The ABC has secured television and radio broadcast rights for the Victorian Football League for the first time since 2014, ending years of uncertainty about where Australia's second-tier football competition would be shown. More significantly for one of Australian sport broadcasting's journeymen, former Channel 7 commentator Jason Bennett has received immense support from the broader football community after the broadcaster was omitted from the 2026 team. Now Bennett has landed on his feet at the ABC.
The numbers tell a story of broadcaster indifference punctuated by one person's relentless commitment. Bennett spent the majority of his time in the VFL as well as eight AFLW grand finals and a men's preliminary final during his tenure at Seven. That added up to 11 years of weekly VFL broadcasts. Then came the pivot: The Seven Network, which had broadcast VFL matches since 2015, did not renew its deal, stating the practice was no longer commercially viable.
The loss of free-to-air coverage represented a genuine blow to the league's reach. Top-flight sport on the national broadcaster has been an increasingly rare treat since the professionalisation of most major sporting codes in the late twentieth century, and its football coverage in particular has been confined to the state leagues for almost 40 years. The last time the ABC had rights to top-level football was in 1987. For supporters who had grown accustomed to Saturday afternoon VFL on television, the prospect of a season with only digital streaming felt like a step backwards.
Bennett's own career arc mirrors the turbulence facing the competition itself. "Since I was 4 years old, my dream has been to call footy on Channel 7," Bennett said on LinkedIn. "Realising that dream over the past 11 years has been a great thrill, and I'm so thankful to the legion of people on both sides of the camera who made it happen and supported me along the way." When Channel 7 dropped him alongside the VFL contract, the decision drew criticism from across the football media industry.
The ABC's acquisition of the broadcast rights changes the equation. The ABC, Channel 7 and Kayo are all set to broadcast VFL games in 2026. The free-to-air and subscription networks will join forces to beam matches into different markets across the country. The arrangement restores television access for fans who lack streaming subscriptions while acknowledging the modern media landscape where no single broadcaster can service the entire audience.
Bennett's appointment to the ABC's commentary team represents a pragmatic outcome for everyone involved. The league retains a respected, experienced caller. Bennett gets a second act after a bruising exit from Seven. And the ABC returns to calling football at the grassroots level, something it hasn't done in over a decade. Whether that translates to ratings success remains an open question, but on the merits of coverage and institutional commitment to the sport, this feels like a genuine win for state league football.