Sportsplay was an Australian satellite television service that operated from 1985 to 1987. Sportsplay was one of three Australian satellite hotel television channels that emerged following the launch of the

Aussat A1 This is a list of the satellites operated by Optus, an Australian telecommunications company. The satellite communications facility is located at Belrose on Sydney's Northern Beaches. Optus' satellites are divided into 4 classes A, B, C and D. ...

satellite, and was owned by Powerplay International, then-owners of football league team

Sydney Swans The Sydney Swans are a professional Australian rules football club based in Sydney, New South Wales. The men's team competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), and the women's team in the AFL Women's (AFLW). The Swans also field a reser ...

. Sportsplay commenced transmissions from their Sydney studios on the 1st of December 1986, with programming consisting largely of harness racing and greyhound racing from around Australia, distributed exclusively to hotels and clubs. Financial troubles, losing the hotel market share to rivals Sky Channel plus a failed attempt to apply for broadcasting rights to Australian

VFL The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football league in Australia serving as one of the second-tier regional semi-professional competitions which sit underneath the fully professional Australian Football League (AFL). It ...

matches led to Sportsplay's downfall, with the station reporting losses of up to $1 million per month in 1987. After a failed attempt to float the company coupled with the

stock market crash of 1987 Black Monday is the name commonly given to the global, sudden, severe, and largely unexpected stock market crash on Monday, October 19, 1987. In Australia and New Zealand, the day is also referred to as ''Black Tuesday'' because of the time z ...

, Sportsplay was bought by

Alan Bond Alan Bond (22 April 1938 – 5 June 2015) was an English-born Australian businessman noted for his high-profile and often corrupt business dealings. These included his central role in the WA Inc scandals of the 1980s, and what was at the time ...

and Bond Media, and was thus absorbed into Bond's Sky Channel in November 1987.

References

{{Subscription television channels in Australia Television channels and stations established in 1985 English-language television stations in Australia Defunct television channels in Australia Sports television networks in Australia