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Below is an e-mail I sent to the FFA, of which I have received no response. I wanted to put this e-mail out there to gauge the general response of other football fans and whether they feel I have a point.
Hi FFA,
I am assuming I won’t get a response to this e-mail if your current attitude towards the football public is anything to go by.
I am a long-time and long-term supporter of Australian football, having called it by it’s name while current the FFA chief was probably still calling it by any number of degrading misnomers so common among rugby and AFL types.
While I feel as a proven supporter of the Socceroos I deserve to be able to watch them on my TV for free, it is the arrogant and inherent exclusive arrangement that the FFA has entered into with Foxtel which I believe is doing a massive disservice to the game.
Australia is the only major country in the world which insists on excluding a large percentage of its population from watching their national football team. Think about that for a second. In every other country which plays this great game, every citizen is able to switch on their TV and watch their national team represent them.
But the FFA has decided, in their infinite wisdom, that the soul of Australian football does indeed have a price. To exclude those people who will not, or can not, have the Foxtel service installed in their home is downright rude and completely disgusting. It reduces our national team to a circus attraction, similar to the other rubbish that passes for sport on their broadcasts.
Does the FFA really want it’s brand exclusively associated with events like bull riding and children boxing?
As far as I can tell, this decision is also short-sighted in a marketing sense.
Why consciously limit your potential audience to about 25% of the country? Would it not make sense to spread the gospel as far and wide as possible?
Perhaps I am missing the point, but I thought the idea of televising sport was to get as many people to watch it as possible. As far as I can tell, by choosing to go with Foxtel exclusively, the FFA is saying they really do not care how many people watch the game.
I would appreciate an explanation on that one, but I doubt any of your marketing “gurus” have ever wondered why this decision was made.
What I would like though, is an answer to this question. I am a married man with a 12-week old baby. As a result, I can not reasonably just up and leave for the pub tomorrow night to watch our boys go up against Japan. My wife will have been caring for our child all day, hence it is an unreasonable request for me to leave her.
I do not have Foxtel at my house on the grounds that virtually everything on it offensive and patronising to anyone with a modicum of intelligence. My question then is: how does the FFA suggest I watch the game? Assuming they believe that I deserve to watch the game.
I have not been able to figure out how someone without Foxtel, and who is not able to get out to a pub on a week night, is supposed to watch the game.
I would appreciate a direct answer to this question. I assume I won’t get it as the FFA obviously has zero respect for those fans which actually make the game what it is.
I’ll leave it up to you.
Cheers,
Luc Knight
Are you the ultimate team manager? Pick your own superstar team and go head to head with other football fans for glory and cash prizes on Draftstars. Imagine what you could be buying instead. Set a deposit limit.