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We all understand the importance of football’s next media deal. In order to make the rights more attractive to television stations, strong TV ratings, stability and certainty of product delivery is essential.
Given this, football finds itself in difficult position of its own making. The logical expansion teams were always Western Sydney and Wollongong. Both had strong football backgrounds and in Wollongong’s case, there was no other team from another code with a permanent presence (much like the Central Coast Mariners).
The ‘Gong also enjoyed the full support of the WIN Corporation via its owner Gordon Butler, who also owned shares in Channel Ten. For reasons never fully explained, two guys came along saying, “We have cash, lots of it,” and so North Queensland and the Gold Coast were born.
At the time, myself and many others believed that the FFA should go with its strengths and not be swayed by fat wallets and bling.
The FFA’s response related to the World Cup bid and the need to be seen to be growing. North Queensland and the Gold Coast are ready and the others will take at least another year to get off the ground.
Why FFA did not wait the extra year to this day still amazes me. This was a poor decision and should have seen that Ben Buckley’s contract was not renewed.
The media deal has also been affected by the then unforeseen Twenty/20 cricket competition, which has become surprisingly popular, as well as the AFL’s new Greater Western Sydney franchise. Had the FFA expanded to Wollongong and Western Sydney, the A-League would be able to battle other codes with three new genuine derbies in the Sydney area (more when you throw in Newcastle and the Central Coast).
Today we have the ultimate irony. The club that should never have been, that was put in the competition for a perceived need to have certain size club competition to underpin the World Cup Bid and who has had more help from FFA than many others, is now attacking the very people who gave them a franchise licence.
This would not have happened had the FFA waited another year and included Wollongong and Western Sydney.
This failure will affect FFA’s next media deal and has allowed the AFL a free kick in Western Sydney – a strong football area.
Unless FFA can pull off a $100 million deal per annum, then Buckley needs to be sacked. It might also be time to look for someone who can control Frank.
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