Local sports coverage suffers at the hands of budget cuts

New Zealand local sports coverage is being threatened by budget cuts and readily available international sports content.

Former Head of Spark Sport Jeff Latch says pressure for free-to-air companies to cut costs is having a negative impact on local sports coverage.

“The number of journalists they can actually carry and employ has diminished significantly from where it was ten years ago.

“The problem with that in sport, is they just don't have the journos they can send out to your events.”

Latch says another significant shift in sports consumption is the increase in viewership of international sports.

“That's making it very difficult for New Zealand sports, particularly for large viewership of New Zealand sports, because of the accessibility of things like the Premier League, NFL, NBA and the Champions League.

“They've got full stadiums, with 60, 80 thousand people all screaming, and so it's a wonderful viewing experience. And then you contrast that with our local sport where often the stadiums are almost empty. There's no one there, so there's no atmosphere.”

Harbour Sport Project Coordinator Kiera Fisher says it's important for local sports to get news coverage to inspire kids to be active.

“When I was in intermediate, I would see touch rugby nationals on Māori TV, and that made me think I could get there someday.

“I don’t see as many grassroots local sports on television anymore.”

As the New Zealand journalism industry grapples with budget cuts, implications for our local sports coverage will continue to unfold.