In my honest opinion, most popular sports will be off Free-To-Air television within the next 5-10 years.
The networks are so ratings driven these days that sport is a secondary, like AFL on Channel 9, being shown at all sorts of strange times with delays involved around the country, cricket on 9 when they interrupt an exciting match or a ODI for the news and A Current Affair, and now the Ashes are going to Pay-TV as well.
Have you noticed how in recent years the coverage of sports on FTA has become like watching ads with sport in between?
I don't have/can't afford Pay-TV either, I'm just lucky my girlfriend has it on at her place, but it does suck how it's all going to pay per view.
It'd have to be a good five or six years since I saw bowling on FTA here, and that was like, one game on SBS at the Arafura Games in Darwin.