Football Australia and SBS today announced a landmark multi-year, multi-platform agreement to broadcast the inaugural Australian Championship on SBS, SBS On Demand and SBS VICELAND, delivering every moment live and free to fans across the nation.
The historic agreement makes SBS the exclusive linear television home of the Australian Championship for at least the next two years, showcasing 18 matches on Free to Air Television and live and free on SBS On Demand from the Group Stage through to the Quarter-Finals, Semi-Finals, and Grand Final.
This broadcast commitment is supported by a package of marketing benefits that will enhance the fan experience and grow the reach of the Australian Championship.
Fans will be able to follow the innovative competition format with every Saturday match – totalling 12 games – plus knockout fixtures from two Quarter-Finals, both Semi-Finals and Grand Final, broadcast free-to-air on SBS’ primary channel, providing unmatched access to the next era of Australian football.
The ‘Super Saturday’ double-headers will feature two back-to-back matches kicking off at 1.00pm and 3.00pm AEDT every weekend.
The highly anticipated opening match between South Melbourne FC and Sydney Olympic FC on Friday 10 October will also be broadcast on linear, live and free on SBS VICELAND and SBS On Demand, ensuring visibility and excitement around this historic match.
In addition to its free to air broadcast commitments, SBS will be delivering additional innovative content for fans, including multi-lingual podcasts each week of the competition and regular news features. More details will be announced by SBS and Football Australia ahead of the opening round.
This partnership announcement follows the news that five matches from the Australian Championship (two Quarter Finals, two Semi Finals and the Final) will be broadcast live and free into the Pacific Islands via Football Australia’s partnership with Pacific Aus TV.
Key Broadcast Highlights:
- SBS will be the exclusive free-to-air broadcast partner of the Australian Championship for the next two years with an option to extend.
- All fixtures streamed live and free on SBS Live and SBS On Demand, ensuring fans never miss a minute of the action.
- 17 of 55 matches broadcast live and free-to-air; commencing with ‘Super Saturday’ double header matches plus access to Finals Series matches televised nationally on SBS, bringing quality football content into millions of homes.
- The much-anticipated opening match between South Melbourne FC and Sydney Olympic FC broadcast free-to air on SBS VICELAND, setting the stage for a highly competitive and unpredictable inaugural season.
- The Championship Final will be played on Saturday 6 December at 3:00pm AEDT, following coverage of the FIFA Men’s World Cup 2026 Final Draw which will be broadcast on SBS.
Football Australia and Free TV Australia have extended their partnership to distribute matches across the Pacific through PacificAus TV.
The extension covers all Football Australia-controlled home matches for the CommBank Matildas and CommBank Socceroos as well as select Hahn Australia Cup and Australian Championship fixtures through to 2027.
Building on the success of the original agreement, which started in 2021, the extension sees the broadcast of the Australia Championship as a new inclusion, with a minimum of two quarter finals, two semi-finals and the Final being included in the package.
Matches will be available for broadcasters in Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, Niue, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu.
Reference:
- https://footballaustralia.com.au/news/football-australia-and-pacificaus-tv-extend-partnership
- https://www.australianchampionship.com.au/news/australian-championship-secures-landmark-multi-platform-broadcast-deal-sbs
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