tag:theconversation.com,2011:/fr/topics/andrew-demetriou-2439/articlesAndrew Demetriou – The Conversation2014-03-04T00:05:49Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/239212014-03-04T00:05:49Z2014-03-04T00:05:49ZDemetriou’s resignation leaves big boots to fill for the AFL<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/42912/original/k25dh2mp-1393822188.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">That's all, folks: Andrew Demetriou has announced he'll step down as AFL CEO at the end of the football season.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP/David Crosling</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Andrew Demetriou yesterday announced his retirement at the end of the 2014 season after 11 years at the helm of the AFL. The announcement was made at a set-piece press conference presided over by AFL Commission chairman Mike Fitzpatrick. It was made very clear that the timing is Demetriou’s and that the commission holds him in high esteem.</p>
<p>It is difficult to encapsulate Demetriou’s decade in a sound bite. He achieved a lot but has presided over some debacles. The sound bite would be that Demetriou has left the game with a fatter wallet but a diminished soul. </p>
<p>As a former player and former teacher, Demetriou brought a breadth and depth of social vision unmatched by his predecessors and unlikely to be found in his successors. He seized the potential for the league to advance important social causes such as fighting <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-05-01/demetriou-sends-wake-up-call-to-racist-fans/4662564">racism</a>, <a href="http://www.premier.vic.gov.au/media-centre/media-releases/3141-government-and-afl-tackle-violence-against-women.html">violence against women</a> and xenophobia. Progress on making a clear stand against homophobia has been slow, but <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/afl-spreads-word-on-homophobic-vilification-20140118-311rh.html">recent developments</a> show the AFL is getting serious about stamping it out.</p>
<p>But it is true that the AFL is a business and Demetriou is a businessman. During his reign, the AFL has gone from running a football competition to being a player in the media and entertainment industries. Television and multimedia rights – the most recent five-year broadcasting rights deal, negotiated in 2011, is <a href="http://www.news.com.au/finance/afl-announces-1bn-tv-rights-deal/story-e6frfm1i-1226046325694">worth A$1.25 billion</a> – has left the AFL awash with money. But apart from player payments, where is it to go? </p>
<p>There is apparently not quite enough for the AFL to get into the business of <a href="http://www.afl.com.au/news/2013-03-25/afls-boutique-push">building new stadia</a>. But under Demetriou, the AFL has created two new teams, the Gold Coast Suns and Greater Western Sydney Giants. In keeping with the wallet and the soul, the new teams are in the “great untapped markets” of southern Queensland and western Sydney.</p>
<p>Places that love football but can’t afford a team, such as Tasmania and the Northern Territory, are still waiting. It is also striking that the national capital still does not host a team.</p>
<p>In Demetriou’s defence, no teams have died on his watch. All clubs are still in their chosen homes, albeit with some playing “home” games in pretty exotic places. Emphasising entertainment over grassroots, games are played from Darwin to Hobart to Wellington.</p>
<p>It is one thing to put on a show, another to grow roots. The AFL has chased the dollar and neglected the soul even as it has sought new converts.</p>
<p>In keeping with its pursuit of money, the AFL under Demetriou has embraced gambling in a big way. Gambling advertising and opportunities have become pervasive and have tarnished football’s family friendliness.</p>
<p>This development has also brought the requirement of <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/afl-beefs-up-integrity-measures-and-adds-another-investigator-20140206-322sy.html">“integrity”</a>: that the game must be seen to be safe for gambling. While it is clearly preferable that the game gets a share of the money wagered on it, gambling must remain a parasite, not a predator.</p>
<p>The quest for integrity has targeted <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/afl-must-lay-tanking-to-rest-20120820-24inf.html">“tanking”</a>: deliberately losing to gain more favourable draft picks. But in a move typical of the AFL approach to possible wrongdoing under Demetriou, the AFL <a href="http://www.afl.com.au/news/2013-02-19/afl-full-statement-melbourne-tanking-penalties">imposed penalties</a> on the Melbourne Football Club without ever actually finding that tanking had occurred.</p>
<p>The AFL introduced its <a href="http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/crash-course-quick-guide-to-the-afl-illicit-drugs-policy/story-e6frf9jf-1226644494743">illicit drug policy</a> before it <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/news/afl/afl-wont-toe-the-line-on-drugs-deal-and-may-be-left-out-in-thecold/2005/06/28/1119724635248.html">signed up</a> to the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) code. The league clearly thought that being tough on illicit drugs was good for both player health and its image. That epitomises the Demetriou approach – good intentions, but always with an eye on the money and the league’s brand.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/43001/original/vn35bj8g-1393888358.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/43001/original/vn35bj8g-1393888358.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/43001/original/vn35bj8g-1393888358.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=879&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/43001/original/vn35bj8g-1393888358.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=879&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/43001/original/vn35bj8g-1393888358.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=879&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/43001/original/vn35bj8g-1393888358.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1104&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/43001/original/vn35bj8g-1393888358.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1104&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/43001/original/vn35bj8g-1393888358.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1104&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Questions remain as to the AFL’s handling of the Essendon supplements saga, which continues to drag on.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP/Joe Castro</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>The AFL <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/pm/content/2005/s1417859.htm">later</a> signed on to the WADA rules, to be implemented by the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority (ASADA). It did so voluntarily. The AFL did not need the government money that was conditional on signing, but was again conscious of its image.</p>
<p>The ongoing ASADA investigation of the Essendon supplements program bears the hallmarks of the Demetriou era: a rigid application of the rules, but jumping to lay charges of bringing the game into disrepute before ASADA itself had laid any charges, with the AFL Commission acting as judge and jury. </p>
<p>Then, before any hearing and to forestall court action, the AFL negotiated a settlement in which the Essendon Football Club accepted <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-08-27/essendon-bombers-out-of-2013-afl-finals/4915888">carefully crafted punishments</a> without an admission of guilt. </p>
<p>Senior coach James Hird was suspended for a year but with <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/pay-impasse-broken-james-hird-to-be-paid-early-20131213-2zcpv.html">full pay</a>. Assistant coach Mark Thompson received a fine, enabling him to step in as senior coach for the 2014 season. Essendon was declared to have missed the finals but was not disqualified from the whole 2013 season.</p>
<p>Leaks flowed freely throughout the whole process, giving the media a steady stream of material on which to speculate and conduct its own trials. Demetriou has wanted to keep the AFL on the front page as well as the back page all year round. With the Essendon saga, he certainly succeeded.</p>
<p>So, Demetriou leaves a mixed legacy. The game is in sound financial shape but still with difficult decisions to make about how the pie is to be divided. The game, with its soul diminished, is still loved by many, but increasingly ruled by commerce rather than passion.</p>
<p>Demetriou leaves big boots to fill. Questions remain as to whether his deputy and the favourite to replace him, Gillon McLachlan, is ready for the top job, despite Demetriou preparing him for the succession. Plenty of businessmen will be keen to take on the role, but Demetriou’s combination of ex-player credibility, business expertise and wider vision will be hard to match.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/23921/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Matt Harvey is a Carlton supporter and intends to renew his membership.</span></em></p>Andrew Demetriou yesterday announced his retirement at the end of the 2014 season after 11 years at the helm of the AFL. The announcement was made at a set-piece press conference presided over by AFL Commission…Matt Harvey, Lecturer in Law, Victoria UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/176802013-08-30T03:08:10Z2013-08-30T03:08:10ZMarketing sport: villains and heroes in AFL brand narratives<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/30278/original/r7qf5dqq-1377828457.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The Essendon supplements scandal that has enveloped the current AFL season has created the narrative of villains and heroes. Is it a sports marketers' dream?</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP/Julian Smith</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>This season, some sports commentators and footy fans have argued that the investigation into the <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-essendon-supplements-saga-what-you-dont-know-can-hurt-you-17324">supplements regime at Essendon</a> has brought the club, the AFL and “the code” to their knees.</p>
<p>From a branding perspective, however, no-one could have dreamt of a better story for both the AFL and Essendon to use for their brand narratives. Indeed, the tale of villain and hero played out around AFL boss Andrew Demetriou and Essendon coach James Hird is what leading European branding academic <a href="http://www.dcu.ie/news/2009/apr/s0409l.shtml">Stephen Brown</a> might call a “ripping yarn”.</p>
<p>Brand narratives based on heroes and villains are some of the most successful around. Consumers love to love brands with adversarial characters. They motivate them to consume and become loyal consumers. And they can motivate them not to consume, even become anti-consumers, of opposing brands. In marketing, there is no hero without a villain.</p>
<p>Australian rules football has never had a shortage of heroes and villains. Norm Smith, for example, had a turbulent relationship with Melbourne. At one stage, Smith was <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/coaching-pact-too-much-for-ron-barassi/story-e6frg6n6-1225755728575">the villain</a> accused of letting Barassi head to Carlton to secure his own place as coach for Melbourne. But with the passage of time and in recognition of his contributions to the code, Smith was valorised and had the prestigious medal for best afield in the Grand Final named in his honour. And so Melbourne’s villain became AFL’s hero, and enriched the brand.</p>
<p>Similarly, in 1989, Peter Gordon was Footscray’s hero. The villain - Ross Oakley, former CEO of the VFL/AFL – <a href="http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/the-20-year-miracle/story-e6frf9nx-1225769336965">wanted to merge the club</a> with Fitzroy as part of the league’s expansion strategy and whisk the club off to another state. But this villainous plan only ignited Gordon and Footscray’s fan base to rise up against the AFL. It was here when Footscray was rejuvenated as a brand, starting off with a name change (to the Western Bulldogs) and eventually retaining its home ground in Melbourne.</p>
<p>So how does the hero-villain narrative work for branding? Staying close to consumers and building relationships with them is integral to the branding process. It is only when consumers become emotionally attached to a brand that they can show it any form of loyalty. But with brands being inanimate objects, brand managers aim to humanise them to elicit emotions for the consumers. Positive emotions usually bring about loyalty in the form of repeat purchases and recommending behaviour.</p>
<p>The hero-villain narrative is a fairly easy one for consumers to digest when it comes to branding. It’s a narrative we’ve become accustomed to through mediums such as literature, politics, comics, cartoons and movies.</p>
<p>And so step in Hird and Demetriou for Essendon and the AFL respectively. Regardless of who we think is the hero or the villain, the opportunity arises for both Essendon and the AFL to humanise their brands through the all-too-familiar narrative. What’s so powerful about the opportunity is that this is a real story, or as Demetriou stated, a <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/afl/afl-news/no-one-above-our-great-game-20130827-2soo3.html">“sorry saga”</a>. It’s not fake, not fabricated and the characters are real.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/30281/original/vw48m58z-1377828738.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/30281/original/vw48m58z-1377828738.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=894&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/30281/original/vw48m58z-1377828738.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=894&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/30281/original/vw48m58z-1377828738.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=894&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/30281/original/vw48m58z-1377828738.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1123&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/30281/original/vw48m58z-1377828738.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1123&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/30281/original/vw48m58z-1377828738.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1123&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Essendon has painted suspended coach James Hird as the ‘hero’ in taking the fall for the club’s supplements regime.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP/Joe Castro</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>It’s fairly obvious, regardless of which side of the fence you are on, which way each brand strategy will head.</p>
<p>For the AFL, Demetriou will be the hero, standing up for the integrity of the code’s reputation. For Essendon, on the other hand, Demetriou will be the villain because of his doggedness in relation to Hird, their <a href="https://theconversation.com/understanding-the-cult-of-james-hird-17584">“golden son”</a>.</p>
<p>Both narratives are strong and will incite emotional responses in consumers. Fans will, however, find themselves in a dilemma because the AFL and Essendon are inextricably linked through co-branding. Truly buying into the Essendon brand narrative will mean some shying away from the AFL and vice versa.</p>
<p>So step in other AFL teams and other sporting codes. There is no doubt that some other AFL teams and other codes will use this ripping yarn in Australian rules football to their advantage. And for the other AFL teams, there is no time like now to recruit new members. The “ripping yarn” may not entice diehard supporters to defect, but for those in a dilemma or in their formative stages of fandom, defection to another club may be enticing. Other sporting codes might also take advantage of the hero-villain brand narrative to demonise the AFL and make their own code the hero. </p>
<p>Branding is one of the most complex and difficult parts of marketing. Some businesses get it right straight away, but for most, it’s a continual process of refinement. The smarter brand managers in the sports sector will use this real-life, hero-villain narrative to refine their brand narratives and develop loyalty in their existing fans and grow their fan base for their clubs.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/17680/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Anne Marie Hede does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>This season, some sports commentators and footy fans have argued that the investigation into the supplements regime at Essendon has brought the club, the AFL and “the code” to their knees. From a branding…Anne Marie Hede, College of Business Director (Research and Research Training), Victoria UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/56022012-02-28T19:08:41Z2012-02-28T19:08:41ZOptus should know there’s no such thing as a free lunch … or sporting telecast<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/8146/original/7hybvgyx-1330394297.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=55%2C72%2C2883%2C2007&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Optus may be offering a great service to customers, but is it right?</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP Image/Dave Hunt</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Telecommunications company Optus <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-02-28/optus-loses-court-row-with-afl-chief/3857426">lost its bid</a> to gag AFL boss, Andrew Demetriou from speaking out against its “TV Now” service, which allows customers to watch AFL or NRL broadcasts near live. Demetriou described it as “akin to stealing” as Optus is not paying for the content.</p>
<p>The dispute between Demetriou and Optus flared with a Federal Court judgement that said the telco was not in <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-02-10/afl-appeals-optus-copyright-ruling/3823430">breach of copyright laws</a> with its TV Now operation.</p>
<p>After the Federal Court ruling, Optus took out full page newspaper advertisements declaring they “didn’t think it was right, or indeed Australian” to be prevented from offering the TV Now application to its customers.</p>
<p>For now the Federal Court says the Optus service is legal; but is providing content for free morally “right” or “Australian”? Many would say it is as Australian as coming back from a holiday in Bali with a suitcase of cheap DVDs.</p>
<p>In fact, most Australians have now come to expect, even demand, that news, entertainment or computer software be free. But we seem to forget that no content is entirely free, that someone always pays.</p>
<h2>Great expectations</h2>
<p>These issues are nothing new, but many companies are struggling to find a way to deal with it. Major newspapers are now belatedly trying to convince their readership that online content has to be paid for. Since 1995, Foxtel has been selling subscriptions for television, a service many Australians (supported in part by legislation) feel they should get for free.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/8151/original/dpmfjpt8-1330399019.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/8151/original/dpmfjpt8-1330399019.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/8151/original/dpmfjpt8-1330399019.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/8151/original/dpmfjpt8-1330399019.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/8151/original/dpmfjpt8-1330399019.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/8151/original/dpmfjpt8-1330399019.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/8151/original/dpmfjpt8-1330399019.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Companies like Foxtel may find it hard to compete.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Flickr/frigginawesomeimontv</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>Former Foxtel CEO, Kim Williams, was <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/opinion/lachlan-in-the-wings-as-williams-subscribes-to-overhaul-at-news/story-e6frg9tf-1226263177233">promoted</a> to become chief executive officer at News Limited last November, not because he knows how to operate a printing press, but because he understands how to run a subscription-based media business. This is most recently demonstrated by the <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/media/herald-sun-launches-digital-subscriptions-next-month/story-e6frg996-1226279109075">latest changes</a> in access to the Herald Sun website.</p>
<h2>Big deals</h2>
<p>Unlike the model of compelling content attracting advertising, the key to a subscription business is the continuing engagement of its customers. The content that does that best is live (or near live) sport. As Rupert Murdoch is famously reported to have said, “if content is king, then sport is emperor.” </p>
<p>That is why the Federal Court ruling was so significant for Optus. By giving its customers access to sporting rights, particularly the major football codes, engagement and satisfaction go up, while churn - the number of customers who sign up and then leave – drops.</p>
<p>Foxtel is 50% owned by Telstra so it knows only too well what the rights to popular sports means for customer retention. That is why it paid $153m to the AFL for what it thought was the exclusive mobile and digital rights.</p>
<p>This is not just a stoush between two telephony heavyweights where Optus was clever enough to give Telstra a black eye. The AFL is shouting the loudest because it is the sporting organisation that has the most to lose. Telstra has hardly said a word. It can afford to honour its deal with the league and take on Optus at its own game. It’s a game society should not allow to happen.</p>
<h2>Nothing’s free</h2>
<p>During this year’s Australian Open tennis tournament, there were numerous reminders during the Channel 7 coverage, that Optus customers could watch the tennis on their mobile phone. Optus paid for that right. Telstra could, if they invent their own version of TV Now, offer its customers tennis coverage next year without paying a cent for the rights – if the Federal Court judgement stands. The AFL and NRL are fighting the judgement and have been given leave to appeal to the full bench of the Court.</p>
<p>Foxtel and the Nine Network spent millions of dollars buying the rights to this year’s London Olympic Games. They will spend several million more, sending teams of production staff to London.</p>
<p>What is to stop Channel 7, through its Seven West affiliate, Vivid Wireless, from offering its customers access to the Olympic Games? Apart from the cost of the infrastructure and customer service, it will cost Seven next to nothing. </p>
<h2>Flow on effects</h2>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/8142/original/ffw84c9m-1330390025.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=39%2C4%2C567%2C420&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/8142/original/ffw84c9m-1330390025.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/8142/original/ffw84c9m-1330390025.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/8142/original/ffw84c9m-1330390025.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/8142/original/ffw84c9m-1330390025.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/8142/original/ffw84c9m-1330390025.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/8142/original/ffw84c9m-1330390025.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Sports fans may see less community-based programs as an effect of the Federal Court ruling.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Flickr/thomasrdotorg</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>If the revenue sporting organisations, like the AFL, receive from exploiting media rights is slashed, there will be a reduction in the number of community-based programs those sports offer. The social capital of sport will be irrevocably eroded. </p>
<p>Once again, whenever content is offered for free, someone else pays. </p>
<p>Journalists long ago made the connection between the ability of their employer to make money from what they write and their own job security. If tomorrow there is an “app” that allows readers to leap over the newspaper pay-wall, is society prepared to accept that journalism will, in future, have to be publicly funded? Governments may need to fund not only the ABC and SBS, but a National Journalism Service too.</p>
<h2>The morality of stealing from the rich</h2>
<p>The pace of technological change has opened up a huge lead on the law. Technology is a lap ahead. Copyright legislation may be updated to bridge the gap, but the real solution lies within society. </p>
<p>The public can decide what tomorrow looks like rather than leaving it up to the corporate giants. It might be Australian to beat the system and get something for free, but there needs to be a financial value placed on content. That is what is right.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/5602/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>David Lowden consults to Foxtel and Channel 7.</span></em></p>Telecommunications company Optus lost its bid to gag AFL boss, Andrew Demetriou from speaking out against its “TV Now” service, which allows customers to watch AFL or NRL broadcasts near live. Demetriou…David Lowden, Senior Lecturer, Sport Journalism, La Trobe UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.