‘Hutchy’ hit the nail on the head. The AFL is well behind major sports leagues in the United States, and it’s to the game’s detriment.
“On a good day, a club makes one player available to the media,” Hutchison explains. “Forget whether the player is relevant, newsworthy or has anything to contribute. It’s the club’s choice. Most requests for individual player interviews are met with a ‘No’ from Monday to Friday, and many clubs stroll through weeks without making anyone available to the media.”
Now, compare this to the U.S. and you’ll notice a stark contrast.
Hutchison, who has spent his off-season in the States the last six years, continues: “ In the NFL, teams are forced to make the entire list available on every training day. For 45 minutes, the locker room door flies open four times a week. Interview who you like. There aren’t streams of media officials vetting any request. Indeed, you don’t need to even speak to them. And the league fines players who don’t co-operate.”
“… In the NBA, access is even more remarkable. There is an open media call after every training session, and game day is included. Coaches are open to the media, too. On game night, the locker room opens at 6pm, 90 minutes before tipoff … and there are 82 regular-season matches.”
Having this kind of open door policy makes sense on a number of levels.
First and foremost, the fans get more information about their favourite team under the American set-up.
The more information available to fans, the more opportunities for them to engage with the team. The more fan engagement, the more memberships, the more attendees, the more merchandise sales, the more the brand benefits … it’s a win-win situation.
Then there’s the obvious benefits that come having a positive relationship with the media.
Surely it goes without saying that making life difficult for journalists – the people that put together the stories consumed by the public – isn’t the wisest of moves. Conversely, surely it’s also true that making life as easy as possible for journalists increases the chance of a more favourable report.
Another clear advantage that comes with having players front the media is that it can, in a lot of cases, kill a story.
Jack Riewoldt’s apology for flipping the bird yesterday is a good example – sure, it got mentioned on the footy panel shows last night, but chances are we’ll all have moved on by today. It’s a non-story now. Same goes for Brent Moloney at Melbourne – that story had the potential to draw out all week, but by fronting the media, and denying the most serious allegation, it’s now far less likely to.
Finally, it’s hard to ignore Hutchison’s point about the positive impact St Kilda’s in-house documentary The Challenge, which aired a few weeks ago, had.
“It took only 30 minutes for us all to realise Nick Riewoldt and Sam Gilbert were mates and to quell any speculation otherwise. And to forgive Zac Dawson when we saw his remorse over the New Zealand incident. And for others to see what insiders had long known – that Ross Lyon has a sharp personality and strong wit. In essence, it took only 30 minutes to help repair a brand that had been battered for five months,” he wrote.
Leaving aside the fact the doco had PR stunt written all over it, it’s obvious that opening the doors, clearly, has its advantages. So the question remains: why do clubs seem so intent on keeping them closed?
amazonfan
Roar Guru
True, I played the man a bit (it's hard not to, when Hutchinson is mentioned :P), but him aside, I do think that it's a two-way street. Players and clubs should provide more access, and the media should reciprocate by respecting privacy and not embarking on shock, whatever it takes 'journalism'.
Michael DiFabrizio
Expert
amazonfan and jtwohands, I get what your saying, Hutchison shouldn't be the poster boy for what AFL journalists should be. The way Ben Cousins was covered last year was actually an issue I wrote about at the time and questioned heavily. The Footy Show does indeed go over the top sometimes, perhaps even regularly. But I guess what I'm wanting here is to play the ball, not the man. Just because it was Hutchison who raised the point does not mean that point is not valid.
amazonfan
Roar Guru
Hutchinson loves the US, and often talks about how superior American professional sport is compared to Australian professional sports. Anyway, I wasn't quite as taken by the article as other were. Hutchinson is a poor excuse for a 'journalist'; moralistic, self-righteous, intolerant of different opinions, willing to dig up a freshly buried body if it helped his story. The problem is that many players feel that they are subjected to serious violations of their privacy, and I don't blame them. Ben Cousins was completely OTT in the way he was treated, Hutchinson went on the Footy Show to break the important story that the father of some player got in trouble at a junior game, and Fevola had his Crown visit broadcast everywhere, even though he's no longer in the AFL! There was also Dylan Howard and the medical documents. If Hutchinson wants more cooperation, then he has to respect players' privacy. Until he, and the rest of the media, do so, nobody has any right to complain about the players' and clubs' lack of cooperation.
amazonfan
Roar Guru
Michael is right concerning the level of education American athletes have. Professional sportsmen in the US have a college education because it is mandatory, however in numerous cases, they barely attend any classes and are no more educated than someone who never went to college in the first place. In fact there has been numerous examples of athletes cheating such in academic tests. Personally, I would be happy to put the education of Australian sportsmen up against that of any of the American athletes.
toa
Guest
Both BigAl & Jtwohands are 100% correct. Our footballers salaries cannot compensate the luxuries they {NBA,NHL,NFL players} endure by leading ominous lives outside their active playing careers. Misinformation with intent to cause damage through haste and viral rumours only leads to law suits. { And we know law suit abuse is very common in the states }. The above are benefits our AFL players don't have as well as having confidence in exercising their right to claim and sue for defamation.
Michael DiFabrizio
Expert
Good call about helping to spread the game into non-traditional territory. Interestingly, Hutchison described the Gold Coast Suns as the exception when it comes to this kind of thing, which is true when you think about it. They have brought journalists into the "inner sanctum", like Emma Quayle from The Age last year. The result? Well the club has gotten a lot of positive coverage. It's a little odd that a team that had the power to take players from other clubs, and could take premierships away from other clubs in future years, has managed to generate as much goodwill among opposition fans as they have. I'd say opening their doors to the media has helped them achieve this.
jtwohands
Roar Rookie
A major reason why clubs have a "closed door" policy and are wary of the media is because of journalists like Craig Hutchinson who trade in rumours and scandals. He has turned the focus in footy journalism from the game itself to players off field antics and personal lives. It panders to lowest common denominator readers who love celebrity gossip and is indicative of what "news" has become in this country. When a club gets a request from Craig Hutchison to interview their players - they see a so-called journalist who has spread false rumours and has printed false information without simple fact checking, do you blame them for saying no?
Michael Filosi
Roar Guru
Great article Michael. If the AFL is serious about spreading the game to parts of Australia which are not traditional AFL territory, then it must undertake some measures to make the players more available for media interviews to "spread the word" and increase the exposure of the sport.
BigAl
Guest
I am always interested by the fact that US athletes when giving interviews seem to try and make it more interesting and original - and many of them would have minimal education ( whether they've been to College or not !). I think it comes back to to culture - usually Americans like to tal - even if thry've spent most of their life in the ghetto, therefore they sound confident and therefore they sound interesting. I think Aussie footballers of all codes seem to just want to or feel they have to spout the same old same old - and then get the hell out of there ! This also seems to apply to UK EPL players by the way ! Here any time a player says something slightly thought provoking they are immediately jumped on as being 'smart arses' and howled down by the press administrators and fans ( think Jason Akermanis ). There is far more leeway allowed in the States.
Michael DiFabrizio
Expert
Rob, it's a shame you got knocked back. It's frustrating to hear stories like this.
Michael DiFabrizio
Expert
Chris, while it's true a lot of US athletes get a college education while playing college sports, I'm not sure our athletes are all that less educated. Indeed, how many of those US athletes at college attend all their classes? How many stay the full four years? As Rob says below, with the media training our players get they should be able to handle it.
Rob McLean
Guest
I recently tried for an interview with a mid level AFL player who comes from our region. My request was knocked back because he is injured and will be out for six to eight weeks. Well, wouldn't that make it more interesting for my readers? All of whom must be wondering what the player's situation is and whether it is going to impact upon his career? Chris, I think that the PR Officer's worst nightmare would more evolve out of the fact that professional sportsmen in Australia are much younger than those in the US who, as you rightly point out generally have a college education and start their careers later. How many 17/18 year olds can string a word together? Any AFL players who have been in the system for a year or two are generally reasonably well spoken, good enough to at least answer most questions put to them, as they receive quite significant media training. That training, if a 'free' media was introduced, would surely mean that the players would know which subjects are off limits, etc.
Chris
Guest
To answer the question posed at the end of the story - it's because the whole ethos of every sporting club is built on an 'us and them' attitude. And while that may be fine for the on-field stuff, for some reason it has spread into every facet of pretty much every club in the world. Unless governing bodies actively rule otherwise (such as the NFL and NBA have done), clubs would almost certainly not participate in any 'free' media situation. Press conferences would cease to exist and be replaced with statements written by PR officers. It works better in the US than here because remember that just about all professional sportsmen in that country have had the benefit of a college education. In Australia most professional sportsmen left high school at the first opportunity. Is it any surprise they can barely string two words together and are a PR officer's worst nightmare when being interviewed?