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“Full house? Not likely. I live in Brisbane and totally forgot the game was on, and I’ve already got tickets,” read the start of a response to a suggestion Australia’s upcoming World Cup qualifier against Japan will sell out.
“No hype whatsoever, unfortunately. I will be gobsmacked if we get more than 25k,” continued ‘Matt’ on Philip Micallef’s latest blog on The World Game website.
Rather than point out that I think his prediction is well wide of the mark, I thought I’d broach the topic of social media and the way it is used in football.
I’m incredulous that actual Socceroos fans would be unaware the national team is playing a vital World Cup qualifier on home soil in less than a fortnight.
But supposing we take such a claim at face value, what sort of ‘hype’ should we expect an Australian home qualifier to generate?
Would it serve a purpose for Football Federation Australia to bombard us with TV and radio advertisements for a game almost certain to sell out of its own accord?
Should they take out a run of newspaper ads in a tabloid renowned for its coverage of rugby league?
These are genuine questions, not ones asked superciliously.
I ask because I can’t imagine ever personally being exposed to any such advertisements myself.
I personally don’t listen to commercial radio, rarely watch commercial TV and read news from all over the world online.
What kind of advertising – or ‘hype’ – would influence me other than that which I came across on the internet?
Although I’m far from a social media expert, I suspect it’s being under-utilised by the Australian football community – myself included.
Late last year I started casual work as a journalist/producer at ABC Grandstand Online and I’ll be at Suncorp Stadium on June 12 on their behalf.
I happened to watch Borussia Dortmund’s recent German Cup win over Bayern Munich in the office and understanding the significance of Socceroos goalkeeper Mitch Langerak featuring off the bench, I produced some copy before any other Australian outlet.
What piqued my interest in terms of the impact of social media was the fact the report I put together was re-posted on the ‘Australian Football’ Facebook page – which at last count has more than 48,000 ‘likes.’
That might be less than the average newspaper’s circulation, but the point is the potential exists to reach a sizeable audience online.
Yet we still tend to think in old-world terms, whereupon ‘hype’ means shelling out for television and radio and newspaper ads despite the fact increasingly large swathes of the Australian population pay no attention to them.
That said, I personally don’t know how best to utilise social media.
I rarely tweet because I can’t imagine anyone out there could possibly want to read more of my opinions and my minimal Facebook presence is largely confined to recycling old Seinfeld jokes.
In fact, I spend so much time online for work I’m usually desperate to get away from the computer any chance I get.
But I know plenty of journalists tweet from games and I wonder if that’s something which truly interests the average football fan?
Facebook too is a powerful presence but it’s difficult to quantify its impact in terms of attracting readers.
So what is the best way forward?
FFA already has a social media consultant, having moved all of its editorial content online. (Disclaimer: I know this because I’ve written several columns for them).
Yet there seems to be a dichotomy between people like me, who produce and consume media online, and folks who still expect all their advertising to come from more traditional means.
What’s the best way to reach them?
Does using free social media like Facebook and Twitter suffice or is that merely a case of cyber-tilting against the windmills?