Only FTA can make midweek football work

According to The Fearless Leader of the Followers of the Behind, a couple of FIFA WC games is going to end the AFL season and ruin Melbourne's way of life. :) :) :) So ask him how he is going to fit in another 16 rounds of Aussie Rules matches?

Hooplah opined: "Personally, if I was running the AFL. I would be going a 34 week home and away season plus another month of finals". And, I laughed and I laughed. The hot pants and singlet mob struggle to play a 22 games every season and you want them playing for 38 weeks. The Aussie Rules guys can't even cope with one or two additional State of Origin mid-week games so, pray tell, how are they going to cope with 12 more games? And, do you honestly think the AFL wouldn't schedule more matches if they could? I wouldn't be surprised to see the Aussie Rules season reduced to 16 game 'home & away' season as the League splits into 2 x 9 teams; plus finals. With the current 16 team competition, mid-way through the season the bottom 4 clubs are not in the finals race so many matches are dead rubbers. That way you could have 8 teams making the finals in each Group and only the bottom side misses out - which would fit nicely with the policy of "rewarding mediocrity"?!

Totally agree midfielder. Aint anything manufactured about the derby between Central Coast and Newcastle. We hate the Scum and they hate us. This 'the only derby is a one city derby' are just eurosnobs who want to recreate some UK idyll! However the powers that be don't feel that way otherwise why shunt it from Saturday night for the Beckham exhibition game circus (that looks like losing money due to poor crowd - SMH today) As for midweek games - work for some cities (eg. Adelaide, some times eg. School Hols/Xmas/NY) - otherwise are a disaster for the clubs and fans. That said, I have my ticket to tonight F3 derby, and will be there supporting the Yellow!

To Hooplah. With respect just relax a little bit with you're post's it appears, you like me are crosscoder's. And yes Syd and Bris are poor attendance markets for most sports. That the A League is only seven years old and trying to build relationships with communities still . Where if you look at the A.F.L its 20 years old i dont see the A League scaling those heights but kids playing the game should be afforded the right to potentially represent their country.

The AFL helps soccer by not going to a full home and away season, if they did soccer, the A-League would be GONE! Imagine, an extra 2 month long AFL season. Personally, if I was running the AFL. I would be going a 34 week home and away season plus another month of finals on top. That would be the death knell of A-League in the southern 4 states and the most popular A-League clubs with it. That gentlemen is if AFL really wanted to clean house of any competitors in it's backyards. The rugby league states are where A-League is struggling. Gold Coast, North Qld, Newcastle, Sydney, the 2nd Sydney team, NEED I GO ON?

The only football on the anti-siphoning list currently is the FA Cup and the FIFA WC. Neither of which are played in Australia. Only the Socceroos WC qualifiers are going to be added to the anti-siphoning list - that's it. The international friendlies, Asian Cup, confederations Cup, A-League, W-League, Youth League, Matildas, Joeys, U-20 Young Socceroos etc all still staying on Pay TV - unless an FTA station pay Fox more to show it. Will FTA benefit the A-League? games could end up being shown after midnight on a Tuesday, who knows - at least the Fox contract stipulates that the games are shown live. But is this a good thing? - showing the games live reduces the attendances. Interesting conversation and topic for discussion - a good topic for a thesis in a post grad sports media studies degree. :) If the demand is there, FTA stations will show it - the FFA needs to boost its domestic presence to increase its value - promotion, advertising, community awareness and media buy in. The Socceroos are already paying their way handsomely.

Davidde The F3 derby is not in any way manufactured ... have a look at this thread from the Mariners fans forum... http://ccmfans.net/board/index.php?/topic/717-scum-in-turmoil/ close to 90K views ... almost 2, 000 posts by far the biggest thread on our forum outside Mariners squad threads... We dislike them a lot and they dislike us... More to me someone .... OHHHHHHHh its annoying .... if we are in Sydney or Melbourne its news ... just a little team and OH its really important to you..please... Fark the Jets .... Just more of the same ... Nobody rates us we don't care...

I agree with Davidde in regards to the F3 Derby being artificial. A true derby for mine is within the limits of the City it is being played in. The derby of Newcastle these days in the NNSW State League would be Broadmeadow Magic v Hamilton Olympic, but there is feeling amongst many of the teams for various reasons (player/coach changing, spiteful clashes etc)... The Heart v Victory is the only true derby of the A-League. In saying this, I have been to most of the F3 Derbies and would agree with Ben that there is a heightened feeling that can be traced to three points: 1.Mrdja breaks leg of Durante in May 2005. 2. Bridge nails the winner in the GF in February 2008. 3. Both towns have self confidence issues over Sydney (even though both are much better places than Sydney to reside) and are looking to be next in line

Foxtel/ESPN at 7:00 a.m. on Tuesday morning, 30 November 2010 as far as i can tell.

Do you know who is broadcasting this in aus?

Hooplah Can you kindly provide even one example of how "AFL is helping" football? Believe me, the AFL is extremely scared about the potential drain on its corporate sponsorship dollars that would accompany a FIFA WC in Australia. In the past, the AFL has been able to control the sporting agenda because Australia is such an isolated country - basically, locals didn't have access to major sporting events around the globe. Globalisation, free-trade and the internet continue to destroy the "isolationist barriers" that artificially protected Aussie-focused organisations and, like so many Aussie-centric companies that thrived during the 70s, 80s & 90s, I'm afraid that ... ... of the 4 football codes, the AFL is least likely to prosper in the post-globalisation world as Australia escapes its geographical isolation. If you look at the Top 50 Aussie Companies from 20 years ago, it is astounding to notice the number of Aussie-centric companies that have been reduced to minor entities (if they are lucky) or completely eliminated (if they are unlucky) by global competitors offering superior and a wider range of products than their local rivals. So, from a purely business perspective, the question for me is this: When the global competitors take a serious interest in the Australian sporting market and start to flex their unlimited financial muscle - will the AFL be lucky ... or, unlucky?

As an AFL and soccer fan, I do not see the conspiracies the soccer brigade are talking about. Personally I think it is the Sydney folks wanting to bag AFL for yet another thing. Soccer gets the best attendances in Melbourne and that is the belly of the so called beast. So is AFL holding back soccer in Sydney and Queensland? Take a look at your beloved rugby league clowns, they are screwing soccer right and proper. AFL is helping soccer. As far as AFL is concerned, soccer hardly gets a cracker of the money floating about. AFL WANTS RUGBY LEAGUE's slice of the pie. We do not care about the soccer. It does not even play at the same time of the year. Rugby league is the bone in EVERY AFL fan's throat. While that sport is hogging the limelight north of Canberra and east of Dubbo we will not rest until our game becomes the biggest.

Exactly, they should rename the station to AFL-EN rather than in a underhanded and devious manner, buy into the station and suffocate coverage of any other sport whilst retaining the "sport" moniker. They did something similar with channel seven in the late 90s, with the explicit goal to "suffocate" soccer and it almost worked. If the AFL's product is as strong as they continuously remind us, surely they don't need to be so devious and duplicitous in trying to eradicate every single other sporting competition in the country, either by dismembering coverage of any rival sport on media or ramming down manufactured franchises in non-conformist areas using expensive gimmickry and manipulation (possibly via underhanded means) of local government and councils to subsidise these new franchises, such manipulation coming at the expense of the local populace who were never given the opportunity in dictating whether their taxes should actually be allowed to fund these entities they never asked for. Surely such a wonderful product would have one and all bowing down in exalted anticipation of AFL sustenance, regardless of 10 minutes of media coverage being given to some other sport which would be ignored by the masses anyway. They are the Microsoft of Australian sports, forcing an inferior product on the masses by suffocating the life out of any of their competitors, no matter the merits or superiority of the competitor's product.

Advertising throughout a football match? It happens in the EPL and other leagues via electronic signs around the ground. No need to stop the match, the Ads encircle the playing arena thereby proving 90min of constant promotional $$$

What are the AFL afraid of BD? If its a sports channel it should be free to cover all sports. You are right though, the AFL can be as nasty and as cut throat as they like, however is this a good move considering their desire to expand in to enemy territory, as it were? The AFL seems to be making a lot of enemies.

To Black Diamonds Why and how do you draw to the conclusion that the A.F.L.owns Fox prove it. Isn't a bit like me saying the A.F.L. should be shut because it's not played throughout Australia completely and it offers nothing (externally) to any other nation.

To oly. You may have misunderstood my point commercials through football ruin the sport because it's a game not like an A.F.L. were 180 points are scored where in football over 140 yrs the average score today remains 3 goals per game. I understand you're point with a delayed game but if it starts at 8.30 it doesn't finish until 11.00pm hardly complient for famalies and kids even as a television package. No commercials through football please.

If the AFL own - and fund the station - what do you expect? Why would the AFL put money into a venture and expect that venture to promote its competitors? They still talk about the A-League on SEN mate, just not as much as you might like. No problem, the solution is quite clear - start up your own radio station!

I don't get what all the moaning about midweek football is about, the crowds are very good in comparison to the rest of the season and we get to see more football more often! The A-League has never been able to capture the imagination of Australia because it's locked away in a far away place called Foxtel

I agree, just because midweek football is played in Europe doesn't mean it should be played here. Even league and Aussie Rules know midweek games are a disaster. If there were games on say ONE or another FTA channel, ads could be fitted in if the game was delayed. So a 7.30pm game wasn't shown until 8.30pm.