There are numerous advantages of staging the A-League in the opposite season to the other football codes. The most obvious would be the better share of media coverage, as well as the benefits of hosting the season through the holiday period.
However, the question needs to be asked, is Football Federation Australia taking full advantage of the summer holiday season?
Many fans may have seen the governing body advertise through various media channels, through social and traditional outlets, with the tagline ”Summer Football: 15 games in 12 days”.
Akin to the English football calendar – with its influx of games over the Christmas and New Year period – the A-League has followed suit, scheduling several fixtures over this period.
Overall, it was a grand success, with many viewers tuning in and turning up.
There’s no denying that football and summer go hand in hand.
There’s certainly a great deal of potential to be realised during the holiday season, however it can easily be argued that FFA isn’t taking full advantage of this scenario.
Undoubtedly, the A-League is now a mainstay in the Australian sporting sphere, particularly in the summer months, although in terms of summer scheduling, it’s visibly a step behind its biggest competitor, cricket.
Cricket’s Big Bash League competition, a six-week tournament, is played between December and January. Crowds may have declined in its second season, however TV ratings continue to consistently garner figures in excess of 200,000.
While it’s unrealistic for the A-League to stage matches as often as Big Bash teams – given the unrelenting demands of football, in contrast to cricket – it’s evident that football hasn’t taken full advantage throughout the holiday season.
The A-League yearns to be Australia’s new summer sport, yet when we tune into our television sets, more often than not, cricket is taking centre stage.
The decline of midweek fixtures this campaign is rather evident, although has it been strategically thought out?
There’s no reason why there shouldn’t be midweek games featured each Tuesday and Wednesday nights – one match each evening – during the January period.
It really is an enormous free kick to its main summer rival. Cricket, through the national team and the BBL, can be seen almost on a daily basis, giving sport lovers a treat during the holiday season.
Can the same be said for football? No, going by the current January scheduling.
During the 2010-11 campaign, crowd averages were just over 8,000 – the worst since the A-League’s inception in 2005.
There were many underlying factors for this figure, although FFA was clear to point out that the increase in midweek fixtures were the primary problem.
Since then, it’s fair to assume that FFA is hesitant to bring back regular midweek fixtures into the A-League’s calendar – fearing a similar trend to the 2010-11 season.
While continual midweek fixtures may not be part and parcel of the Australian sporting culture in the football codes, there’s certainly room for this concept during the month of January. For football to take another leap forward in popularity, and cultivate the code’s appeal with fans, the A-League needs to grasp this opportunity and think outside the square.
With kids on school holidays, clubs could market specifically to families by holding promotional initiatives – for instance, one adult ticket gains entry for two children.
The summer football tagline has potential, it’s now up to FFA CEO David Gallop to take on fans’ feedback, and realise the game’s potential during this important period of the season.
Courtesy of Goal Weekly
Follow Robbie on Twitter @RobertDiFabio
apaway
Roar Guru
Ky;esy With respect, I think a July start would be ridiculous. Not only would there be competition with league and AFL but the international rugby schedule is kicking into gear around then. If not the media coverage, ground availability would become a problem and playing surfaces would be poor due to being torn up by rugby union games. I'm a firm believer in the "clear air" theory of an October start.
nordster
Guest
It was unintentional...i guess i'm just taking the micky a little...but yeah im probably fairly much on the jihadist or evangelical end of the scale...formerly of the great unwashed myself so... :)
bryan
Guest
nordster says:- "spose i am thinking of the quality being higher when the great unwashed start watching, post afl/nrl " This is the kind of snobbery (even if unintentional), which puts potential viewers & game attendees off! There is very little of this attitude evident at real A-league games,as "Football" is mainly a working class game. What is wrong with people who normally follow AFL or NRL selecting the A-League as their summer sport,rather than Cricket,or Horse Racing.? They watch, (at least in the case of AFL fans :) ),an exciting,fast moving game throughout the winter,so why not watch an equally exciting,fast moving game in the summer There is a potential market waiting to be tapped,but if the "jihadists" among the World Game fraternity have their way,these possible followers will be turned away,because they dare to also follow other football codes.
nordster
Guest
Correlation...causation...? Perhaps its more the ADP effect, year on year accumulation of an audience. As an alternative with an August start...could ramp up marketing a few weeks in and get a spike in interest when the football level is starting to peak...quite likely an october peak is there as an opportunity, but it doesnt have to be for the first week. In some respects starting in august would give u an early peak for the diehards and another top up in october for the casuals.
bryan
Guest
The "World Game" was invented by the English,just as was Cricket. If Cricket is a silly "Colonial" game,why have all those ex Brit Colonies not discarded it as a hated symbol of the Colonial past? Instead,they rejoice in it! Pushing the "World Game" upon every country in the world could even be seen as European Neo-Colonialism! :)
Ballymore
Guest
I think midweek matches from mid/late Dec to early/mid Jan would be acceptable, provided they were evening kickoffs.
Ballymore
Guest
Rugby League, Brisbane's most popular spectator sport doesn't even have two (2) teams. I doubt another Brisbane football team could be sustained. There is no suitable stadium south of the river anyway - ANZ/QE2 isn't worthy of a high school compeititon. Geelong, Canberra and Woolongong have the potential to be excellent.
Arthur Fonzarelli
Guest
They should call themselves the Collingwood Heart, that will create an instant divide and great rivalry.
Cappuccino
Roar Guru
Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide are unlikely to ever get second teams, and I don't think they should either. These cities are simply too small- BR currently average 14.5k per game (but this has been boosted by ADP and the like). That means that a second team in Brisbane won't be averaging any more than around 7k for a while yet. And even then, by the time Brisbane is ready for a second team, we will be many seasons down the track and BR will have established themselves as THE team in that city. It will be like the MV/MH inequality but on a much greater scale.
Peter Care
Guest
WSW have done it right from the beginning.. They will be the biggest club in the land within 10 years. It's not too late for the Heart to learn from the Wanderers, pick one half of the state of Victoria and change your name to relect that e.g East Melbourne or West Melbourne. They can then concentrate their efforts on only half the state and create a natural east-west divide with the Victory.
Peter Care
Guest
I'd prefer a second team in Brisbane, south of the river, and perhaps Geelong. before Canberra. Wollongong is a goer, if they also market themselves as far south as Canberra, and South Coast NSW.
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
WSW's supporter group has just Tweeted that the 16 bays - 3 sections of Parramatta Stadium comprising RBB, Home End GA, Central Far Side - are completely sold out for the CCM clash on Sunday. This puts the likely crowd - for the time being - at 16-17k. Remember, this club didn't exist 7 months ago.
Peter Care
Guest
Actually you should look at the TV ratings and crowd figures in the early rounds this year. Both significantly up on previous years. Clearly the clear air argument and anticipation factor have worked.
nordster
Guest
spose i am thinking of the quality being higher when the great unwashed start watching, post afl/nrl ...I guess if we can push the cup finals later then excellent...In the end if the season is extended to accomodate more games, then it will have to further overlap...football is not a half year deal if we want to be developing players to a higher standard. 36 games would be great but it does need to be more months also.
Cappuccino
Roar Guru
Yes Matt, there will always be a clash, but better to have our finals against their regular season than their finals against our regular season.
Dave
Guest
Agree with you Matt F. I'm not a fan of extending the season either way at the moment, and not for a good while yet until the HAL is a lot stronger in crowds and TV ratings. And even when we are finally ready to extend my preference would be to extend at the end of the season and keep the October start.
Matt F
Roar Guru
Not really. Either the league starts in August and ends in March or it starts in October and ends in May. Either way there's a clash for Foxtel's scheduling with NRL/AFL etc. It's just at the start instead of the end. The problem is that crowds always start strong in the early rounds of a competition (any sport really,) then take a light dip in the middle and grow at the end when the season reaches its peak. By the time the media, and the multi-code supporting fans, had turned their attention away from NRL/AFL finals, the "start of season" buzz wasn't there. Momentum generated at the start of the season can carry through the whole season, but that also means that a "lack of buzz" can hurt for the whole season. It really hurt Sydney FC who went into that particular season as defending champions but were winless after 6 games when the attention shifted to the A-League. I think October is the perfect time to start. The other football codes are finished and the cricket hasn't started so we've got a month basically to ourselves. It gives a great opportunity to generate some momentum
MV Dave
Guest
Didn't RL move to Summer months in England due to the omnipresence of Football in the other 9 months?
nordster
Guest
Maybe when its six games in is the best time...takes a little while for league form to warm up? Is it more to do with fox production scheduling maybe?
Matt F
Roar Guru
Agreed. The last time we started the season in August it didn't go well. By the time the media started paying attention to it the season was already 6+ games in