Hosting the 2015 Asian Cup offers a “massive and unprecedented” opportunity for Australia, according to football supremo Frank Lowy.
“We want the tournament to open doors for government, business and tourism,” the Football Federation Australia chairman said on Friday.
“It is an outstanding chance to strengthen our ties with Asia,” the billionaire businessman told a conference at his Lowy Institute in Sydney.
“It’s about more than 32 games of football.”
Describing the tournament as the “jewel in the crown” of Asian football, he said: “It’s often hard for people who don’t love football to understand the magnitude of the game across the world.”
The tournament would reach a TV audience of 2.5 billion people, he said.
Asia was home to 80 million people who played the game, a number that would jump to 380 million by 2022.
“These are staggering figures,” said Mr Lowy, who is chairman of the 2015 Asian Cup organising committee.
Trade Minister Craig Emerson told delegates Australian football had just reached “undreamed of heights” with its new $40 million-a-year TV rights deal.
“Football is big business, and it’s a driver of business the world over. It’s also a potent vehicle for world diplomacy,” Mr Emerson said.
“Asia’s rise will continue,” he said.
By 2025 the region would be home to four of the world’s largest 10 economies.
“The Asian Cup is an enormous opportunity to promote Australia’s brand.”
Michael Brown, CEO of the 2015 organising committe, said the event was expected to attract a minmum of 45,000 tourists and 3,500 international media.
“There has never been a better opportunity to showcase Australia to football-mad Asia,” he said.
Many of the 44 Australians playing club football in AFC nations were better known in Asia than in their own country, he said.
He had been told that Chinese-based Joel Griffiths was “as big as Nicole Kidman” in the world’s most populous nation.
Tourism Australia chairman Geoff Dixon said 10 years ago the Asia-Pacific accounted for 40 per cent of Australia’s visitors and traditional markets like the US, UK and Europe 60 per cent.
Those numbers had now been reversed, and China had overtaken the UK as Australia’s second largest tourist market.
“I don’t think anyone could have predicted that,” he said.
Tourism and Transport Forum chairman Bruce Baird said lessons could be learned from how Sydney and other Olympic host cities had experienced a decline in tourism numbers after staging the Games.
TC
Guest
You're right, although sometimes only a limited range of Fox Sports stations are available. TC
Damiano
Guest
I travel constantly with work, never yet stayed in a hotel without Foxtel... are you sure you are not making stuff up?
Damiano
Guest
Oikee, maybe you swhould find Chips Rafferty and have this conversation with him?
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
The AUS business world is slowly beginning to catch on .. "Australia is an Asian country – we must embrace our geographic proximity to the “new first world” to ensure economic success into the next decade. That will be the prime message from leading economic forecaster, Clifford Bennett, to delegates at the Australian Tourism Export Council (ATEC) Meeting Place conference this week." Full story: http://www.eglobaltravelmedia.com.au/2-headline-news/asian-underdog-australia-should-woo-middle-class-tourists.html
Lucan
No denying it will be good for Australia and Australians' in their dealings abroad in Asia. I'd really like to see Frank and co. give a similar presser about the benefits for Australia domestically. Hopefully pressure can be put on Fox to come to an arrangement that sees the majority of games shared on FTA. Getting saturation coverage into Aust homes, like the cricket and tennis do over summer, would have the game front and centre in the population's mind. We see the amazing numbers SBS do during the WC. Just imagine if these sort of matches were played and screened at an hour friendly to the casual football observer.
Bondy.
Guest
Ronny. I disagree with your theory of people not caring outside their borders I looked forward to the euros for two months. This tournament will be a dud to you but for me its atleast reflects this great nation of ours to atleast 50 -60 nations,and that can only be great for australian football for the future.
Reynoldsinski
Guest
I'd say that most people around the world couldn't give a stuff about what happens outside of their own borders, so Australia's 22m population has got nothing to do with it. I don't believe your tennis story, but you probably do fit the mould of the corporate knob who is totally undeserving to even be there. By the way, the Swimming Champs had over 2000 swimmers from 167 countries, so I'm not sure what you are laughing at.
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
And, the problem with your observations about football is that you only see the negatives ... and, thankfully, there are fewer and fewer of people like you in Australia but, unfortunately, a lot of your type come to the Football forum every day to simply cause mischief. For people, who are willing to look beyond the borders of this insignificant little island, they'll realise AUS - and its population of 22 million people - is insignificant in a globalised world. Quite simply, no one gives a stuff what appeals to, or doesn't appeal to, 22 million people living amongst a population of 7 billion. The 2015 Asian Cup will be MASSIVE because it's the biggest sporting contest that involves all the countries in the most populated region on the planet. I've been to several AUS Opens ... never had to pay for a ticket - my mates & I always get gifted corporate tickets to Centre Court on the Friday night. It's a quaint tournament .. but, let's be honest ... it's tennis - spoilt rich kids hitting balls back & forth. I'm still laughing about the Swimming Champs that were held in Melbourne. :-D
Reynoldsinski
Guest
The problem with your observations is that you can't see the good in anything other than football. Quite a few like you in Australia, unfortunately. Swimming champs didn't register a blip in Melbourne, you say. Over 200k attended, which was the most ever. That is a hell of a lot more than what Melb Heart got last season and just under Melb Victory. Aus Open Tennis - 686k attended last year, with the cheapest ticket for a kid being $65. Not much fun for the parents bank balance there. I was overseas during the 2006 Comm Games but I remember seeing 80k+ being at the MCG day after day. To me, those events were (are) successes, but I think the Asian Cup will be a dud.
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
2000 Sydney Olympics were huge - for sure. I lived in Melbourne during the 2006 Comm Games, the Swimming Champs & the AUS Open and my observations were: * AUS Open is a bit of fun for parents, who want to entertain their kids during the school hols * Swimming Champs didn't register a blip in Melbourne * the 2006 Comm Games I can't recall seeing significantly more foreign tourists than we get for the AUS Tennis Open I can't expect anyone, who hasn't experienced an international football tournament, to understand the enormity - locally & abroad - of such sporting events.
Reynoldsinski
Guest
Not talking about tournaments involving football codes, but sporting events in general. The 2000 Olympics, 2006 Comm Games, Swimming World Champs, Australian Open tennis every year, all a big success. The reason being is that the general public is interested. I can imagine when the Asian Cup is on, there will be people unaware that it is even happening. Not hoping that this is the case, but just being realistic.
Reynoldsinski
Guest
Not talking about tournaments involving football codes, but sporting events in general. The 2000 Olympics, 2006 Comm Games, Swimming World Champs, Australian Open tennis every year, all a big success. The reason being is that the general public is interested. I can imagine when the Asian Cup is on, there will be people unaware that it is even happening. Not hoping that this is the case, but just being realistic.
nordster
Guest
And for the bogans, leave the box cutters at the door of the bus...let them sing if they please... ;)
nordster
Guest
Cheers ...i'm getting ads now which oddly i dont mind compared to the sports segment thingo and hey Tristan the SMH had an interesting take on this...they had autoplay on their news videos for quite a while, to some complaint. But now they have introduced a control panel for this feature...behind a subscriber login though. Its a good way of getting people to subscribe to a 'Roar Club' perhaps...introduce autoplay and other irritants...only to be disabled once u are a subscriber. I am not sure if this was the intent of the SMH but i would guess it has at least encouraged more of their readers to set up free logins, if not full subscriptions. :)
deebhoy
Guest
the sleeping giant fair enough mate,i didnt realize id done that and i defo didnt mean too.my apologies to realfootball mine was just a general statement
Bondy.
Guest
We are geographicaly placed in the oceanic pacific rim or the arse end of the world for trade and business,world wide people know of Australia and a little green nation called New Zealand anything other than that is not known globally I.E American Samaoa or New Caledonia "just simply dont exist to most of the world". People have got to get it into their brains that if people dont look alike it doesnt matter, Sir we are part of the Asian Football Confederation does it matter whether an Aboriginal looks like somebody from Uzbekistan or that for we are not from the same countries its geographical zone mapping Sir nobody thinks your Cantonese or we dont expect you to eat To Fu. There is no option Sir unless you find dropping back the the Oceanic region and playing two meaningful games every four years. You ask a final question do I feel asian ,in what way by food/ music/culture /religion ,there are 45 nations out there from Uzbekistan around to Australia which includes peoples from Syria ,India, Indonesia, South Korea, Japanese,Aboriginals as well.We are a nation of mixed race and that we should be proud of not worrying how many spring rolls are in the freezer.
MV Dave
Guest
Not really on topic (although would be wonderful, even if extremely unlikely, for Afghanistan to reach the Asian Cup Finals 2015) but what a great story about Afghan Football from the ESPN website...worth reading and shows us what we have should never be taken for granted; http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns/story/_/id/1236160/john-duerden:-afghan-star-is-rising?cc=3436
The Sleeping Giant
Guest
Deebhy, your comment was a reply to realfootball's, not following it. He didn't refer to any of the points that you raised. Personally I think this tournament has the opportunity to be huge! But I agree with realfootball, with 3 years and a world cup in between, it's natural for the interest to be elsewhere at the moment. Having seen what the media and other codes have done to football before, well let's just say I hope that the positives of football are raised in the media and success isn't just measured by the average attendance. I'm cautiously optimistic that times have changed but football has been hurt before and I hope we've learnt our lessons. I don't know how much externall pull there is on venture selection for games but I'd like to see the organising committee schedule matches in cities that have the largest demographic of the teams playing and with some targeted marketing in those suburbs, hopefully this would bump up the crowds for the games with smaller nations. Bring on a rejuvenated socceroos squad and entertaining football for all!
deebhoy
Guest
realfootball just becuase my comment came straight after yours doesnt mean i was referring to you mate.i agree with what you said.i just think its a common theme on the football page for people to get all wound up because someone has a critcal opinion on the game in oz or asia in this instance.like i said criticism is part of sporting debate.fair enough if you disagree with me,thats what the roar's for isnt it?
Realfootball
Guest
Agreed. Hire caravans in trailer parks are poorly equipped. But hey, you are obviously easily amused, so you won't notice.