James Warburton, chief executive of Australian motor racing series V8 Supercars, has added to the calls for the country’s government to reform anti-siphoning regulations, warning that retaining the current system is likely to restrict the development of the sports broadcasting market.
Australia’s anti-siphoning rules, which prevent pay-television broadcasters from bidding for media rights to events before free-to-air networks can make offers, are a source of continual debate in the country.
Warburton (pictured) has experience of balancing out the benefits and drawbacks of drawing up a rights model that encompasses free-to-air and pay-television. In December 2013, V8 Supercars agreed a record domestic rights deal with commercial broadcaster Ten, pay-television operator Foxtel and pay-television broadcaster Fox Sports.
The agreements run for six years, from 2015 to 2020, and are worth a total of A$241m (€162.3m/$181.9m). Warburton told The Australian newspaper that while it was right that some big events like V8 Supercars’ Bathurst 1000 race are listed, he said the regulation severely limited the freedom of sports bodies to achieve the optimal possible price for their intellectual property, and main source of income.
“In the best interests of the sport, the sport should decide what will be on paid television and what elements are going to be on free-to-air to actually get the balance right between having a home and the best outcome for the fans and overall exposure,” Warburton said. “If you consider Supercars when we were on (commercial broadcaster) Seven from 2007 through to 2014, we were all over the place in terms of all the multichannels and not treated particularly well to be frank.”