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A-League cannot grow unless biased media views change

Marcus Corda new author
Roar Rookie
10th January, 2016
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Will Wanderers fans show up in Perth? (AAP Image/Dan Himbrechts)
Marcus Corda new author
Roar Rookie
10th January, 2016
166
2313 Reads

The Big Bash League has really taken off with Australians during its fifth season, attracting healthy crowds, and Network Ten’s free-to-air coverage is reaching upwards of a million viewers. So why has this not happened to the A-League after 11 seasons?

Could it be the biased media approach?

The media regularly put the A-League down, whether it be the TV networks or the newspapers.

This approach is affecting the A-League, and until something changes, the league will not grow to its full potential.

Recently, a document containing the names of fans who have been banned from attending A-League matches was released. This sparked controversy and further damaged the A-League.

What about the fans who get banned from other sports across Australia? Do they risk having their identity published?

Not many people would know that 177 people were evicted from the first two days of the Boxing Day Test. If the tables were turned, and 177 people were booted across two A-League matches, the media would be all it. But when 177 people are asked to leave the cricket it is accepted by Australians because they are just having ‘fun’.

Close to 2 million people play football across Australia – more than any other sport. Yet the average A-League match has an attendance of 12,109. TV ratings for the A-League are also not great.

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When I ask people – whom I know love to play football and follow the European leagues – why they don’t go to the A-League, their response is that they are scared to go. I feel safer at an A-League match than at any other sport in Australia. Yet the media has brainwashed Australians to view the A-League as dangerous.

If the media portrayed the A-League differently, so many Australians wouldn’t be scared to go. Instead of putting terrorists and A-League fans in the same sentence, show the beauty and the passion of the beautiful game.

If more Australians are encouraged to attend, the A-League has a chance to grow to its full potential.

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