Tasmanian franchise must be a priority for the A-League
Columnist By Adrian Musolino, 11 Jan 2009 Adrian Musolino is a Roar Expert
- Tagged:
- Central Coast Mariners, FFA, football
While the focus of the next round of A-League expansion is on the prospective second teams from Melbourne and Sydney, the FFA should instead turn its attention south to Tasmania, a state ignored by the majority of sporting codes and therefore a relatively unchallenged market for a franchise, let alone the league, to establish itself in.
Tasmania United FC is bidding for submission for the 2011-12 season and is facing tough opposition from not just the Melbourne and Sydney franchises but also Wollongong and Canberra.
But unlike the franchises in Melbourne and Sydney, which will only grow a supporter base by robbing fans from already established A-League teams, and Wollongong and Canberra who already host NRL teams in the rugby heartland, Tasmania is a relatively untouched sporting base.
A franchise in Tasmania has the potential to replicate the success of the Central Coast Mariners.
There are some noticeable comparisons between the two.
The population of the greater Hobart region is shaded by the whole of the Central Coast, but the Tasmanian franchise would attract fans from all over the state.
In fact the population of Hobart is larger than Townsville, home of the North Queensland Fury, by approximately 50,000. There is no excuse therefore that the state is too small for a franchise and therefore lacks the potential for a successful business operation.
With a base in Hobart, the only impediment for the franchise would be attracting fans to home matches from other centres such as Davenport, Launceston and Burnie given the distance between Tasmania’s most populous centres.
However, there is also the possibility, first raised when Tasmania was mentioned with regard to expansion, of splitting home games between Hobart and Launceston.
Just as the Central Coast has been ignored by other codes, so too has Tasmania.
The AFL has played hardball with Tasmania instead focusing its attentions on the Gold Coast and West Sydney. Despite significant interest in the state for Aussie rules, the locals only have Victorian clubs such as Hawthorn occasionally visiting.
With no AFL, NBL or NRL franchises and only the Tasmanian Tigers state cricket side, the Tasmanian A-League franchise would be relatively unchallenged for attention and sponsors in the state.
Like Central Coast, it would unite the whole region behind one team and the A-League would gain a massive heads up on the other codes.
The A-League would ride into town and give Tasmanian fans what they crave so desperately, a presence in a major national sporting league.
This would win over the hearts and minds of the next generation of Tasmanians, enticing them to play the round ball game over other sporting codes, a game that enables them to represent their state.
It could also lead to a better state league format from the current separated north and south leagues. A united state league would help the development of local talent with an obvious link to the A-League.
It would also give the A-League more of a national representation than both the AFL and NRL.
Central Coast has proven that a team deeply immersed in the local community, with little opposition from other codes, can build a solid supporter base, business model and infrastructure for future growth despite the smaller population base compared with other franchises.
This is what the A-League should be looking towards with expansion and Hobart and Tasmania fit the bill perfectly.
The second Melbourne and Sydney franchises may have some powerful backers, but the FFA would be wise to look to Tasmania instead.
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- Explore:
- Central Coast Mariners, FFA, football
January 11th 2009 @ 6:37pm
thinker said | January 11th 2009 @ 6:37pm | Report comment
Tasmaina united for full time inclusion NYL09-10
If the can prove them selves with a youth team then allow them in.
Tassie in, Wellington out
January 11th 2009 @ 8:49pm
Sam said | January 11th 2009 @ 8:49pm | Report comment
Westy
I live out in West Sydney and I still am hopeful that Sydney FC will get rid of that Bling tag. I went to the game Sydney FC v Wellington today and it was good to see the team play some young players and look to the future. This is the kind of thing they need to do to get that grassroots feel about the club. Danning, Grant and Cairncross have some real talent.
All this crap about Sydney needing to be the glamour team is just crap. It is spoken about people who then want to knock them down when they fail. Only got a crowd of 9600 today but hopefully will start to improve once the team is built up and play good football.
It is important to have two teams in Sydney as the league needs to capture the whole Sydney market. It is too hard to explain this to people who don’t live in Sydney. Media coverage and TV ratings are more important in Sydney than crowds. Just ask NRL. Two teams in Melbourne is also important in Melbourne to give Victory a rival. Victory is becoming a huge club so the competition will be good.
January 11th 2009 @ 8:52pm
Slippery Jim said | January 11th 2009 @ 8:52pm | Report comment
aussie_sly, forty years of being a round ball fan means daveed can call it whatever he likes, don’t you think? If you mentioned ‘football’ to most Tasmanians they would think you meant AFL.
I am a big supporter of a bid for a Tasmanian A-League club, the state is crying out for national representation, and this would provide it, as well as spreading the A-League to one more state (I mean, we have a club from NZ for crying out loud!), not only that but it would get one over the AFL.
Bring it on.
January 11th 2009 @ 10:24pm
aussie_sly said | January 11th 2009 @ 10:24pm | Report comment
we officially changed the name to football so i think that all fans should be calling it football. Intercity rivalry will always give a boost to the league but the question is who could sustain the rivalry longer, i think that if a second melbourne team came in they’d have a much healthier rivalry with the victory where as if a second sydney team came in i think it would all but kill off SFC if they did it right like the CCM, if they engage the community and stuff then bling fc would really lose crowds that they just dont have to lose. The FFA should be looking at canberra and darwin as well as tassie so we can have a truly national league, modu team one state i say, for now atleast, grow the game nationally then put in the extra city teams
January 11th 2009 @ 10:39pm
Midfielder said | January 11th 2009 @ 10:39pm | Report comment
Westy
Good post re SFC … Sam a rebuilt Gabbie stadium in Seven Hills would be the perfect place to run Sydney’s second team… current stadium capicity about 7, 000 … but trains, buses, parking main road exits close to M7.
January 11th 2009 @ 10:56pm
aussie_sly said | January 11th 2009 @ 10:56pm | Report comment
midfielder, totally agree, gabbie stadium would be perfect to redevelop, it’d be like bluetongue on the coast being its so close to train station. A blacktown team would be good and probly better than one from penrith being its so much farther it wouldn’t draw fans from parramatta as much as it would lithgow.
January 11th 2009 @ 11:17pm
Sam said | January 11th 2009 @ 11:17pm | Report comment
Midfielder
I think if they could get the capacity to 15,000 it would be good. Otherwise I think sharing of stadiums between Parramatta, Penrith, Campbelltown and Blacktown (if stadium rebuilt) is the way to go. To get out to all those outer regional Sydney areas must be the way to go. Sydney FC can have the rest of Sydney. Each team can have its own area and market to that properly.
This will cover and reach out to the whole of Sydney and puts football in front of AFL and rugby union in Sydney in terms of its reach. After that you can put new teams in Tasmania, Darwin or wherever anybody wants it.
January 11th 2009 @ 11:19pm
Westy said | January 11th 2009 @ 11:19pm | Report comment
Sam Sydney FC have a problem when people in Blacktown wear Mariners gear. Iagree Liverpool or Blacktown are the ket centres. transport wise it is Blacktown.
January 12th 2009 @ 12:24am
james said | January 12th 2009 @ 12:24am | Report comment
Parramatta is still my preference for a west sydney team, simply because it is in the middle of most western sydney demographics and is probably the most easily accessible, people from penrith,blacktown, and fairfield would all travel to parramatta to watch a west syd team play. add onto that the locals in parramatta, you now have 4 big suburbs who are within close distance to parramatta. Attraciting fans from liverpool would not be too hard either because it still is only about 25min drive from parra
January 12th 2009 @ 8:49am
Koala Bear said | January 12th 2009 @ 8:49am | Report comment
Second teams in Sydney and Melbourne are a must and one day I hope it happens .. However, what is needed right now, is a national presence of the HAL across the nation’s print and TV media; that’s why I feel that we must continue down the road of John Neill’s concept, “One-City-One-Team Strategy” .. ACT should be the next after .. Then the second teams of the major cities Parramatta and Geelong .. Not discounting the Northern Territory, Darwin perhaps…
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KB