What’s been the difference for the A-League this season?
Columnist By Adrian Musolino, 28 Oct 2011 Adrian Musolino is a Roar Expert
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- A-League, FFA, football, Football Federation Australia
Harry Kewell can't believe it either (AAP Image/Joe Castro)
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Football Federation Australia has every right to be very pleased with the start to the 2011/12 A-League season. After the doom and gloom of the last few seasons, the justified optimism heading into this season has translated into some very impressive figures three rounds in.
They read:
- Round 3 2011/11 total crowd of 87,508 the highest single round crowd in A-League history, bettering the previous record of 84,685 from the 2007/08 season.
- Club memberships across A-League up 16 percent.
- Crowd averages up for eight of 10 clubs on last season.
- Six clubs boasting an average of over 10,000. Only two exceeded that mark last season (Melbourne Victory and Adelaide United).
- Fox Sports live average audience up 62 percent on last season.
Suddenly it’s okay to be an A-League crowd watcher (funny, that…). Rather than a source of disappointment for dieheard supporters, crowd watching is now a cause for celebration.
But amongst the exuberance and back patting there still needs to be serious analysis of the figures from across the competition. It’s vitally important the FFA understands and pinpoints what’s causing this upturn.
With multiple factors at play – Harry Kewell and Brett Emerton, October start date, reduction in ticket prices, league’s social media push, greater membership drive, more community engagement programs, etc – there are several variables in play, some by design and others by sheer fluke (Kewell and Emerton’s timing creating the perfect storm).
You may be asking why it’s important to pinpoint. Well, because as the league evolves, the FFA needs to know in which areas to continue to push and amend to further this growth spurt.
For example, if there is a big injection of funds from the next television deal (62 percent increase in Fox Sports’ audience a timely boost), understanding what causes fluctuations in crowd figures will assist the FFA and clubs in understanding the best way to progress.
That could be opening open the salary to cap to encourage more marquee players like Kewell and Emerton, subsidising clubs to offer cheaper tickets, membership options etc, maintaining the October start date and evolving the calendar to fill the August to September gap so we don’t leave a void relative to the worldwide calendar (FFA Cup?), and working with the television broadcaster to find the right balance between crowd-friendly and television-friendly timeslots.
In each market these factors may differ, so understanding what impacts these variables have from Perth to Wellington is vital for the game’s continued growth.
On the surface it appears Kewell’s presence has had the biggest impact – Melbourne Victory’s crowd average currently sitting at 39,830 (albeit the season opening blockbuster versus Sydney and Melbourne derby may have inflated that mark), up from 15,234 last season.
The marquee motivator is backed by the crowds in Sydney, which have, thus far, doubled from last season (7656 to 15,789). After the Victory’s, it’s the biggest increase.
Star power matters most in cities with the population size to make that presence count.
Newcastle’s the next biggest improver – from 8429 to 13,444 – off the back of a significant membership drive and cheaper ticket prices. Given the off field saga of Branko Culina’s sacking heading into the season, the 5000 increase in bums on seats says a lot about making attendance affordable for fans.
But most telling is Foxtel’s 62 percent increase – distinct from the crowd increase. How much of it is the Kewell-Emerton buzz and how much the October start?
Given the vacuum of sport at this time of year, particularly on pay television, surely the latter is a big contributor here. Summer remains an untapped market, and it remains to be seen what impact Cricket Australia’s Big Bash League will have. Even still, it is condensed in a very small window of the summer, leaving so much room for the A-League to operate in.
Casual fans have been able to seamlessly jump from one footy code to the other – no messy crossover period; they can watch and pick up the story from the start.
However, back to crowds, it’s not all positive. Melbourne Heart remains a concern – seemingly unable to get near the five-figure mark for non-marquee fixtures – and undoubtedly a victim of Kewell’s presence for the Victory.
Wellington could be a victim of poor form and buck the league trend and see a decrease on last season, while Gold Coast United, even with significantly reduced ticket prices, remains below the 5000-mark – surely an unsustainable level of support.
This is no time to rest on the laurels of bumper crowds, and no time to ignore averages. It remains a very important barometer for the A-League.
Follow Adrian on twitter @AdrianMusolino
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October 28th 2011 @ 7:04am
Midfielder said | October 28th 2011 @ 7:04am | Report comment
Timely article … I give a lot of credit and will swing the bat as well if things go south to Gorman …. this is his first season in charge when he had control… the fans forums FFA held across the country at the end of last season, the various and many surveys FFA ran, a huge analysis of the game…
Resulted in a late start, meaning a clear start to the season, a great ad saying we are football, the new web pages, Harry & Bret coming back, …. I think without actually adding his name a massive turn around by SBS from Hal 3 & 4 were this season you would be hard pressed to find fault with their A-League coverage…
My take is Gorman has made a huge difference…
October 28th 2011 @ 9:36am
Kasey said | October 28th 2011 @ 9:36am | Report comment
Lets also not forget in this talk of crowd averages that in 6.2 seasons, the A-League has entertained over 8 million football fans across the country.The Hyundai A-League accumulated aggregate attendance since inception in 2005 now stands at 8,083,261.
So next time you read a simpleton/bogan-like “who cares its only soccer” comment in your online News limited paper under the rare football article…think of the 8 million+ that obviously cared enough to stump up their hard earned for what many unfairly describe as a sub-standard league.
October 28th 2011 @ 10:45am
con said | October 28th 2011 @ 10:45am | Report comment
it does make it a little hard to rip into gorman as i usually do. he is farrrrrr from perfect or what i would label as competent but he has improved. the ffa is a bit like a graduate program, they take people with no idea and hope they get better, gorman got a bit better
October 28th 2011 @ 10:55am
Kasey said | October 28th 2011 @ 10:55am | Report comment
I think you’re being a little harsh on Gorman there mate. CCM are a very well run club and he was the head of it during its formation. He knows about running one club, but I imagine its quite the step up to running a whole competition. All we ask for is the FFA to continually improve and smooth out the rough edges from the admin of our game.So far they appear to be meeting this modest request, that doesn’t mean the jobs done though. They almost goofed by not respecting FIFA dates in the HAL schedule. I hope they don’t make that mistake again as surely we intend for more international standard players to come to our league. That’s just one, but there are a few other minor improvements(the 1%ers) that could be made, One thing is for sure, football fans are not shy in coming forward to offer their opinions in how things could be improved. What is far from welcome IMO is folks that just carp about unreasonable things and offer no solutions or constructive criticism.
October 28th 2011 @ 7:40pm
whiskeymac said | October 28th 2011 @ 7:40pm | Report comment
codswallop con. gorman has a good pedigree and credit where ts due with what he is doing under his leadership for the competition.
October 28th 2011 @ 7:54am
Kasey said | October 28th 2011 @ 7:54am | Report comment
In my mind, there is no one single thing. Its been a combination of a group of circumstances/decisions taken, MV recruiting HK, SFC recruiting Emo, the shift in season start into ‘clean air’ the shift also drew out the off-season, further whetting the appetite of football fans so that they have flocked back to the game in droves in the opening weeks to get their fix. The true test of the start date will come next year when the 2011-12 season kicks off in October after the HAL GF occurs on the weekend of 20-22Apr12(giving 5 full months of off season) compared to the 7 we had this most recent off season. What has struck me most about the kick off this year is the sheer bubbling optimism that has infiltrated most quarters of the game. football fans are notoriously pessimistic having ben let down in the past on so many occasions, and there are some still waiting for the other shoe to drop this season, but overall, I think the combination of recruiting, increased marketing spend and engagement by FFAHQ has gone a long way to raising the happiness quotient amongst HAl football fans. Lets face it, the fans are and can be the games biggest asset when it come to spreading the word, so if they/we are happy, it stands to reason that that is the vibe that gets presented to the great unwashed. Last year there were articles where one ‘journo’ opined thatr SFC could rob a bank and dispense with the balaklavas such was the annimity of that team in Sydneys crowded sports landscape. No one for a minute thinks they’ve completely turned that around just yet, but the signs are at least encouraging that the nadir has been reached and the profile of the league is back on the rise. To see the difference in mood over last season, look at this article and all the similar…
16 September 2010
How to save the A-League
http://www.theroar.com.au/2010/09/21/how-to-save-the-a-league/
I think the optimism bug might have caught back on after taking a break from about season 3 onwards. One other thing is that there appears to have been no major goofs from FFAHQ in the last 3 months, no last minute oh and by the way, club x is not going to be taking part in the new season self-sabotage like axing the Fury on the eve of the expected great HAL GF of season 6, way to shoot yourselves in the foot FFA:(
October 28th 2011 @ 8:09am
JAJI said | October 28th 2011 @ 8:09am | Report comment
Crucially this is perfect timing for the next TV deal – we are now almost 6 years into the 7 year TV deal struck by John O’Neil……remember the more money that comes in the more the grants to the clubs will go up and the more the salary cap will increase
October 28th 2011 @ 9:49am
Kasey said | October 28th 2011 @ 9:49am | Report comment
JAJI This is exactly what I’m hoping for, that the next TV deal is such a size tha the dividends to each club will cover their player payments and money taken in from gate receipts and memberships goes towards building the clubs to be important players in the football community. This season, a proposal to increase the size of the players bench from 3 to 5 was knocked back by the owners on basis of cost. A simple little thing like that would give the individual coaches a multitude more options to change a game with their substitutions and could result in an even higher standard of play. IMO Salary cap increases could probably wait until all the the clubs are considred ‘ rock of gibraltar’ stable but it should be reviewed ASAP.
October 28th 2011 @ 5:41pm
Melange said | October 28th 2011 @ 5:41pm | Report comment
just a small thing Kasey, the FFA knocked back the larger bench proposal as they pay the flight costs. A few clubs were willing to pay the costs for the extra players however it was deemed that this would give richer clubs an unfair advantage.
October 28th 2011 @ 8:13am
Krasic said | October 28th 2011 @ 8:13am | Report comment
Crowds might be up but apart from Brisbane the quality of football is very poor. I watched Heart v Victory and was shocked by the pathetic display. If this is the best that our local league has to offer then we are in big big trouble.
October 28th 2011 @ 8:32am
Kasey said | October 28th 2011 @ 8:32am | Report comment
Krasic, if you are judging the quality of the HAL based on one-off games then you are bound to be disappointed in lots of football leagues around the world. For every Man Citeh at ManYoo 1-6 belter, theres a Villa at Fulham 0-0 snorefest in the Barclays Premier League(The world’s most exciting football league TM). Its the nature of football that sometimes teams just cancel each other out and the tactics employed result in an average game. Taken over a whole season, the vast majority of football fans firmly believe that the standard of the gamesin the HAL has improved every year since the inaugural season Even the coach of the great Apia Leichhardt team of 1986-1987 that marched to the NSL title with 22 games undefeated has praised the quality of the reigning Champions(trying to find a link).
October 28th 2011 @ 9:27am
striker said | October 28th 2011 @ 9:27am | Report comment
Krasic all leagues have bad games and you cant judge one bad game ive seen bad games in the premier league all the time doesnt mean i bag it and turn it off.
October 28th 2011 @ 8:32am
jamesb said | October 28th 2011 @ 8:32am | Report comment
the football standard will improve as the season moves on. Lets not forget, some of these a-leagues teams haven’t played for points since February, which is a 7 to 8 month gap to October and season 7.
October 28th 2011 @ 8:37am
Punter said | October 28th 2011 @ 8:37am | Report comment
Krasic,this is the aim, the local league has always been very poor. Now with more crowds we get a better TV deal, the clubs get more money to put in the infrastruture, better coaches, academies, keep the better players in the A-League (not the elite, they will all go O/S), attrach better foreigners. All this we have to look forward to. The future looks good.
October 28th 2011 @ 10:48am
midfielder said | October 28th 2011 @ 10:48am | Report comment
Krasic
Compared to what …. the best we have to offer compared to EPl, Champions League … or too Fiji, Singapore …
Holds hand up and say we are not in the top 20 leagues in the world… are we in the top 40 … HHHHHHHHHHHHMMMMMM I think so…
The two questions you need to ask yourselk is it getting better each year, and do you want to help it get better by goin to games and watching … or alternativerly you can tell us that the EPL is better …
October 28th 2011 @ 5:26pm
Stevo said | October 28th 2011 @ 5:26pm | Report comment
Yep, you’re right, it’s crap. I better ask for my membership money back. I guess South Melb and Melb Knights, Marconi, etc etc, they aren’t playing like Barca either. Maybe their fans should ask for their money back and tell them to shape up. Yeah, its all crap if it ain’t from some big OS league so why do we bother with a league of our own??? I’m shocked by your comment and lack of support for the local game.
October 28th 2011 @ 8:30am
mds1970 said | October 28th 2011 @ 8:30am | Report comment
The signings of Kewell and Emerton have made a huge impact. They are players that even an occasional casual watcher knows and can embrace. Having them up against each other on a day when there was no other sport of note on, and 40,000 turning up, has created a positive momentum.
The October start has been a big plus. Starting the season while the other codes are still going makes it hard to generate any traction in the sporting market. I did a piece on The Roar comparing a Swans v Hawthorn game to a Sydney FC v Victory game that were played next door to each other within a couple of hours. But with the A-League game only getting 12,000, the signs were there that the A-League was struggling cor oxygen.
The risk is that the business end of the A-League season may struggle for crowds and venue availability when the other codes re-start. But it’s a risk worth taking.
And the We Are Football marketing campaign is great.
The FFA would have to feel encouraged. The round ball game has bounced back well so far this season.
October 28th 2011 @ 8:48am
Punter said | October 28th 2011 @ 8:48am | Report comment
mds1970, you have to also take into account the media coverage, the Swans on the back of the AFL media arm gets alot more media traction than the following deserves, while there is no doubt thee is a niche following for the Swans, most people in Sydney would have very little passion or knowledge for the Swans, yet it gets plugged all the time, while Sydney FC gets very little media coverage. This is the difference. This is not a criticism of the AFL, but rightly so, they are the biggest sport & doing their bit for the struggling clubs.
October 28th 2011 @ 9:20pm
Simmo said | October 28th 2011 @ 9:20pm | Report comment
+1 Punter
Media exposure is the most important fact in getting bums on seats. And the best kind of exposure is getting your games on FTA in your home city. No other football club in Sydney gets as many games on FTA as the swans. Well, maybe GWS.
October 28th 2011 @ 8:45am
Nick Ward said | October 28th 2011 @ 8:45am | Report comment
How can you make comparisons on crowd figures when we’re only 3 rounds in and some teams have only played one home game? And you seem to forget that back in season 07/08 there was one less game played in the round so bettering the previous best aggregate when you have one extra game is not something to crow about.
October 28th 2011 @ 5:19pm
The Roar said | October 28th 2011 @ 5:19pm | Report comment
Midfielder said | Today
Because when they went down it was non stop the sky is falling Football is doomed after every match … messages often posted by paid former bloggers of another code to in affect tell the business world football was going down…
Note: Comments regenerated after new website cut-over – The Roar
October 28th 2011 @ 9:03am
jamesb said | October 28th 2011 @ 9:03am | Report comment
mds1970
“The risk is that the business end of the A-League season may struggle for crowds and venue availability when the other codes re-start”
when the other codes re-start, the a-league would be commencing its finals series. There will always be clashes with other codes for a few weeks. I prefer that then have the A-League squashed from October to early March before other codes commence. That doesn’t benefit football in this country at all.
What i like to see is in September, run the FFA Cup comp for 3 to 4 weeks. In October, just like this year, start the A-League. Have 4 weeks off in the A-league season to accommodate international football, eg socceroos.
With those four weeks off, to make up for it schedule 3 to 4 midweek rounds around december and January with school hoildays. Have the finals series in april.
having better scheduling makes it a world of difference to the A-league
October 28th 2011 @ 9:09am
Titus said | October 28th 2011 @ 9:09am | Report comment
I have noticed a big difference in print and online media this year, it feels like the game is being taken seriously.
I suspect that channel 9 and 7 still don’t cover the game but as I only watch SBS, ABC and 10/one thats fine by me.
October 28th 2011 @ 9:10am
Chris said | October 28th 2011 @ 9:10am | Report comment
I’d be happier to wait in till all teams have played at least three home games before making any informed statements about crowds.
We already know that with the cutting of North Queensland Fury (who got terrible crowds as both the home and away team) the crowd average of the A-League is going to be up no matter what this season.
If the A-League can maintain the same total crowd as last year despite fewer games then that will be a very good result.
The other key is obviously that the average crowd is higher than last years crowds minus Fury games.
Melbourne Victory is obviously extremely pleasing but the Heart must be a little worried about having a crowd average that is 20% of their main rival. Note to FFA: It ceases to be a rivalry if all the fans support only one team.
All in all a promising start.
October 28th 2011 @ 9:20am
pete4 said | October 28th 2011 @ 9:20am | Report comment
I think crowds will improve this season just on the back of cutting down on mid-week games. Last season there seemed to be a game every round on a Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday night which does little to attract the average family out.
I would reserve my judgement on Heart until they have a good season then we’ll know how much support is there but they seem to be doing the right things off the park so I’m confident they’ll do okay. While with GCU they are still recovering from the PR disasters when they started out and it’ll take time for them to build their fanbase