Ben Buckley, why won’t you wow me?
Roar Guru By Eamonn Flanagan, 13 Dec 2010 The Crowd is a Roar Guru
- Tagged:
- 2022 world cup bid, A-League, australia world cup, Ben Buckley, FFA, football, Football Federation Australia
Overheard two kids in the school yard last week. One of the boys, the small one, hands in pockets, dribbling the dirt says, “You heard we lost the World Cup bid?” His mate replies, “Yeah, but mate, have you heard the FFA are going to complete the A-League review?”
The small kid smiles and then runs off doing cartwheels across the quad.
The FFA were always going to have to face the press if the World Cup bid succeeded and of course if they failed. You knew that right?
So why didn’t the highly paid, intelligent FFA CEO Ben Buckley?
You face both the questions and answers on the World Cup bid fallout, and then the session and focus moves on to the plans for the future, the A-League, the Socceroos etc.
And this is what happened. Exactly.
Ben announced: Ronaldinho (or some other highly profiled star) would play six games in the A-League for Sydney FC starting December 26th.
He then went onto announce Australia will play England at the MCG in June 2011.
And finally, to celebrate the Matildas at 2011 World Cup, all girls will get a free ball/hat (or other appropriate item) if they sign-up for football in 2011.
Would this have grabbed the momentum back to the local game, at least fleetingly, while the other stuff took hold?
Would the people of Australia, the grassroots players have been talking about some of this?
What Ben actually did: We’ll complete our A-League review (grassroots wow factor 0/10); we’ll aim to get the Socceroos to World Cup 2014 (grassroots Wow factor -2/10); and we’ll aim to focus on the grassroots (worm doesn’t read such grassroots negative numbers).
Guess the kids who play football were so excited about the A-League review…
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December 13th 2010 @ 4:19am
FFC Down Under said | December 13th 2010 @ 4:19am | Report comment
BB is just a patsy for the FFA, Lowy is the real reason things have gone pear shaped.
Having said that i thanked him the other week for trying to get Australia the WC.
December 13th 2010 @ 6:41am
Rabbitz said | December 13th 2010 @ 6:41am | Report comment
“we’ll aim to get the Socceroos to World Cup 2014 ”
I think this is another looming PR debacle for the FFA. When that Socceroo kicked that penalty that got them into the World Cup, two World Cups ago, people were excited. When we qualified for the last World Cup, the excitement was markedly lower. Next World Cup the average punter will EXPECT the Socceroos to qualify. So just aiming to qualify is not enough.
The problem will be that qualification is now accepted as being the norm and that means that:
a) The FFA will have a marketing disaster if they fail to qualify, and;
b) Just being there will not be enough, the Socceroos will now have to live up to the hype and actually start to figure in the results, or the support will wane and die.
The 45 million dollar question is how do FFA manage the expectations and deliver results when their flagship, the A-League, is struggling to gain widespread acceptance?
I dont see that ‘having an inquiry’ will help, well not if that is promoted as the action point.
I offer this as a ‘fair-weather follower’, the type follower that the FFA must attract and keep, so far, Soccer gets my attention once every four years, for a few days.
December 13th 2010 @ 11:39am
Tad Pohle said | December 13th 2010 @ 11:39am | Report comment
I think you are more than that otherwise you wouldn’t have bothered commenting.
December 13th 2010 @ 11:50am
Rabbitz said | December 13th 2010 @ 11:50am | Report comment
Dunno,
I have never watched an A-League game, nor an English game and only a few bits of the world up. I doubt I will stick my hand in my pocket to pay to go to watch a game.
I don’t dislike the game, nor do I like it. I am just not into it.
December 13th 2010 @ 6:46am
Titus said | December 13th 2010 @ 6:46am | Report comment
The problem is the a-league is trying to compete in a global market with a wage bill that would pay for one decent player.
The dilemma is how do you grow the game to an acceptable standard, where wage bill is around $10 million, without going broke through putting out a substandard product.
The bulk of the Sydney FC team yesterday should have been a reserve team, with perhaps Alex Brosque playing in a first team. That reserve team would have provided good experience for the youngsters like Antonis and Petratos.
There is little doubt that football can work in Australia, but it needs to be a quality product. The FFA needs to negotiate a decent deal for TV rights and say, we will use that money to provide a high quality competition that will in turn become a valuable product for the broadcaster.
December 13th 2010 @ 7:31am
Rabbitz said | December 13th 2010 @ 7:31am | Report comment
Titus,
How Can FFA “negotiate a decent TV deal” when the A-League isn’t generating spectator numbers? TV networks are not generally held to be charities. So if the product is not getting bums on seats (thereby indicating widespread appeal) why would the networks be interested?
Bottom-line is that the money for TV deals comes from the prospect of selling advertising time. If the show (any show) doesn’t rate, it doesn’t make money. So no network is going to sign up to a big TV rights deal in the hope that people might start watching.
The FFA has to find a different funding model if it needs to increase income, asking for a big rights package at this time is putting the cart before the horse.
December 13th 2010 @ 7:41am
True Tah said | December 13th 2010 @ 7:41am | Report comment
Rabbitz
the HAL is well followed throughout Asia, I understand Melbourne Victory are pretty big in Singapore…the final gets something like 85m people watching.
As far as TV audiences go, Australia is small fry for the FFA, the big mullah is made from showing the HAL throughout Asia.
December 13th 2010 @ 8:04am
Rabbitz said | December 13th 2010 @ 8:04am | Report comment
TT
That being the case (as I said above I am not a regular follower) then an OS TV deal may be an alternate income stream.
So does this make “bums on seats” less important to survival of the A-League?
(Not having people at the games would make it cheaper to run the matches….
)
December 13th 2010 @ 8:26am
Titus said | December 13th 2010 @ 8:26am | Report comment
I did say this was the dilemma and I did say “decent” not enormous, what is it now about $12 million a year, including socceroos games.
The first few years showed what is possible in terms of spectators and TV ratings but the standard wasn’t nearly high enough to sustain that level of interest.
People say the quality is getting better, but as a Sydney fan, I can’t really see it. It still lacks that quality in the area that counts, the attacking and finishing area. And unless Brisbane just had an off day they didn’t really impress me that much. Anyone with an ounce of potential is whisked of overseas at a young age before ever really proving anything in the a-league, but perhaps this is whats best for their development as the quality isn’t high enough to help a player develop.
I don’t really accept that there isn’t enough interest in football to sustain a couple of teams in Sydney and Melbourne and a team in other cities. And the national audience could be pretty handy for a quality competition, the only summer football code.
And as True Tah says, there would be quite a bit of interest in Asia for a high quality, European style competition.
Its a tough job for the FFA, but all I know is they have to improve the standard, and thats going to take money and a huge investment in development.
December 13th 2010 @ 9:02am
Andyroo said | December 13th 2010 @ 9:02am | Report comment
True Tah
85m really?
I hope this source isn’t fussball because that’s pretty cool if true.
I don’t think the FFA are really seeing much money from Asia though or surely they would have rushed to bring in the Plus 1 visa rule (extra asian player) to make the league more attractive for that audience.
December 13th 2010 @ 9:16am
Andyroo said | December 13th 2010 @ 9:16am | Report comment
Edit: http://theworldgame.sbs.com.au/a-league/news/977842/Grand-final-goes-global
I found this and it’s close to your figure but only mentions ‘potential audience” which doesn’t mean anything.
December 13th 2010 @ 12:30pm
True Tah said | December 13th 2010 @ 12:30pm | Report comment
AndyRoo
one of the things I have put forward is that each HAL team should sign up an Oceania player (apart from NZ) and that the player would be exempt from the salary cap. Surely there must be players in PNG, Solomons, Vanuatu who would be up to HAL standard?
If they chucked in the extra Asian player it would make sense – Manchester United has over 300m fans in China alone, surely Gold Coast United could build a support base of 1m plus there?
December 13th 2010 @ 1:32pm
AndyRoo said | December 13th 2010 @ 1:32pm | Report comment
I like the idea.
I don’t know about Oceania anymore as they would count as foreigners for ACL purposes. Perhaps for the Phoenix there “plus 1” could be an Oceanian player.
Outside of NZ I’m not sure the players are good enough for the A league, they are just too disadvantaged football development wise. Our u19 team came second in the Asian cup and half the guys in that side haven’t broken through to the A league yet. Likewise our u20 team at the world cup was no great shakes but was miles better than Tahiti who were the Oceanian rep and a lot of the Aussie boys aren’t a league regulars.
China has it’s own league that pays much more $$$ wise than we do and has 4 ACl spots to our 2 (though they underperform badly), the benefit is more being in the same competitions/time zones as China so benefiting from the additional sponsorship/tv dollars around.
It’s more the developing (football wise) countries that present any marketing opportunity. But if we are just looking to exploit for commercial benefit I think they will soon see through us.
Perhaps at NYL level where the rule is no foreigners they could make an exemption with each team assigned a different Asean nation (plus India and Sri Lanka) where they are allowed to take on 2 players. Players at that age (18) would be fairly cheap (the Aussie kids are on less than 10k though for visa reasons might have to pay the imports more unless there is a scholarship/training loop hole) and if they don’t make it but have a good experience it’s good PR, and if they are good enough for the A league then we just uncovered a very marketable star. That seems win win for Australia and the other nations.
December 13th 2010 @ 9:10am
Football United said | December 13th 2010 @ 9:10am | Report comment
Since signing surat sukha, melbourne victory has also been pretty popular in thailand
December 13th 2010 @ 9:00am
Andyroo said | December 13th 2010 @ 9:00am | Report comment
Titus
If you watched that game yesterday I would have thought the answer to how do you grow the game to an acceptable standard was fairly obvious.
Clone Ange Postecoglu
That was one of Brisbane’s lesser performances of the year but I think most people in Australia would find them entertaining… it was Sydney who were dragging the chain spectacle wise (defending champs parking the bus at home).
That Brisbane team has no Marquees so i’m guessing it’s about 800K to 900k cheaper (wage wise) than Sydney’s.
Looking at the u19 and u17 national teams the other alternative is to just keep pumping out the talent and accepting transfer fees.
December 13th 2010 @ 9:21am
Titus said | December 13th 2010 @ 9:21am | Report comment
I haven’t seen a lot of Brisbane games this year, they looked Ok, certainly well organised, and looked like they were coasting. But Sydney were woeful, poor touches, no movement, no utilisation of space, players recieving the ball with their backs to goal and passing backwards, barely a decent cross or set piece between them, no ability to keep possesion or play an attacking pass. No confidence, chemistry or flair.
When Brosque came on he single handedly carried the team, and this encouraged some of the others to lift their game. He absolutely chased down everything and I would pay to watch Brosque alone. Overall a very dissapointing experience from a spectators point of view, though it is heart lifting to watch all the young kids excitedly kicking the ball around as we left the stadium, but we really need to give the kids something to look up to.
But yeah, I understand Brisbane are playing very well, hence why they are so far out in front, and the best you can do in this (low)salary capped league is to get a team playing like Ange has.
December 13th 2010 @ 9:38am
Andyroo said | December 13th 2010 @ 9:38am | Report comment
Sydney seem to drag down whoever there playing with to there level they have been woeful.
If your the home team there is more of an emphasis on you to do something and contribute to the entertainment but Sydney basically parked the bus for the first half (until they conceded to what I thought was a pretty good finish).
It takes two to tango and make a good game and Brisbane vs Adelaide matches have been great this year.
I think Sydney’s tight organisation and increased fitness which won them the comp last year raised the bar and forced most teams to improve (at least the fitness component). I’m hoping Brisbane’s performance does likewise and we see more possession football all round next year once the coaches have a full off season. I think the Perth and Heart experience this year has already shown that the real oldies that were good enough in previous years are no longer up to standard. Unless they reduce the amount of games played I think we will see the value of the over 30 players drop by a lot.
December 13th 2010 @ 9:33am
Melbourne!!! said | December 13th 2010 @ 9:33am | Report comment
In terms of TV rights deal, I think we are all so worried about the deal! We need free to air. But I’ve thought of a solution which will be immensely affordable. How about though that Lowy starts his own TV channel. Injects 20million into the game as “TV rights” and keeps topping up the FFA coffers with income with advertising from other weekday TV programs. Could be a very cost effective yet profitable venture. It would be a way that Lowy and the FFA can broadcast matches on their own terms. Dare to dream Mr Lowy!
December 13th 2010 @ 11:50am
Black Diamonds said | December 13th 2010 @ 11:50am | Report comment
Unfortunately for this possibility, Lowy is a businessman, and a succesful one, he didn’t get that way by imprersonating a charity.
December 13th 2010 @ 11:13am
Australian Football said | December 13th 2010 @ 11:13am | Report comment
I think Canberra should be revisited—-to just sit back and throw our hands up in the air would make the HAL even more vulnerable to ever increasing decline.. What we need now is a positive news story, and discussions on when a new team from Canberra or Wollongong can come into the league.. Does not have to happen now, but we need to get on with some good news stories. It would be marvellous to read something positive said now from Ben Buckley tomorrow or by the end of the week.. West Sydney, will not be lost but there clearly is a problem of uniting the Sokkah clubs behind a Football club in the area.. Discussion should have always involved Marconi and Sydney United in an inital partnership of the region to bring them on board united together then we may have something that Ben Buckley can be proud of..
December 13th 2010 @ 11:59am
Fil said | December 13th 2010 @ 11:59am | Report comment
Ben Buckley is simply Nero playing the fiddle while the A-League burns. Watching Sydney and Central Coast play in a almost empty stadium yesterday was embarrasing for football and the image of the A-League. If the crowds don’t pick up, Foxtel wont bother to renew the next television deal and that will be the end of the A-League, Lowy and Ben Buckley.
December 13th 2010 @ 2:08pm
Fussball ist unser leben said | December 13th 2010 @ 2:08pm | Report comment
I think you may have gone to the wrong stadium since Sydney didn’t play CCM yesterday – Sydney played Brisbane Roar!
CCM were actually playing Perth Glory on the other side of the continent, so I’m not sure how anyone could have been confused.
I’m sure Buckley cannot be blamed for people not reading the fixture correctly?
December 13th 2010 @ 7:55pm
Working Class Rugger said | December 13th 2010 @ 7:55pm | Report comment
He said Sydney and CCoast. Not Sydney vs CCoast. What he is sayiong is true, its a terrible image for the A-League and FFA. He’s also correct with his sentiment that the A-League current state could seriously hurt its prospects come TV deal negotiations. Believe different if you like but it is a stark reality.
December 13th 2010 @ 4:05pm
jamesb said | December 13th 2010 @ 4:05pm | Report comment
A-league needs new revenue streams to improve its standard. Either an overseas tv deal, or online revenue, the FFA has to bring in revenue streams, so that the a-league improves and clubs become viable.
A-league clubs should get promising asian players from singapore, thailand, korea etc, because those countries would follow their players, and also those countries are in a similar timezone to Australia.
Finding new revenue streams can solve alot of problems for the FFA.
December 13th 2010 @ 7:28pm
Gunner said | December 13th 2010 @ 7:28pm | Report comment
Like rugby league which is like 90 percent bankrolled by the one armed bandits. You take that cashcow away and WHOOSKAH. RL is in strife!
December 13th 2010 @ 7:47pm
NF said | December 13th 2010 @ 7:47pm | Report comment
Gunner
Let see what happen if Palmer,Tinkler, and other billionaires left who are keeping football clubs afloat without them they be dead because all codes need some form of cashcow to survive so don’t get so high and mighty about ‘the one armed bandits’.
December 13th 2010 @ 7:54pm
Fussball ist unser leben said | December 13th 2010 @ 7:54pm | Report comment
NF
The thing is billionaires around the globe – from the USA, England, India, Middle East, Russia, China, Singapore, Central & South Americal – continue to flock to football … seems they just can’t get enough of football.
And, it’s not just the NRL that is bankrolled by “the one armed bandits” most AFL clubs in Victoria – including the biggest clubs – Collingwood, Essendon – would not survive without the revenue from Gaming Machines.
When – not IF, but WHEN – the Victorian Government turns off or limits the number of poker machines the AFL clubs’ business model will collapse in a mess.
December 13th 2010 @ 6:46pm
Reality check said | December 13th 2010 @ 6:46pm | Report comment
Sure pick on Buckley. What about the Australian population? If they were interested in soccer, they would rock up.
It will take a long time to build the interest required.
Soccer people just refuse to accept the reality that is screaming at them.
December 13th 2010 @ 8:05pm
NF said | December 13th 2010 @ 8:05pm | Report comment
Fussball
I admit I hate pokies myself and I’m all for them being limited and I’m sure AFL/NRL can restructure there business model but it’s the better for society I admit i didn’t get the term ‘one armed bandits’ when Gunner mentioned but I assume it was some form of revenue stream that RL used so I come quickly to defense to league as I usually do. There is other revenue streams such as merchadise,membership,and tv revenue they can be utilised instead but resourcefully if they were to limit the pokies.
P.S: Go the Fury they better not cut them they have alot of potential in North Queensland and has a place in NQ sporting landscape with league,basketball,and other sports.