Brisbane Roar player Luke Devere heads the ball over top of Gold Coast United player Joel Porter during the 1st round of the 2010 A-league competition at Skilled Park on the Gold Coast, Sunday, Aug. 08, 2010. (AAP Image/Dave Hunt)
Are you a glass half-full or glass half-empty sort of person? Depending on your disposition you either viewed the first round of the A-League as proof that the seeds of interest are growing, or that the support for the league is at an unsustainable level.
The crowd average may have been comfortably above the 10,000 mark (surely the absolutely minimum crowd average we should expect from the league each week), but the same old concerns are around.
Across the league we saw:
– Melbourne Heart v Central Coast – 11,050.
A crowd of 10,000 was the litmus test for the Heart and they surpassed it – impressive considering it was a Thursday night match against the Mariners.
Over 2000 memberships were sold before the match – and more on the night with volunteers aggressively pushing memberships outside AAMI Park.
A significant percentage of the crowd was made up of Melbourne Victory supporters who may take up the option of attending a match in Melbourne each week.
The test for the Heart will be as the season draws on and this goodwill from Victory fans evaporates as the rivalry develops… as it inevitably will.
– Adelaide United v Newcaslte – 8479.
Disappointing. Adelaide United is testing its typically resilient fans and many are simply walking away.
Don’t expect to see an improvement when they welcome Newcastle back in four weeks time (great scheduling from the FFA).
– Perth Glory v North Queensland Fury – 16,019.
Crowd of the weekend. It’s brilliant to see the Glory return to their NSL glory days.
Just shows what a difference a marquee worthy of the title, proper marketing and a bit of justified hype can make.
– Sydney FC v Melbourne Victory – 12,106.
Bitterly disappointing. Sydney fans had no excuse not to turn up.
With the strong lead-in of the Football Festival and Everton’s visit, the defending champs should have pulled 20,000 for the grand final replay against their great rivals.
Yet it only pulled in one thousand more people than Melbourne Heart managed for their first ever match.
The Sydney market is an incredibly fickle one, which highlights what a huge task awaits the Sydney Rovers franchise next season.
– Gold Coast United v Brisbane Roar – 6394.
Take out the Brisbane fans, which made up a significant percentage of the crowd, and Gold Coast’s supporter base remains at an unsustainable level.
How many will there be when the Mariners, Adelaide, Jets and co visit? Perilously low.
What’s going on?
The technical standard of the A-League has improved (the weekend’s matches proved this), yet fans are staying away and clubs are bleeding financially.
Before the situation gets use (and it will with the lack of promotion and as the excitement of the first few rounds subsides and the AFL and NRL begin their finals), it’s important to understand why crowds are stagnating rather than growing and why it appears the league is failing to resonate with Australians.
Here we go:
– Intrusion into the AFL and NRL seasons. It’s just not working. The A-League is getting buried in terms of media awareness and casual fan interest (made worse by being stuck on Fox Sports) and starting so limply and hoping interest will magically multiply come October is flawed.
There’s no wiggle room on this point just yet, with stadium availability an issue beyond March.
Compounding the issue is the limited advertising campaigns and promotions.
Even Robbie Slater, one of Fox Sports’ principal cheerleaders of the league, implored FFA officials not to leave the A-League to fend for itself.
The A-League is suffering from the FFA’s focus on the World Cup bid, but they cannot continue to expect Australians to simply jump on the A-League bandwagon when the AFL and NRL seasons end.
It’s like expecting people to start watching a soap opera halfway through and embrace it.
– The ghosts of soccer. This debate has raged here on The Roar of late. There is a genuine sense amongst many football fans that “new football” has burnt bridges with “old soccer” and the A-League and its clubs have lost these fans for good.
Particularly noteworthy is the belief that fans have no interest in supporting the new, generic A-League clubs when their clubs were excluded from the new look national league.
There needs to be an olive branch extended to these clubs so they can be incorporated into the national spotlight (FFA Cup?), and hopefully these fans can change their view on the A-League and start to embrace its clubs.
This won’t be easy but is essential. There is a whole football community out there that the A-League needs to connect with.
– New football’s place in the Australian sporting landscape: where does it stand?
From the chest beating proclaiming its inevitable rise to the top of Australian codes (Craig Foster and co) to those preparing the obituaries (Rebecca Wilson and everyone at the Daily Telegraph), there is genuine uncertainty about where football and the A-League currently stand in this country.
The football community can’t even agree on its name, with the old “football or soccer” argument wheeled out with Craig Foster and Mark Bosnich presenting opposing viewpoints in papers over the weekend.
When the sport doesn’t know where it is, how can it know where it has to go?
– Technical standard argument. As mentioned earlier, the technical standard is rising, but the perception that the standard is poor has stuck.
And when stacked up against the football we are seeing more of from around the world, the A-League doesn’t always match up well – not to mention the lack of star power compared to what we see on ESPN, SBS and Fox Sports. Prices in the $20-$40 range then appear exorbitant for what’s perceived as a poor product.
– High cost of going to matches. Ticket prices have been in the spotlight and remain a concern.
This is relative, however. What’s expensive to me won’t necessarily be to you, and the A-League’s fanbase can’t be described as either upper or lower class. Clubs such as Melbourne Victory draw from a wide socioeconomic spectrum.
But families only have a certain amount of income to splurge on attending live sport, and the A-League, for non-hardcore football fans, is down in the pecking order in terms of weekend activity options, especially when weighed up against what’s perceived as “better products”, such as AFL, NRL and co.
– Fox Sports. With only 34 per cent penetration, Fox Sports’ limited reach restricts the A-League’s potential market to one-third of Australia (and you can divide that further to take out those with Foxtel but not Fox Sports).
And for those with Fox Sports, watching each match live and uninterrupted in HD from the comfort of your couch is a lot easier than getting to the game and spending your hard-earned dollars on transport, tickets and dodgy food (especially when you are already paying a significant amount for Foxtel).
– New and generic clubs. A-League clubs are still in their formative years. How can we expect fans to have a connection with these clubs to the point where they commit to memberships and spend each weekend with them when they have such little shared history?
Relationships take time to build.
The last point is perhaps the most salient.
When the A-League was launched, amidst the hype of the football ‘revolution’, there was a belief from the custodians of the game that the league and clubs would just naturally grow.
This belief stunted the league’s growth for the administrators didn’t work hard enough to connect with NSL supporters and entice new fans.
What they failed to appreciate was how long it would take for them to connect with fans.
The A-League will only truly come of age when the kids who have grown up only knowing the Victory, Fury, Roar, Glory, etc, reach adulthood, with the ghosts of the past not impacting their loyalty and connection to their clubs.
In the meantime, the league must do its best to overcome these impediments, with a free-to-air presence, even if it’s just a well-promoted highlights show, crucial to its growth.
This will be especially challenging if the World Cup bid is unsuccessful and the league goes forward without a 2022 Australian World Cup on the horizon to excite the country. So much rides on that decision.
The A-League desperately needs the support of the wider football and sports community to overcome the impediments outlined.
The message is simple: support the domestic game, with its imperfections, or stand by and watch it die. It’s your choice.
General Ashnak
Guest
Your argument makes no sense. The best domestic football competitions in the world are in Europe. But the HAL is the best football comp in Australia.
The Link
Guest
Mate if they're designed to fill Lowy's pockets they're doing a pretty bad job at it.
Vjeko
Guest
Ethnic NSL clubs werent formed to make profits.. they were community clubs. They had to be sustained not fill Lowy's pockets. The team that made the World Cup grew in the NSL. A real competition. The A League is like the US "World Series" of baseball. They claim to be the worlds best. Sydney FC cannot prove they can beat State Premier League clubs. So how can the A League champion be the Australian champion? Make a promotion and relegation system and all the ethnic clubs will get into the top tier again then you will all stop following your corporations.
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
Michael C I find the "source of the message" is of paramount importance. There's a big difference between Martin Tyler, Les Murray or Craig Foster offering football analysis and opinion and, let's say, Rebecca Wilson, Mike Sheehan or Greg Baum! Everyone is entitled to an opinion on any matter but, as far as I'm concerned, unless one has the relevant credentials, qualifications and/or experience in relation to the matter being discussed, the opinion is totally worthless. Given it's nearly finals time in the AFL and, as usual, the AFL hierarchy are undertaking their annual "Let's change the rules again", I would have thought a review of Round 1 of the A-League is the last thing on your mind. Perhaps, I'm wrong and football has finally won the minds the most passionate & parochial AFL fans, too??! :-)
Michael C
Roar Guru
crystal balls can be as useless as glass jaws.
Michael C
Roar Guru
Fussball - why does it matter?? if I've said nothing wrong - - then, the message is not at issue. So, you'd rather attack the man?? Tut tut.
Fear
Guest
Some points: # The NSL did NOT have a big fanbase, ever. FULL STOP. There was never hoardes of 'lost tribes'. The biggest NSL club only averaged 8,000k a game in the NSL. A lot of those fans would now be A-League fans. Maybe 2 or 3 k of them have dropped off, really is that much? The rest of Australia had very few NSL fans., not even worth writing about to be honest. Marconi, 2k, Sydney Croatia 2k etc... #Overlap with the AFL and NRL. Really, the soccer people keep banging on how their game is the biggest and best and will ultimately over-run the Vegemite games. Well, man up soccer and do it. Prove it, you cannot run and hide in the football offseason. #Townsville and Gold Coast were a BIG mistake. They are dragging crowd numbers DOWN. Move their franchises to places that work. #Sydney is supposedly this big 'soccer' town with this BIG population, yet you get smaller towns getting bigger gates, more regularly. That says something about Sydney being a non sporting town. #The 'High Cost' to go to A-League. What is A-League pricey compared to? The South African league? Let me tell you, I saw Fulham v. Chelsea last September and it was $90 AUD at the gate for a ticket when you do the conversions. It was $60 AUD up the road to see 2nd tier Queens Park Rangers play, a similar standard to our league. A beer at the pub in London is cheaper than one here. It costs $20 AUD to go to the A-League in Melbourne. They have to hire the stadium, pay the staff out of that. What can you get in Australia for 2 hours worth of entertainment less than 20 bucks nowadays? It is cheap by first world standards. Maybe the answer is to play in parks with no seats, just hills like the NSL era. I am sick to death of the old NSLers. It was a lousy league. This nostalgia is like the eastern Europeans being nostalgic about communism.
jimbo
Roar Guru
The A-League will still be going when they hold the 2022 WC in Australia and the average attendances will have increased over that time.
ME
Guest
Did Harold Mitchell help you with what questons to ask? (waits for the next temper tantrum from Fussball). And about who doesn't care, guess what, most of Australia doesn't care about the A-League. You say you don't care about NRL/AFL clubs closing, but then report on NRL clubs closing/merging. If you didn't care about them thne why did you make those comments? And going by the incorrect figures you have already given I guess your no expert yourself. So by your own admission your opinions on aren't anything to rely on. So please go on and show us how much you don't care by researching other football codes you don't care about. You can then tell me there're 10 million soccer players in NSW (see, I can make figures up too). Maybe you can also give me a expert opinion on what the best way to cook chicken from Harold Mitchell , after all he's an expert and therefore should know the only good way to do it. When will you realise that its fans like you that are chasing people away from the A League, not drawing them to it.
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
Michael C I never said there was anything wrong with your comments, I was merely asking: a) How many A-League games have you attended? b) why do you care so much about the A-league, when you clearly don't like the Game and certainly don't understand the nuances of the Game? I no longer follow AFL so I couldn't care less if the competition thrives of falls over tomorrow. However, from time-to-time I comment about AFL matters since I did attend AFL matches regularly over a period of 20+ years and have been at the ground to watch my team play in 10 Grand Finals (9 at the MCG and 1 at VFL Park), which included 7 Premierships. Now, unless I'm talking to another Hawthorn supporter, there are no AFL fans who have seen their team play in more Grand finals or win more Premierships in the past 40 years, so I reckon I'm reasonably qualified to discuss some/most AFL matters. So, I ask again, what's your A-League or Football watching experience?
Rellum
Roar Guru
"A significant percentage of the crowd was made up of Melbourne Victory supporters who may take up the option of attending a match in Melbourne each week." Where is your evidence to back up this claim, or do you just like to pull things from the nether regions. Just about every one I saw at the game was decked out in some sort of Heart merchandise apart from the 50 odd Marinators. Yes there was the odd Victory supporter there, I also saw Liverpool, Southampton, River Plate and even one Croatian scarf there as well. If you are going to make claims like this, at least try and back them up with facts.
Michael C
Roar Guru
Fussball - point out where I was wrong??
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
Michael C Given that every man and his dog, who hates Football delights in highlighting alleged negatives after 1 HAL round, why cannot football lovers draw attention to positives? And, by the way, what's your interest in the A-League? Why do you care so much? And, pray tell, how many A-League games have you attended in your life?
Michael C
Roar Guru
"Get your facts right " you say ICF!!!! only 3 AFL clubs recorded operating losses in season 2009. 3 of 16. And you're claiming 3 of 10 HAL clubs making a profit is a better percentage than 13 of 16??? If you're going to bring other codes into the discussion, then I'd seriously urge you to do your research and perhaps even provide some supporting evidence (a link??). btw - your claim of HAL crowds up 16% (after 1 round) is a little premature wouldn't you think?? after all, the sub 11,000 per match first round attendance is by a fair way the worst in HAL history. Rnd 1 avgs: V1 : 17,552 V2 : 15,741 V3 : 14,554 V4 : 13,331 V5 : 13,631 so, I'd hardly be jumping up and down proclaiming Rnd 1 V6 as a great result!!!! However, for overall attendance figures, it's surely very, very premature to be proclaiming anything good or bad. I'm not about to, and you'd argue yourself blue in the face to counter me if I did.
Tim
Guest
An 8pm is too late in winter. I went to the Syd v Haw game at the SCG on saturday arvo and would have easily moved across to the SFS if the game was at a decent hour. Surely the fixture could have moved to 6.30/7pm kickoff to encourage some of the 29k fans from the SCG to stick around. One bizarre thing the A League does is begin the season in the middle of August. There is no significance to that time of the year. Perhaps kickoff the season first weekend of Spring (Sept) to get that thought stuck in the head throughout the year rather than the notion of August 5. The A League definitely intrudes on the latter end of AFL and NRL seasons, but it needs to work with coinciding timetables to encourage fans attend rather than expecting them to independently choose the A League mid winter.
Michael C
Roar Guru
sorry - - that should read However, to have a substantial decrease of 10% or 16% once the major competition both from other codes and from Soccers grass roots local leagues is finished for the year
Michael C
Roar Guru
in excess of 1 million registered players in Sydney?? I draw your attention to this Football-NSW missive that states 220,000 registered players and 40,000 volunteers as quoted by Michelle Hanley from the Football-NSW office. (btw - Paul Wade back in Feb spoke of 500,000 registered players in Australia.) Now - - whether that's more than the other 3 codes combined I really don't know or necessarily care. Just want to ensure that a little dose of reality is retained!!!!
Michael C
Roar Guru
Mega - no, I didn't miss the point. You and Adrian are talking about rising the average. I'm talking about sustaining it!! Adrian's argument would hold if the attendances were pretty well levelled out, i.e. explaining away that there was no increase. However, to have a substantial increase of 10% or 16% once the major competition both from other codes and from Soccers grass roots local leagues is finished for the year - - - that is not just about the people not watching the soap half way through........that's indicating 10-15% of those who started out watching it have exhausted their attention span!!!! I'm not talking about a 'magical rise' - - my point is 3 of 5 seasons have had a mid season slump in attendances by 10-15%. It's the slump that I'd suggest is a concern......not the lack of a rise. ' You gotta hold those attendance levels before you can start worrying about growing them!! Again though - - the why's and why nots. I wouldn't pretend to know.
Mega
Guest
Michael, you miss the point (or choose to ignore it). What's lost is momentum. The season starts in the shadows and it cant magically rise in interest 10 rounds in, hence crowd figures don't improve when the AFL and NRL are down. Your looking at numbers only and actually supporting Adrian's arguement that people arent interested in watching a soap half way through.
Michael C
Roar Guru
Adrian notes the 'intrusion into AFL and NRL seasons' as a reason for poor crowds as if it's a given fact. It might 'feel' right to suggest this, but, if you check the numbers - - it's not supported. For crowd averages of the first 5 seasons splitting the season into 3rds; there are 3 seasons where the middle third of the season (post AFL and NRL seasons finishing AS WELL as local soccer leagues finishing up) was 10% of more DOWN on the first third of the season where 'intrusion' was at it's 'worst' due to finals. V1 and V4 both more than 10% in middle third, and V5 was around 16% down. V2 was up 11% but was greatly assisted by the MVFC move to Docklands. And V3 was up just 2%. The general trend and the trend of the last 2 seasons (therefore the most current trend) is of a pretty significant (10% and 16%) drop at just the time that you'd expect the numbers to be 'steadying' or increasing. The why's and why nots.......that's not my area. HOwever, I'd hope that theRoar editors understand that this is purely a fact based challenge of an assertion that whilst it might 'sound right' actually is not supported.