Aussie football codes want rules relaxed

Three major Australian football codes have called for the country's government to relax rules preventing them from selling broadcast rights to pay television operators.

The AFL, NRL and FFA have all said that "anti-siphoning" rules intended to keep major sporting fixtures available on free-to-air television should be cut back. The rules effectively mandate that free-to-air broadcasters be given first refusal on major sporting events, although in the case of the AFL, broadcasters are able to resell some fixtures to pay TV broadcasters.

"We are all agreed that the body that controls the code should have control over our television rights and the ability to deal directly with pay television when it comes to deciding what, where and when our games will be broadcast," said AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou.

Free TV Australia, a coalition of Australia's free-to-air TV companies, quickly issued a statement criticising the football codes.

"This is a gang tackle on Australian viewers by some major sporting bodies who want to have their cake and eat it too," said Free TV Australia CEO Julie Flynn. "They say they want to have key games on free to air television, but also be able to deal directly with pay."

"International experience proves you can’t have it both ways. The English Cricket Board said the same thing to the UK Government to convince it to take cricket off the UK list. Now the only way to get cricket in the UK is on BSkyB."

The Australian government is not thought to be considering any changes to the anti-siphoning rules in the near future.