com.au/sport/womens-sport-and-the-quest-for-a-level-playing-field/story- e6frg7mf-1227057095314 xxxviii Australian Financial Review, “Netball Australia closes in on TV broadcasting deals”, 24 Feb 2014, http://www.afr.com/p/lifestyle/sport/netball_australia_closes_in_on_tv_kVJJvZeyCry4Ed6dLwMVbJ
15