Second Sydney team is a road to nowhere
Roar Guru
By Adam_Santarossa, 11 Apr 2009 Adam Santarossa is a Roar Guru
- Tagged:
- AFL, Basketball, NBL, Razorbacks
As a member of the AFL community in Sydney for a number of years, I think the AFL are wasting their time and money in slating a second Sydney team for entry to the competition in season 2012.
I liken the move to that of the NBL’s decision to introduce the West Sydney Razorbacks a few years ago. The Razorback were a flop since day one and weere on the verge of bankruptcy and extinction as recently as last season.
After re-branding themselves as the Sydney Spirit, they have now perished.
The reason is simple. Nobody cared.
There is always the initial fanfare of a new club and the novelty will always attract certain fans to change their allegiance, but the Razorbacks have suffered as they entered an already competitive marketplace that included the NRL, AFL, Rugby Union, and a somewhat death row, NSL.
The problem was that they entered a marketplace where the Sydney Kings were solidified. They have a strong brand in basketball and are synonymous with the sport in Sydney and the NBL in general, which the Swans are too with AFL.
For any AFL team introduced to be successful there needs to be a reason for a consumer to attend a game: they need to see competitiveness and something that differs from a product already in the marketplace.
The AFL is better off spending money putting a side in either Tasmania or Canberra. These are areas where AFL is more popular, as has been seen from games held in these parts in recent years. And it is an area which is starved of representation in any form of national sport.
Tasmania’s only sporting team is the Tasmanian Tigers cricket team, whilst Canberra boast the ACT Brumbies and Canberra Raiders. These markets are ripe for the picking.
Both have strong local AFL competitions, with a Tasmanian side now playing in the VFL, whilst Canberra‘s AFL competition is far more professional and superior than the Sydney AFL. So much so that the Sydney Swans reserve side choose to play in this competition.
Excluding the Swans, AFL is still a very small fish in the big pond that is NSW. The only media coverage is results in Monday’s paper and a weekly magazine program on Foxtel channel, Main Event.
The AFL should think back to North Melbourne’s failed venture a few seasons ago. Their games played at the SCG attracted crowds as small as 6,500 and where not repeated in forthcoming seasons.
A second AFL side in Sydney will be a disaster.
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BigAl said | April 11th 2009 @ 2:58am | Report comment
Another AFL team in Sydney is all about trying to increase the value of their TV deal.
To suggest that the AFL would be better off placing a team in Tassie or Canberra is missing the point and is just plain wrong !
Any national sporting franchise will struggle financially in these sort of demographics – just think of the myriads of NSL & NBL teams that have come and gone and have a look at how the Brumbies & Raiders are going now – there is often talk about the Brumbies relocating to Melbourne and the Raiders are always complaining about the their lack of TV coverage ,
Another thing wrong in this story is the claim that Tasmania has a team in the VFL – they don’t !
LeftArmSpinner said | April 11th 2009 @ 7:24am | Report comment
the logic is good, the investment is a dud, on fundamentals. it assumes that the fickle syd audience will tune in. If they are not tuning into the swans after 20+ years, mostly loss making years, then it ain’t gonna happen any time soon.
But, go ahead, stick your money into it, the more the merrier. I believe that this may be rued as a bridge too far…..
Sam said | April 11th 2009 @ 7:46am | Report comment
The Swans base is mostly from Eastern Suburbs / North Shore. They know they can attract crowds from these areas. If they believe they can attract 15,000 + out of Western Sydney then good luck to them. I believe that should warrant a team. Basketball is a different kettle of fish, and I believe failed because the media coverage disappeared in Sydney. The Razorbacks were well known and well supported in West Sydney for a while. Then after that Kings v Razorbacks final which Kings won 3 games to 2 a few years back now (can’t remember which year?) it all went downhill.
The one thing you can say about AFL supporters in Sydney is that they do turn up to the games.
Kurt said | April 11th 2009 @ 5:10pm | Report comment
Adam – right now you’re probably thinking ‘why have not been more responses to my thought provoking article?’ The answer is we have thrashed this particular issue to within an inch of its life over the past few weeks and I just think people are over it right now. Maybe if you waited another couple of weeks you’d get more interest, because you do raise valid and interesting points.
Rich_daddy said | April 11th 2009 @ 10:55pm | Report comment
Could not agree with you more Adam. The AFL has become obessed with “growth” regions in Australia. Their logic more numbers, more money. However you have to have people wanting to go to make it worth while. Putting a team in Tassie instead would be a guaranteed winner for the AFL. Tassie has support, a VFL side, and a huge sponsorship deal with Mars just itching to get a go. Western Sydney has nothing. To top if all off , without sounding like a snob Western Sydney tends to be a lower socio economic area, hence most people could not afford to attend AFL matches on a regular basis. This is especially true with the outrageous food prices at ANZ stadium.
Let’s see the Swans membership get up to 50,000 members, then we will have a look at Western Sydney.
The 1 and Only Master said | April 12th 2009 @ 12:32pm | Report comment
One of the biggest myths in my opinion is that the main source of Australian Football fans are based in Northern Sydney and the Eastern Suburbs. It is more likely that people from these areas attend games at the SCG simply due to the difficulty in getting to the ground from other areas of Sydney.
How long would it take to get to the SCG from Penrith, around 1.5 hours.
To think that the AFL hasn’t done adequate research into the number of Australian Football supporters living closer to ANZ than the SCG is foolish.
There are a lot of AFL fans more than an hours drive to the SCG who would be put of travelling there but ANZ is far more attractive distance wise. This has been highlighted by the very good crowds throughout the years at ANZ
Michael C said | April 12th 2009 @ 9:09pm | Report comment
Yawn – - here we go again, it’s a bit like “Why Union is better than League”, or “Why media ignores soccer” with respect to done to death topics. But, given the fact the author IS a ‘member of the AFL community’ in Sydney, I’ll just say:
So long as the AFL are willing AND able to ride out the first 25 years…..then….perhaps, in 30 years we might look back and say thank god that they’d done it. The theory is sound that the AFL requires a weekly presence in each market (QLD and NSW) both live and via tv. How much it ads to overall broadcast rights is another question, in the short term probably less than the long term. For now, it’ll be a case of the Swans might have to pass up on playing home games at Homebush so that the auskickers in the greater ‘west’ all HAVE to go to see the new team.
Shaun said | April 12th 2009 @ 9:57pm | Report comment
Adam, you claim the following:
“Excluding the Swans, AFL is still a very small fish in the big pond that is NSW. The only media coverage is results in Monday’s paper and a weekly magazine program on Foxtel channel, Main Event.”
I’m not sure whether you live somewhere on the north coast of NSW and don’t read Sydney papers or something, but I see a truckload of column inches devoted to AFL. As much as rugby union, week in week out! Certainly league dominates(and I mostly read the SMH), but AFL is not as much of a small fish as it may be perceived- at least in terms of mindshare and column inches anyway.
Timmuh said | April 13th 2009 @ 3:49pm | Report comment
“Both have strong local AFL competitions, with a Tasmanian side now playing in the VFL,”
No. The Devils were (thankfully) scrapped in favour of trying to restart a state league, after the original statewide comp failed. Tasmanian football died over a decade ago, sacrificed at the altar of the AFL, and then sold as a suburb of Melbourne with the VFL side. The AFL already drain every possible dollar from the state, there is nothing to be gained. The state can not financially support a side, there is no growth to be had. The state league is very weak in standard, below division1 of VAFA, and local leagues are deliberately trying to undermine it as they (and the AFL) did with the former TFL – which also was very poorly run in its own right. If all half million Tasmanian lived in a single market, it would be a doubtful proposition; as things are, there is no doubt Tasmania is a “never”.
Canberra, as pointed out, already has two professional football teams. Both of these have been subject to relocation rumours in recent years, both sports have far greater support than Australian Football, and both cost less to run than an AFL club. The market is too small to bother putting in a Western Sydney style investment, which is what a full time team would need.
Western Sydney is a huge market. Yes, there is no existing support there. That doesn’t matter. WS should be about winning new people to the game. It can even work in favour of the Swans, as they can target their own part of Sydney rather than trying to spread themselves so thinly across the whole city. It will take decades, but WS should eventually work. Gold Coast is much more questionable, for it to work it needs to win people who move there and either already have a club or have demonstrated no inerest in the game. And the places that people are moving to the Gold Coast from? Queensland and Sydney. In other words, GC has to win the same people as WS – except later in life. In 30-40 years, Western Sydney will be going strong, and Gold Coast will hopefully still be going. Western Sydney will be a success, when that happens is dependent on one factor alone – the starting date. The lag time between starting and self sustainment will ne the same whether it starts in 2012 or 2030. All starting in 2012 will do is ensure success before 2050.
Redb said | April 14th 2009 @ 7:46am | Report comment
It seems everyone bar the AFL think Western Sydney is a goer. A poll on Ch 7′s AFL Gameday on the weekend revealed that 88% of AFL fans think Tassie should be given the next AFL licence after the Gold Coast.
Now I accept we dont know all the facts on the ground at grass roots level in western Sydney but clearly the AFL will need to show more evidence that the origins of a legitimate AFL team can be forged there.
A long term timeline is exactly right but you cant flog a dead horse forever there needs to be signs of sustainability along the lines of the Gold Coast.
If you have to ask is it worth it over devloping the game in the Pacific Islands, South Africa or PNG? Maybe the Swans are enough for Sydney in the long term?
Redb