The bigwigs of pretty much every big-time Australian sporting body would have been in self-congratulatory mode on Thursday evening following the long overdue release by the Federal Government of changes to the anti-siphoning list that governs which sports must appear on free-to-air TV.

The amended list, handed by down by Communications Minister Stephen Conroy could lead to more elite-level sport appearing on free-to-air TV.

By assigning the top-shelf events to the main FTA channels, and the next tier to the digital channels of the FTA networks, the days of the networks hoarding the events or showing them on delay should be over.

Some of the dark clouds hanging over sports TV should be over. AFL fans in northern Australia will be able to enjoy live Friday night matches without having to fork out for a Foxtel subscription. NRL fans in southern Australia should hopefully be able to partake in the feast that is the Friday night double-header, which invariably features the popular and successful clubs.

Channel Seven will no longer be pilloried for crossing to the news during a tight five-set, late afternoon match at the Australian Open. Instead, it can direct viewers to switch to one of its digital channels for the conclusion of the match. Better still, it can show the news on one of its other channels.

By being able to negotiate the sale of five matches per week to the highest bidder (pay or FTA) the AFL is now on track once again to aim for the $1 billion sum it hopes to receive for its next TV contract. Expect Fox Sports to make an attractive offer. Don't rule out other sports broadcasters, perhaps ESPN, from having a crack.

Perhaps the only sporting executives not popping the champagne corks on Thursday would have been Frank Lowy and Ben Buckley at the Foootball Federation of Australia. It suited them perfectly to bundle the A-League and the Socceroo qualifiers in the one TV contract knowing that Fox Sports would happily take the domestic competition if it meant having the exclusive rights to show the Socceroo World Cup qualifiers.

But that now changes. Senator Conroy has wisely recognised that the Socceroo World Cup qualifiers are now "events of national importance and cultural significance" and must be shown on FTA TV. It's a win for those who believe our national soccer team is now on a par with the cricketers and the Wallabies.

But it does pose a problem for the FFA which probably won't earn the same amount of money for its TV rights going forward. Fox will pay a bit for the A-League going forward, but not nearly as much as it would have had the Socceroo qualifiers been part of the deal as well.

Will Fox put as much heart and soul (and not to mention money) into the Socceroos just to screen the friendlies? Will SBS again become the FTA home of the Australian team, or will one of the commercial networks get involved? And if they do, will they treat the brand with a bit more respect than did Seven for the brief time a few years back when it was the home of Australian soccer? It makes the imminent decision about the 2022 World Cup bid even more important for the sport.

Some of the adjustments made by Senator Conroy seem eminently sensible. Cutting back on overseas cricket, tennis and golf is fine, although traditionalists will lament the British Open no longer being a 'protected' event. As sure as anything, it means an Australian will probably win it next year. Adding Australian Twenty-20 cricket matches is a wise move for in a decade's time, it will likely be the most popular form of cricket of all.

Sports fans must hold Senator Conroy accountable for his promise on Thursday that there will be more sport, and more live sport on FTA TV. Sporting bodies such as the AFL must stick to their pledge to ensure that the four free-to-air matches they are mandated to show each week include the best games of the round.