Coaches from around the Goulburn Valley League have had their say on the recent changes to the competition’s broadcasting rights.
Community radio station 98.5 ONE FM made headlines last week when it announced the GVL had ended their 30-year broadcasting partnership.
Following this, the league issued a release stating that Geelong-based multimedia company Red Onion Creative would take over — committing to live-streaming one game of senior football and one game of A-grade netball a weekend.
Shepparton Swans coach Andrew Riordan detailed his reaction to the news ONE FM would not be broadcasting GVL in 2022.
“It was a bit of a shock, they have been around for a long time and done a great job I reckon,” Riordan said.
“Their efforts to support the local community have been enormous over the time so all in all it is just a bit of a shock to be honest.”
Renowned for their 5.30pm wrap-up of scores and highlights on a Saturday evening, Riordan said that moving to a strictly live-stream model may impact the older demographic of GVL supporters.
“That wrap they did after the games is something I will certainly miss, but probably the most disappointing thing from my end is knowing that age demographic who are older that really do rely on the radio station to keep up to date with local sport,” he said.
“My old man and nan, that is how they followed it, not through social media or an app on their phones, so I just hope that is not forgotten about and we can find some sort of balance with a mix of streaming and radio.”
Mooroopna coach John Lamont shared these concerns in regard to the lack of radio coverage.
“I was surprised, radio coverage of local footy is a great thing I think, they’re going down a live-streaming path, how that affects someone driving around in the car wanting to listen to games I don’t know,” Lamont said.
“I’m a bit old school myself, I’m not a live-streamer, my initial reaction was they could probably live-stream one game and radio the other but maybe there’s not the demand for that.”
While the loss of ONE FM to the GVL community is significant, Euroa coach Scott Rowan sees the positives in moving towards the live-stream model as the league continues to evolve.
“It certainly will be different, but I think if you see what other leagues around Victoria are doing, they are getting every game streamed, so I’m sure the demographic that relied on the radio can get someone to help them load it up — and once they’ve done that they will be happy to watch it as well as listen to it,” Rowan said.
“I think it’s just the development that had to take place and I think it adds different demographics and brings some sponsor recognition to the screen and things like that.”