Comments on: Is the A-League product good enough for free to air?

By: melbvictory87

melbvictory87 — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 10:38:26 +0000

we should really show a best-of game. there have been some absolute stunners recently

By: melbvictory87

melbvictory87 — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 10:35:41 +0000

i definately agree on this one. i only watch the world cup, futbol mondial and the football feature dont do it for me. i already know the score o football feature and have little inclination to watch and mundial has no relevance to me whatsoever. they should show a-league game of the round of socceroos

By: melbvictory87

melbvictory87 — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 10:27:51 +0000

finally some1 i can relate to. ive just been saying this for the past 22 years of my life.

By: Ghost

Ghost — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 07:06:49 +0000

Hoodooguru is spot on. We hare holding the A-League up to an impossible standard if we want each and every game to be at some magical FTA ‘gold’ level.

Even with the benefit of manipulating fixtures for the key FTA slots for those codes, AFL and NRL both throw up a fair share of mismatches and low quality stuff. 40-0 grand final anyone? Not bagging those codes just for the sake of it but all I’m saying is we’re talking a sporting league here and we don’t know what’s going to happen on the park until… well, the whistle/siren/hooter has sounded.

I also agree by the way that salary cap is a key issue. And being pro-football but I think not unrealistic I also don’t think all games (ie 5 this year, 6 next) should be FTA.

My own preference in ther shorter term for A-League on FTA would be a Saturday night live game, and then Monday a 2.5hr A-League feature comprising 45mins bulletin / highlights package from the weekend, and then the game of the week played in its entirety afterwards (downside is delay of a couple of days, upside is that Monday is usually quiet for competing sports).

By: Chop

Chop — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 06:56:47 +0000

‘CCM only represent the worst of what happens when a team is encouraged to play into medicority’

If by mediocrity you mean 2 grand final appearances in 4 years, then year the Mariners are mediocre as opposed to Perth, Wellington, Brisbane who all play sensational football and can’t make a GF…..

I know who’d I’d rather support….GO THE MARINERS

By: Gibbo

Gibbo — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 06:45:26 +0000

i get it for the football and naked wild on.

By: DiCanio

DiCanio — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 06:27:31 +0000

Outside of the top 6 or so leagues in the world I would say that the best aleauge games are good enough to mix it with the others, however there is too many times when whole rounds pass by without a memorable moment

CCM only represent the worst of what happens when a team is encouraged to play into medicority (6 in the finals series, low salary cap, no relegation)

Hopefully over the next few years the salary cap will increase and the 2-4 extra teams will present us with more impetus for teams to go for wins (ESPECIALLY ON YOUR HOME SOIL CCM)

however the seemingly impossible task of introducing relegation is the real pot of gold to getting clubs and athletes to push themselves on the quality they deliver.

By: hoodooguru

hoodooguru — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 02:16:19 +0000

This is cultural cringe at its worst.

Every soccer league (and non-soccer code) has its good (more easily watchable for the casual observer) games and those that aren’t so good.

There are only 3 leagues in the world that are either EPL, La Liga and Serie A, and many more that aren’t.

The issue with A-League being shown on FTA isn’t about quality (and I’m not conceding that the A-League is poor quality), it’s about awareness. It’s about the casual observer knowing when the A-League is on, who their local team is and how teams are doing.

By: Realfootball

Realfootball — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 00:04:54 +0000

The A-League is the only reason I get Foxtel too. Wouldn’t subscribe otherwise. So I guess it working for them.

By: AndyRoo

AndyRoo — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 22:40:42 +0000

Think about what he said mate and the context. He was not having a go at the EPL he was highlighting that SKY owns most of the broadcast rights so just being on FTA or Pay TV has no baring of quality.

But as to your comment Fabergas, Torres and Drogba are much better advertisements for the EPL.

In regards to Rooney, Lampard and Gerrard I would prefer Culina, Aloisi and Smeltz. There not as good, but I don’t really care anymore about some hard working poms playing for a bunch of teams I don’t suport.

By: Freud of Football

Freud of Football — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 14:13:17 +0000

What a rubbish comment.

The EPL is so good that people will always pay to watch it, the stations can name their price, people will always pay for the product. It’s got nothing to do with it being a low quality league.

Give me Gerrard, Lampard and Rooney any day over Culina, Aloisi and Smeltz

By: agga78

agga78 — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 10:55:20 +0000

To answer the question in the article, Yes the A league product is very much good enough for FTA, For 4 years I would say no but this year I can see a standard of football which is 100 times better than the previous seasons mainly Gold Coast (that Brisbane v Gold Coast game was a fantastic game of football, fast crsip passing and great goals. But other games have been entertaining with great Goals, ENTERTAINING is the general rule for most A league games, to football people who have a great knowledge of the game they will tell you it is not technically great and the space in midfield sometimes is disgraceful, and missed passes which people rightfully cristised, but the games are in the most part ENTERTAINING. I believe the standard of the A league is on a par or even better than the other football codes in this country already, others may say that the NRL and AFL get the best atheletes in Australia which is true but the A league gets not only great Australian Atheletes but some great ones from Costa Rica, Thailand, Holland, Ivory Coast, Brazil, Italy etc all countries with far larger pools of talent to choose from than half of Australia which makes for a good standard. Even though by the next TV deal the standard of the league would of doubled, it’s highly doubtful FTA networks will take on live A league matches perhaps a Highlights show but thats about it, for reasons such as vested interests NRL and AFL, can’t rock the boat. But if we WIN the world cup bid the game will change forever.

By: Davo

Davo — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 09:10:22 +0000

I love watching the A-League every weekend, it’s the only reason I Foxtel. So it would be a great deal cheaper for me if it was on free-to-air. I find it to be a acceptable standard. I watch the NRL as well, and just for the record, over the course of a weekend there are always games that don’t live up to any heights. So why single the A-League out?

By: Robbos

Robbos — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 08:54:07 +0000

All the above I totally agree with. $5 million salary cap based of course more money coming into the game via next TV deal, Aussie marquee, Int’l marquee, Asian marquee & youth marquee. Imagine the side GC under Palmer will have.

By: Mr

Mr — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 08:20:51 +0000

Add an Asian marquee, as well as an International (also could be Asian), and junior marquee makes 4 outside the salary cap.

By: Realfootball

Realfootball — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 08:17:30 +0000

Yep, sounds good to me. I think there is a real danger of the League getting bogged down in a nowhereland of mediocrity. The FFA has to be proactive in the next 2 years. The clubs have to be able to spend more on players. I can’t understand why they haven’t adopted the excellent idea, raised many times, of an Aussie marquee and an international marquee.

By: Mr

Mr — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 07:31:15 +0000

Bargaining on TV rights deals is different to the Anti-Siphoning List.

I believe that World Cup Finals, Asian Cup Finals, and any Australian HAL team succeeding beyond the ACL First Round (ie. Rd16/QF/SF/Final) should be on the ASL. Also if a FFA Cup competition is announced, the SFs & Final of said competition should be on the ASL per other countries around the world. In the short term, the HAL finals series (SFs & FInal) should be on the ASL.

By: Art Sapphire

Art Sapphire — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 07:24:50 +0000

Can you imagine writing all this waffle about the quality of matches if say the salary cap was 5 million.

This is why the FFA needs to distribute as much money as possible to the clubs from the TV next deal, because the only way to boost attendances and ratings is to improve the quality on offer.

If the AFL are aiming for 1 billion for a 5 year deal then the FFA should be at least be aiming for 300 million over 5 years (that’s for everything, Socceroos, A-League etc. etc)

60 million a year – 12 clubs – give them half the money – 2.5 million each for salary payments. The clubs can raise the rest themselves.

Bingo – 5 million cap = decent football on the pitch, better players, bigger crowds, better ratings.

By: MVDave

MVDave — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 07:12:04 +0000

Euro snob…obviously MV v BR wasnt one of the 4, nor NQ v SFC, nor GCU v NQ, nor BR v GCU, nor AU v GCU which were all excellent games for different reasons.

Socceroos hold pay tv records and rated through the roof during WC 2006. As part of the bargaining process FFA should ensure Socceroos rights are tied to a FTA component for HAL which may be a highlights show and 1 x match of the round. One HD seems the perfect fit at this stage.

By: AndyRoo

AndyRoo — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 07:03:26 +0000

Fair call on those games, I quite like watching Adelaide but not sure how others would view them. And I wasn’t sure what to do with such a one sided game but I guess all non Fury fans would have enjoyed Smeltz getting 4.

It’s CC mariners style, I dont hate them as much as Pip but there pressing means neither team really sparkles so there never great games.

By: Realfootball

Realfootball — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 06:58:21 +0000

It’s not just me is it, AndyRoo. Every CCM game is poor. They are a blight on the A-League. A plague on McKinna, a coach whose objective seems to be to strangle the lifeblood from every game.

By: Realfootball

Realfootball — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 06:56:41 +0000

I rated SFC/Adelaide as very watchable myself, and GCU were fabulous against the Fury. Rate them both as Good myself.

By: AndyRoo

AndyRoo — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 06:52:48 +0000

Roughly rated games appeal

CCM vs Victory – poor
BR vs GCU – great
Phoenix vs Jets – passable
Sydney vs Fury – good
Adelaide vs Perth – passable

Perth vs Phoenix – passable
GCU vs Fury – edited to good (after crowd suggestions)
Jets vs CCM – poor
SFC vs Adelaide – edited to good (after crowd suggestions)
MV vs BR – great

Phoenix vs BR – mediocre
CCM vs SFC – poor/passable
Adelaide vs GCU – good
Perth vs Jets – good
MV vs Fury – poor

By: Realfootball

Realfootball — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 06:43:46 +0000

Marion

Last round did indeed feature some awful games, but the round 2 games were mostly excellent, hence my point about the focus needing to be on providing consisently high standards. At the moment, the standard of the games is all over the place from one week to the next. Sydney, however, have been disappointingly consistent – dull as dishwater. So much for the “technical revolution” Lavicka promised. Sydney hoik more long balls out of defence than any other team.

By: Mr

Mr — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 06:42:07 +0000

Actually Fox wants to get in there with their own digital channel, but cross-media ownership would prevent this. See Ken Williams’s comments at the National Press Club;

Speaking to the National Press Club in Canberra yesterday, Foxtel chief executive Kim Williams also said the federal government should allow a fourth digital-only free-to-air TV network as soon as possible.

“It should issue licences to new players to provide new networks, either terrestrially or via satellite. That will help to drive digital television take-up,” Mr Williams said.

“Why shouldn’t a company like Foxtel or others have the opportunity to offer a fourth free-to-air network or a fifth over satellite if we can make a business case work? Why shouldn’t any other reputable and well-financed company be able to offer a fourth network terrestrially if it can make the business case work?”

http://www.australianit.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25649102-15306,00.html

By: Realfootball

Realfootball — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 06:40:10 +0000

My capacity to attend matches this year at Suncorp has been limited by the new ticket prices. And yes, I too enjoyed the game and I too felt a like I paid way too much for the tickets.

By: Robbos

Robbos — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 06:27:35 +0000

Football is not on FTA TV, only on pay TV & 2 of the top 10 most watched games are the socceroos and against world powerhouses like Qatar & Iraq.
Oh that’s right it’s the socceroos, it’s got nothing to do with football in Australia or was that the A-league or was that the only people interested in football had membership SFC and MV. Now I’m confused, what was your measurement on football again in this country, only those who attends A-league matches but didn’t follow a EPL, La Liga or Serie A side and anyone wearing a Barcelona shirt the total number of attendances should be dropped by 50. Anyone proclaiming to be a Beckham fan should together with their whole family also be turned away & be banned from all A-League grounds across the country.

By: Mr

Mr — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 06:20:06 +0000

Definately in a non FIFA World Cup year AFL GF will outrate nationally due to Vic/SA/WA/Tas and to a lesser extent NSW/Qld devotees. The figure reported for 2008 AFL GF is 2.491M viewers, second only to the Olympic Games opening ceremony.

To put that in perspective of the Socceroos, during the 2006 WC the finals were shown on FTA (as will be in 2010 on SBS) Roy Morgan has the Aus v Japan match at 7.115M viewers and the loss to Brasil was 4.178M viewers.

http://www.roymorgan.com/news/polls/2006/4038/

A-League doesn’t make the top 10 on PayTV for 2008, but the Socceroos occupy 2 of the top 5 spots for WCQs.

To put a benchmark in there, the top rating 2008 PayTV event was the (home) Bledisloe match at 350K. The same match was on FTA C7 and gained 1.445M, still below the AFL GF when FTA & PayTV is combined.

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/bledisloe-smashes-tv-ratings/story-e6frexni-1111117051198

Apologies for the News Limited link.

By: Brendo

Brendo — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 06:18:18 +0000

See Bretts comments below. There is some serious discussion about this happening right now. Fox of course are opposed but there are a lot of positives to allow the FTA to use their HD channels to show “Anti-Siphon” sports. I think their is a very good chance that the Government is going to allow this as the big advantage to them is it helps drive Digital Uptake which they need to be able to close down the Analogue

By: Robbos

Robbos — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 06:09:23 +0000

Why do you go on about A-League attendances when they had 53K for the Grand Final last year.