When too much sport is barely enough: Broadcasting regulation and national identity

Abstract

Sport and broadcasting appear to enjoy a symbiotic relationship. Similarly, sport seems to play a central role in many current understandings of national identity. In this article, we explore some of the ways in which the legal regulation of sport broadcasting is often couched in terms of the protection of an essential, yet ill-defined, national interest. We offer a series of critiques of the competing interests at stake under such regulatory regimes - market power and competition, legally entrenched preferences for certain broadcast technologies, democracy and the construction of national identity. Through a critical and comparative analysis of the legal system of anti-siphoning and anti-hoarding legislation in effect in Australia, we attempt to highlight the confused and confusing state of broadcasting regulation there and in other jurisdictions in relation to access to key sporting events on television.