Sporting codes treading on each other’s toes
Columnist By Adrian Musolino, 28 Feb 2012 Adrian Musolino is a Roar Expert
- Tagged:
- A-League, AFL, Big Bash League, Code wars, Commonwealth Bank Series, NAB Cup, NBL, NRL, One day cricket, SA Redbacks, Sheffield Shield, Super Rugby
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The timing of the Allan Border Medal, Australian cricket’s night of nights, says a lot about the messy scheduling of the cricket season. With the Commonwealth Bank Series still a match away from its finals series, Australian cricket was patting itself on the back for a job well done.
In their reworked season in which it’s squeezed in a month-long window for the Big Bash League in December and January and the return of the international one-day tri-nations Commonwealth Bank Series, Cricket Australia has further intruded into the footy codes’ seasons.
When the Commonwealth Bank Series finishes on March 8 (assuming a third and deciding final is required), the NRL season will be underway and heading into its second round of the season, Super Rugby into its third, and the AFL’s pre-season NAB Cup competition approaching its finals.
Then throw into the mix the A-League season that will not conclude till the end of March, having moved the season back to avoid the season start clashing with the NRL and AFL’s finals series; the NBL, the other summer ball sport, which will also finish at the end of March; and V8 Supercars’ season, which begins this weekend in Adelaide.
So within this current fortnight (end of February to the beginning of March) we have the following running concurrently: international and domestic cricket, NRL Premiership, Super Rugby, A-League, NBL, V8 Supercars, AFL pre-season, to name just the major Australian sporting codes. The AFL Premiership is the only major code “out of season” in this period, by just a fortnight.
Manna from heaven for sports fans, yes, but this increasing crossover period of summer and winter sports highlights the competitiveness and volatility of the current landscape.
The recent fluctuation in crowds for the likes of Melbourne Heart shows how volatile the market is for codes down the pecking order. Even the AFL saw a dip in Melbourne crowds for the NAB Cup opener, as did the Super Rugby NSW Waratahs match against the Queensland Reds relative to last season’s corresponding fixture.
As for cricket, the decision by hosts of domestic one-day final, South Australia Redbacks, to throw the gates open to fans to “celebrate and say thank you” is an intriguing one. A crowd of over 10,000 turned up in what was the largest crowd for a domestic one-day cricket match.
Yet how do you judge a crowd of 10,000 to a free grand final of a national competition? When Adelaide’s Big Bash League franchise pulled over 25,000 multiple times, to a paid event, does the 10,000 who bothered to turn up to a free final reflect just how weakened one-day and Sheffield Shield domestic competitions are as a result of the Big Bash League (which failed to reach its predicted crowd heights, by the way), or is there a general trend across all sports?
The competition for our dollar has never been this intense. And we only have a certain amount of disposable income for sports, in what remains a challenging economy.
Expansion of competitions means codes need to maximise their attack on their respective markets, which are shrinking as more professional clubs move in.
Things are getting tighter and even more competitive.
Adrian Musolino is editor of V8X Magazine, and has written as an expert on The Roar since 2008, cementing himself as a key writer who can see the big picture in sport. He freelances on other forms of motorsport, football, cycling and more.
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February 28th 2012 @ 6:28am
ManInBlack said | February 28th 2012 @ 6:28am | Report comment
Don’t blame cricket – they still have first rights on the footy/cricket ovals up to the end of March.
Note the AFL is ‘out of season’ still because it works hand in glove with cricket.
The rest can do as they please on their rectangular fields or indoor stadiums.
So, really, who is treading on toes anyway??
February 28th 2012 @ 8:02am
The Special One said | February 28th 2012 @ 8:02am | Report comment
I often thought of writing an article titled “Can Australia sustain so much professional sport? ”
I havent done enough research on it , but with clubs and competitions in debt right across the sporting spectrum, my initial thoughts are that it cant.
February 28th 2012 @ 8:09am
The Cattery said | February 28th 2012 @ 8:09am | Report comment
I think it’s the next tier of sports below the football codes and cricket that face the biggest challenge. We’re talking about basketball and baseball, both having re-launched national leagues in recent years. Then you also have a sport like hockey – large participation base, has tried to have a national league – does it still exist? Who would know. Netball has made great progress and appears to have carved out a healthy niche for itself, but must run as a low-cost operation by necessity.
February 28th 2012 @ 10:15am
JiMMM said | February 28th 2012 @ 10:15am | Report comment
Yes the Australian Hockey League is still going on, in the tournament style that seems to uniquely fit hockey so well. For the record it is essetially a state team competition held over 2 weekends and a final round week, so it is all done and dusted before it can get some traction, coupled with some strange selection of the hosts (I have no idea why the 3 most populous cities are not gauranteed at least one of the weekend tournaments (The only locations I can find for this year are Canberra and Perth)), and it’s no wonder most people dont know about the tournament.
February 28th 2012 @ 12:06pm
The Cattery said | February 28th 2012 @ 12:06pm | Report comment
JiMMM
thanks for the update, I didn’t mean to sound discourteous about hockey (I’m a fan of both lacrosse and hockey), but I honestly hadn’t heard anything about the national league for a very long time.
February 28th 2012 @ 12:31pm
JiMMM said | February 28th 2012 @ 12:31pm | Report comment
Nothing discourteous about it, I follow hockey very closely and even I find it nigh on impossible to get information in a timely manner about these tournamnets.
February 28th 2012 @ 8:05am
The Cattery said | February 28th 2012 @ 8:05am | Report comment
Adrian
what you are describing is a situation that has existed for years to varying degrees. The A-League is finishing later, and that’s the only difference.
State cricket hasn’t attracted a crowd for 80 years.
The Reds v Waratahs crowd looked pretty good to me, and they got very good ratings as well.
February 28th 2012 @ 8:13am
The Special One said | February 28th 2012 @ 8:13am | Report comment
I think it was about 2000 less than last year at ANZ. If they held it at the SFS im sure it would have been closer to 40000.
The A-league will suffer the most im afraid. Even though the start of the season was in clear air, the end of the season and finals will be drowned out by the AFL/NRL/Super Rugby. I hope it can hold its own.
February 28th 2012 @ 8:26am
The Cattery said | February 28th 2012 @ 8:26am | Report comment
I think the theory is that finals will generate its own interest, moreso than the start of the season – and there’s probably some merit in that view.
But the timing of the A-League grand final around the end of February used to be almost perfect in every respect, so it wouldn’t surprise me to see a return to that.
At the end of the day, there’s sport 12 months of the year, and every sport just as to try and make the best of it, at least they can avoid a clash of major events.
Even then, last season both the NRL and AFL played their grand finals on the same weekend (as they did the year before because of the drawn grand final), and it didn’t make a jot of difference.
February 28th 2012 @ 8:29am
mds1970 said | February 28th 2012 @ 8:29am | Report comment
It’s rare, but not unprecedented, for the international cricket season to go into March. It happened four years ago when India last came out here; and when Australia hosted the World Cup in 1992 and the World Championship in 1985. It will happen again for the 2015 World Cup.
Rugby league traditionally starts mid-March, but went forward a week this year. It’s the combination of the late finish to the cricket and the early start to the NRL that sees them clash.
The other major change this year is the later A-League season. At the start of the season, that was a major positive; with the Kewell v Emerton clash getting plenty of oxygen in the media and 40,000 attending the season opener and 39,000 for the Melbourne derby a couple of weeks later.
On the other hand, it will be interesting to see how the A-League finals go when they’re up against the AFL and NRL. Particularly if there’s any clash with ground availability.
February 28th 2012 @ 8:35am
Brett McKay said | February 28th 2012 @ 8:35am | Report comment
Adrian, I’ve been quite interested to see the number of comments and references in recent weeks about cricket ‘encroaching’ into football season, when in reality, the expanding football codes have been inching forward in the calendar over the last 15-20 years. Super Rugby actually went back a few weeks last year under the new conference system, but the NRL this season has come forward to cater for a stand-alone rep weekend in May.
Cricket is still being played within its traditonal season, the only difference this year is that India’s later arrival meant that the Tests didn’t finish until late Jan, and the ODIs – with India again being the reason for the tri-series revival – don’t finish until this weekend coming. The Big Bash was still played over the New Year and into Jan last year. The Sheffield Shield final is always toward the end of March.
But why is this a problem? Why is cricket being played late into cricket season a problem, but football being played early into cricket season isn’t?
(Also, since it’s inception, the AB Medal night has always been leading into the last week of the OD series..)
February 28th 2012 @ 12:15pm
The Cattery said | February 28th 2012 @ 12:15pm | Report comment
Brett
at least that game that was invented to keep cricketers fit in Winter continues to stick predominantly to its season: first game of the year generally in the last weekend of March, and the grand final in the last weekend in September – and it has stuck steadfastly to that since the 1950s.
The pre-season comp tries to play on grounds without cricket pitches as much as is possible, and in the main, is seen predominantly as a form of practice match, albeit with a cup at the end of it, and lots of money provided by sponsors.
February 28th 2012 @ 2:40pm
Don Corleone said | February 28th 2012 @ 2:40pm | Report comment
I agree with Brett, how exactly has ‘Cricket Australia … further intruded into the footy codes’ seasons’? The first international fixture of the summer was the 1st test against NZ in Brisbane on Dec 1st.
Cricket is being played within it’s traditional season October-March, football codes should be played between April and September.
The only encroachment I can see is from the football codes with the Indigenous ‘All-Stars’ game being played in the first week of February being a perfect example.
February 28th 2012 @ 3:25pm
Whites said | February 28th 2012 @ 3:25pm | Report comment
The NSWRL actually started in February from 1982-87. On this day 30 years ago the Illawarra Steelers played their first game.
February 28th 2012 @ 4:44pm
mds1970 said | February 28th 2012 @ 4:44pm | Report comment
Also in 2000, but that was because of the need to be finished well before the Olympics.
February 28th 2012 @ 8:59am
B.A Sports said | February 28th 2012 @ 8:59am | Report comment
I don’t understand why the A-League, with it’s limited resources needs a 27 round regular season when the two bigger codes (NRL/AFL) have significantly more teams yet run shorter regular seasons!
February 28th 2012 @ 10:16am
JiMMM said | February 28th 2012 @ 10:16am | Report comment
I’m pretty sure it’s an AFC condition for teams to qualify for the champions league.
February 28th 2012 @ 11:10am
JamesP said | February 28th 2012 @ 11:10am | Report comment
Agree and I have raised this on an earlier thread. The A-league needs 10 teams with each team playing twice. The entire season should thus be 18 rounds and before we start talking about professionalism, both Super Rugby and the NFL (2 biggest football codes after Soccer) each play less than that amount as part of their regular season. You maximise A-league ratings and attendances and you keep it as a short boutique competition, and just accept that you are getting 2 ACL spots and nothing else. It starts after the AFL/NRL finishes and ends before they start. Lets forget about these ludracous visions of making the A-league the biggest and best competition in Asia – will never happen. We have far less people and money than Asia, not to mention that Soccer is challenging Super Rugby for 3rd place in the professional domestic football landscape.
February 28th 2012 @ 12:25pm
The Cattery said | February 28th 2012 @ 12:25pm | Report comment
Most soccer fans follow the big European leagues where 38 game seasons are the norm (with 16 to 32 additional games on top of that), running for at least nine months, and basically, that’s what they want for Australia (plus multiple divisions, promotion and relegation, etc, etc).
I’ve always had a thought that if the A-League grand final could be played around Australia Day, towards the end of January, not only could the FFA capitalise on a long weekend for its signature game, but clubs could then loan out their players to European comptetitions before the transfer window closes at the end of January, which could be a good source of income for clubs, plus the better players would get the extra games they need to be able to stay sharp for NT duties.
February 28th 2012 @ 1:32pm
Jay said | February 28th 2012 @ 1:32pm | Report comment
European comps have upto 20 teams, that’s the difference, not even mentioning the quality of football.
February 28th 2012 @ 7:41pm
Football United said | February 28th 2012 @ 7:41pm | Report comment
If you decrease the number of games, players will leave. a quality player will need to be involved in over 20 games here to be in contention for the NT or he would easily leave overseas.
February 29th 2012 @ 10:51am
me, I like football said | February 29th 2012 @ 10:51am | Report comment
That’s when the state leagues in the A-League off season could benifit. Or are they now played in summer too?
February 28th 2012 @ 7:33pm
Dinoweb said | February 28th 2012 @ 7:33pm | Report comment
First up, with AFL, RL and RU being full contact sports, the stress on players bodies is much greater than for soccer players. That means soccer players are far more capable of playing more matches in a year at a high level than players in the other codes.
Secondly, as a truly international sport, the A-league is not just about running a football competition in Austrlia, but also about improving the standard of our players, so that they can compete at an international level. The more games you can play at the highest level possible, the more you will improve. We already have isssues with players leaving Oz to play overseas. Reducing the number of games, and thereby lessening the learning potential of players in the A-League would only increase the number of players looking for overseas employment. More players leaving means a lesser standard here. It becomes a vicious circle.
Likewise, foreign players are also needed to help improve the standard of the competition, and hence the standard of the Oz players in it. A shorter season would make it far more difficult to attract overseas players to the competition.
Finally, it is also a matter of economics. A shorter season means less earning potential. There is absolutely no evidene to suggest that a shorter season would result in a corresponding increase in revenue per game. Players, coaches and administrators will still want to have the same earning potential per season, so there would be no saving there.
As for JamesP, what is wrong with trying to make the A-League the best comp in Asia? Australia is already the highest ranked national team in Asia, so why not aim for the same thing with the league? Reducing the length, and hence the standard of the league will do nothing for the Australian national team.
Personally I find it odd that any Australian would suggest that simply because we are not as big and do not have as much money that we still cant try to be the best.
Striving to be the best you can be, and overcoming the odds is what sport is all about after all!
February 28th 2012 @ 9:09am
Androo said | February 28th 2012 @ 9:09am | Report comment
Santo, Sam and Ed last night summed it up best re. the cricket season: it just goes on and on and on and on. And some such as myself would argue it has been doing that since November. Meanwhile the preseason AFL competition this year appears to be meandering aimlessly. The NRL’s preseason wasn’t much better. And those daffy dills with the most to lose *the FFA* still don’t get it. The A-League season is 4 weeks too long*** [see comments below] and the idea that interest in the finals will be much better because they are played at the start of the AFL, NRL, and S15 seasons is ludicrous. WIPEOUT coming!
***The likes of Craig Foster would argue the season needs to be longer to increase match time, but this is simply unsustainable for the A-League. The A-League season might be better off with every team playing each other twice (18 rounds). Then the league splits into two conferences based on north/south geography: 1. PG, AU, MH, MV, WP ; 2. SFC, CCM, NJ, BR, GCU. The conference teams play one another once (4 rounds) = 22 rounds + 4 weeks finals = about 26 weeks. All done before the big leagues move in.
February 28th 2012 @ 9:36am
Jay said | February 28th 2012 @ 9:36am | Report comment
What NRL preseason was there? Just some trials and the All Stars game.
February 28th 2012 @ 10:59am
The Truth Hurts said | February 28th 2012 @ 10:59am | Report comment
That happened preseason, didn’t it?
March 2nd 2012 @ 8:55am
Blaze said | March 2nd 2012 @ 8:55am | Report comment
I believe the point was meandering aimlessly…
February 28th 2012 @ 9:21am
Titus said | February 28th 2012 @ 9:21am | Report comment
There are too many Rugby codes or codes that are a lot like Rugby(AFL), and there are too many versions of cricket.
There isn’t enough Football, it should go for about 9 months a year so we can have a serious Football competition, invest more money in the game so we can retain and attract better players and compete at an international level, wittle AFL/Rugby/League down to one hybrid game.
February 28th 2012 @ 9:33am
The Cattery said | February 28th 2012 @ 9:33am | Report comment
In fact p.tah wrote an article only yesterday about the three oval ball games combining to form one Rugby 7s comp.
If you condensed all three leagues into one Rugby 7s comp, with, say, six teams, the season could have 10 rounds, plus one grand final at the end of it, reducing the oval ball season to 11 weeks, leaving a minimum of 9 months per annum for soccer alone.
February 28th 2012 @ 9:43am
Titus said | February 28th 2012 @ 9:43am | Report comment
Brilliant, love it!
February 28th 2012 @ 9:38am
Jay said | February 28th 2012 @ 9:38am | Report comment
I take it this comment was only posted to stir the pot.
February 28th 2012 @ 9:44am
Titus said | February 28th 2012 @ 9:44am | Report comment
In a way, yes, but this is how I see it.
Really you only need 1 Rugby code, 1 Football code and one Bat and Ball code.
February 28th 2012 @ 10:11am
Australian Rules said | February 28th 2012 @ 10:11am | Report comment
I’d go further Titus.
Yes, scrap Rugby, ARF and League…and funnel all those resources into the A-League.
But also…replace English, Maths and Geography at school with classes studying 4-4-2 formations, goalkeeping techniques and the rules of Association Football.
February 28th 2012 @ 10:25am
Titus said | February 28th 2012 @ 10:25am | Report comment
Ridiculous statement AR……..what about 4-3-3, 3-4-3, 4-2-3-1 etc
February 28th 2012 @ 11:32am
Australian Rules said | February 28th 2012 @ 11:32am | Report comment
My mistake…
February 28th 2012 @ 12:10pm
The Cattery said | February 28th 2012 @ 12:10pm | Report comment
Dispense with class time altogether – just have the kids out on the soccer pitch all day long – with one ball each of course – the day split between small sided games, drills and free play. Make sure they where a hat and have sun block on.
Given the earnings possible from the very top players, there is actually a very sound economic argument for transitioning to this sort of set up – only the drop outs would end up going to uni under this model.
February 28th 2012 @ 8:27pm
Dingo said | February 28th 2012 @ 8:27pm | Report comment
Will need a class to teach the kiddies how to ignite flares.
February 28th 2012 @ 9:52am
Republican said | February 28th 2012 @ 9:52am | Report comment
Seasons are too long for all codes and the old demarcations that defined codes are no longer relevant as a result of elite sports reliance on tele.
In the Australian and indeed global market this has reached well beyond saturation point and I would expect this to be evidenced here in Oz anyway, by continued dwindling support.
The NAB has never been well supported and should be done away with.
I would partially support Titus’s sentiment in respect of all these truncated additions to established codes spreading resources thinly as well. Todays sporting menu seems to be more about quantity than quality, lacking in substance.
I would not however advocate a hybrid that included the indigenous code since it bares no resemblance to the rugby’s, while there have long been calls for League and Union to be joined at the hip. While this may be practicably possible it would present as a challenging marriage culturally.
February 28th 2012 @ 11:13am
JamesP said | February 28th 2012 @ 11:13am | Report comment
The NAB cup got record ratings and crowds last year, and this year looks no different. In a world where other codes have representative football, either SoS or internationals, the AFL need something else above just the regular H&A season/finals
February 28th 2012 @ 10:29am
JiMMM said | February 28th 2012 @ 10:29am | Report comment
Very interesting article Adrain, it seems to me that all of our sporting codes are competing for our dollars by trying to give us more “product” for us to “consume”. I find it strange that none of the codes has gone for the less is more approach (State of Origin excluded) like the NFL has, to try and drive a short very intense period of fan attention rather than what just seems to be an endless series of games, that to be honest can get quite tedious by the end of it.
February 28th 2012 @ 12:42pm
The Cattery said | February 28th 2012 @ 12:42pm | Report comment
JiMMM
the AFL has stuck with 22 rounds per season for almost 50 years now, despite going from 12 teams to 18 teams in the last 25 years.
The Commission has made it pretty much clear that there will not be extra games and accepts that for most of the grounds used (not all), that they must be shared with cricket, for instance, the MCG agreement goes out till 2037, upon which cricket and footy will celebrate 175 years of having shared the ground.
February 28th 2012 @ 2:01pm
Brian said | February 28th 2012 @ 2:01pm | Report comment
Wasn’t there 24 rounds last year
February 28th 2012 @ 2:27pm
mds1970 said | February 28th 2012 @ 2:27pm | Report comment
There were an odd number of teams last year, with Gold Coast joining a year before GWS. Although the home & away season went over 24 weeks, each team only played 22 games.
February 28th 2012 @ 2:07pm
JiMMM said | February 28th 2012 @ 2:07pm | Report comment
Thats a fair point (I’m from QLD so really dont know a huge amount about AFL), but what I was trying to get at is that for all of the codes the mantra is all about “expansion”, increasing the number of games, increasing the number of rounds, increasing the length of season, increasing the amount of talk in the off season.
No sport in Australia is going for the less is more approach of having a shortened season in which they absolutely dominate like the NFL does, and no sport seems to be considering it as a valid option.
Would State of Origin be what it is if a game was played every 3rd or 4th week for a season? Does cricket hold the same appeal now tht it is played constatntly? Do we as sport fans feel the absolute desire to be at every game we can be if we could go to one every second week for 7 or 8 months of the year? Is the quantity of matches more important to us than the quality of the matches?
These are all things that I believe no sporting body has taken a serious look at given the current desire to expand.
February 29th 2012 @ 11:00am
me, I like football said | February 29th 2012 @ 11:00am | Report comment
There were only 20 games played in the 1993 season that coupled with the fact that the top 8 wasn’t brought in until the following year cost Geelong a finals berth and what i believe a Flag, we were peaking late that seaon. PEAKING I TELLS YA!