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So, Brisbane Roar we are told are in a ‘transition’, as the former CEO of Brisbane Lions AFL club Ryan Bowers is hired to try and shore up the financial struggles of the club (the FFA were required to pump in $1.5 million into the club).
Bowers we are told has been hired to oversee a “restructure” of Brisbane Roar and make it more attractive for investors, thus helping to free up FFA resources for other football projects.
While managing to find a suitable local consortium led by Robert Gerard to buy Adelaide United after owning the Reds for one and a half years, the FFA are finding further headaches in their A-League business model with news that Perth Glory owner Tony Sage is seriously considering his future options.
Although the Victory aren’t considered to be in a financial vacuum, it is curious that the previously highly involved and proactive Chairman of Melbourne – Geoff Lord – has reduced his share to fifteen per cent and quit his post as Chairman of the club. The timing is questionable; just six months after (relatively long time) CEO Geoff Miles left his post to be replaced by Richard Wilson.
This is without going into the reasons why first former North Queensland owner Don Matheson’s partner couldn’t last a season, then Matheson himself left North Queensland after just a season. Why have the consortiums for footballs heartland in terms of football participation – Western Sydney – failed to find financial backing?
Can they see the writing on the wall? Con Constantine certainly did in his rather acrimonious departure.
Where there are backers to be found – such as the Gold Coast ,where Clive Palmer is committed to staying put, he finds himself in semi-regular public spats with the games governing body.
Upon taking control of Adelaide United Gerard is quoted as saying “None of us expect this to be a loss making exercise … we are not here to lose money, we are here to make it,” he said.
Yet Gerard at Adelaide and Bowers at the Roar are going to have their work cut out.
The core of the issue is that the A-League business model as it stands is not financially viable.
Not only is it not viable, it is not conducive for incoming owners to be able to reverse the financial fortunes of A-League clubs via innovative business practices.
Given the high growth of interest in the A-League in its inaugural seasons, the A League clubs would probably qualify what the BCG Matrix would categorise as “question marks”.
Far from becoming ‘Stars’ like the Socceroo brand or ‘Cash Cows’, A League clubs have turned into nothing more than a ‘Dog’.
While it is understandable to centralise many operations in the start-up phase to minimise start-up costs, the A-League is now at a crunch moment where the handbrakes needs to be taken off.
A-League owners and clubs must be allowed to be given control to diversify themselves from the standard A-League template website if they are to make full use of the online marketing and social media.
The issue has been much discussed, but A-League clubs quite clearly need to capacity to have control over much more of their revenue streams – this means more than just the decision to give them scope to choose their own kit manufacturers.
The A-League itself truly needs to be given more autonomy. It is not in football’s interest to have it become fully independent, lest it becomes a competitor to the FFA – with the FFA Chairmen given more power to determine its operation, namely the start and finish dates plus finals configuration (with respect to ACL commitments) amongst sponsorship issues.
TV revenue negotiations and hence the capacity to keep clubs in check with respect to the greater interest of the football fraternity should be retained by the FFA.
Whatever the precise structure, it is the A League itself and not just the Brisbane Roar that need restructuring, if the A League is to transition into a form of Cash Cow rather than be comdemned to everlasting mediocrity as a Dog.
It will require more than significantly increased revenue from the next television deal in 2013 to achieve this.
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