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Australian sport must consolidate, not expand

Roar Rookie
8th April, 2012
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Roar Rookie
8th April, 2012
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2441 Reads

History has been unkind to sporting teams on the Gold Coast. Three rugby league teams, an A-League club and an NBL team have all gone bust. Is it the fault of the Glitter Strip?

The area has a population of 500,000 and is expected to grow to 750,000 within the next 15 years.

A holiday destination for hundreds of thousands of Australian and international guests, with near-perfect weather all year round, it should be the ideal location for a professional sporting team.

Yet it hasn’t proved to be the case. Western Sydney is the new land of milk and honey. Sydney has 4.5 million residents and the western suburbs are the boom region.

The AFL has launched GWS and the A-League is setting up a team for next season.

However, in this area we have already seen the NBL’s Western Sydney Razorbacks fold, while the Western Suburbs Magpies, one of the nine foundation clubs and based in rugby league heartland, was forced to merge with Balmain Tigers after decades of poor on-field performances.

As someone who grew up in Western Sydney I can attest to the fact that the term ‘Western Sydney’ does not resonate with the population. We do not identify with it.

We identify with western suburbs and towns such as Parramatta, Penrith and Campbelltown, but Western Sydney is a term promoted by marketers.

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I predict that GWS and the A-League Western Sydney team will have one of two effects on their leagues. These teams will either fold or they will force another team in their league to fold. The reason is simple.

There are too many professional sporting teams in Australia.

The market is oversaturated. There are 16 NRL, 18 AFL, 10 A-League, five Super Rugby, nine NBL, six Sheffield Shield and eight T20 teams. Yet people still talk of expansion.

League fans talk of the Central Coast, Brisbane, Ipswich, Papua New Guinea, Central Queensland, Perth and New Zealand’s South Island.

AFL fans talk of Canberra, Tasmania, a third team in WA and even expanding to a two conference system.

Rugby folk want a third-tier national competition and a sixth Super Rugby team in Western Sydney.

The T20 Big Bash wants a team in Geelong and Newcastle.

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Has the Australian sporting market gone mad?

Looking at the recent expansion teams. GWS just lost by 20 goals and the Suns were beaten by over 90 points. Several NRL teams are struggling financially. The Melbourne Rebels won the wooden spoon in their first year and are propped up by imports.

The A-League has lost the North Queensland Fury, Gold Coast United and needed Nathan Tinkler to save the Newcastle Jets.

Stop the expansion talk. We need to consolidate. There are only so many top quality athletes in Australia. There is a finite amount of sponsorship money, and the media deals cannot keep growing at the rate they have.

There are only so many spectators and TV viewers to watch games, and their attention and money is being courted by many other forms of entertainment.

Expansion talk is not for the good of the game, it is for chest thumping, and that is not a sound business reason to expand. More teams mean more average players become professional athletes. The quality of games drops and ultimately the sports will suffer.

Ideally the AFL and NRL should have 12-14 teams each, the A-League eight, the Australian Super Rugby conference five. The T20 Big Bash should remove the second teams in Sydney and Melbourne.

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Consolidation could actually be more profitable for these leagues. Firstly, they don’t have to plough as much money into grassroots to develop the fringe talent. They will not need to prop up as many ailing teams who hit financial difficulties. There will be less sport on TV and that may actually drive up the media rights for each sport.

People may watch other codes to get their sporting fix if their preferred sport is not on, leading to an increase in ratings. The level of competition in sport will increase and produce a better quality product to compete with other forms of entertainment.

The challenge is how to consolidate. Who wants to put their hand up and volunteer for their team to disappear? No one does. We may not be able to reduce the number of teams easily, but let’s not add more teams and damage our sports.

Sometimes less is more, and in the Australian sporting market this is what we need to live by.

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