The Morrison Government has today announced $10 million in funding to continue its support of coverage of women's, niche and other under-represented sports, bringing total funding for the under-represented sports grant to $40 million over six years.
Minister for Communications, Cyber Safety and the Arts, the Hon Paul Fletcher MP, said the funding will allow Fox Sports to extend its broadcasting for under-represented sports over the next two years.
"With six dedicated sports channels and a wide range of sports news, Fox Sports has a strong commitment to broadcasting sports and events that may not otherwise receive television coverage," said Minister Fletcher.
Over the past year, despite the significant impact of COVID-19 on sports competitions, Fox Sports broadcast more than 4,888 hours of content covered by the grant, including 1,167 hours of live broadcast.
Coverage included more than 3,050 hours of women's sport, which is an increase of more than 100 per cent since 2016.
Minister for Youth and Sport, Senator the Hon Richard Colbeck, said that the under-represented sports grant is an important step in addressing the coverage imbalance between sports, and enabling sporting bodies to lift participation rates.
"As well as helping to improve people's health and wellbeing, sport helps to foster a strong sense of community belonging and pride, which is why our Government's National Sport 2030 plan is to make Australia the world's most active sporting nation," Minister Colbeck said.
