Quite a lot of debate rages about this because some see Sky as having a monopoly and others see sports as being a unneeded and costly addition to free TV.
My opinion is that we should have sports on TV.
And while nostalgia still really has no part in supporting this argument, I believe along with it, there are some other reasons of why we should put sports back on free to air TV
So firstly. Money. I have seen a lot of political nerds on places like Facebook ranting about how it is unaffordable for free to air TV to broadcast sports, and while this is true to a certain extent, this argument does not stand up to closer inspection. Because while yes, there would be an initial shortfall paying for the broadcasting rights for a competition like the NBA, the money would eventually be made back.
And here's how:
In New Zealand, a lot of people watch sports, so by broadcasting sports, you attract a lot of viewers. This means that advertising companies will be willing to spend a lot of money to have their ads broadcasted at the half time break of a sports match or around the match's TV slot. So therefore, most likely you will be able to make the money back.
Secondly, the monopoly that Sky TV has. Even though New Zealand claims to have some degree of governmental control over the economy, it seems to ignore the monopoly that Sky TV has. A monopoly in any case is not OK, and i believe with a little competition pay TV would be a lot cheaper. So therefore by broadcasting free to air sport, free to air TV would be able to break a little bit of the monopoly that Sky has, because many people only subscribe for sport and would then unsubscribe if this sport was free.
Also, the idea of nationalism. This sort of links back to the nostalgia I was talking about earlier, although I think this more incorporates the patriotism associated with sports. New Zelanders are very proud of their sports teams, because the play well. But because people have to pay to see them and many cannot afford to do so, this national identity is left disconnected. This can be harmful to society because it leads to a lack of unity, and while that may not seem so huge, a nations psyche is very important.
Finally, and quite a minor point, health. So currently, kids sit around all day watching TV like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and these TV shows don't tend to promote physical activity a lot. At least when kids are watching sports they feel motivated to compete and want to aspire to becoming an All Black. So by broadcasting sports on free to air TV, you motivate kids to play sports, and hey, you might even get a decent athlete for the country out of it.
So therefore, yes, I see a definite need for sport on free to air TV, even though I am right wing and I don't like the government funding everything. But, that's just my opinion, drop a comment, and tell me what you think.
Oh, and one last thing, the Warriors, our rugby league team in the NRL were pretty much created out of public interest driven by the broadcasting of the then ARL on free to air TV.
Thanks for reading. I think I'm going to start writing an article every day if I can. And don't worry, I will be writing a politics related article soon, I just feel like writing about sports at the moment :)
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