There has been a lot of expansion in Australian sport recently, with some great successes and some spectacular crash and burns. So what lessons have we learnt?
We have welcomed eight new clubs into the Australian football codes – Gold Coast Suns and Greater Western Sydney Giants went into the AFL, the Melbourne Rebels entered the Super Rugby, and The West Sydney Wanderers, Wellington Phoenix, Melbourne Heart, and ill-fated duo of North Queensland Fury and Gold Coast United joined the A-League.
Throw in the arrival of the eight new Big Bash League franchises, a re-re-re-return of the Sydney Kings to the NBL and a rejigged trans-Tasman ANZ Championship in netball, and that’s a lot of new sport.
Now is the perfect time to look at what works and, perhaps more obviously, what doesn’t.
Beware strangers bearing gifts
Or, more specifically, beware Clive Palmer. A man who has no interest in football, the Gold Coast, or the A-League was allowed to control an A-League football team on the Gold Coast.
We all know the disaster that occurred next. Crowds locked out. Controversies and personal battles between Clive Palmer versus anyone who did him wrong, including the league itself. This is a lesson the AFL had already learnt when Christopher Skase bankrolled the Brisbane Bears and used it as his own plaything.
There is nothing wrong with private ownership – Harold Mitchell at the Rebels, for instance – but they should only be allowed to have control with the purest of intentions, and with a plan set in so the organisation could survive if (and when) the owner left.
Location, Location, Location
The first factor in regard to location is, obviously, where the team will represent. The AFL and A-League’s move into Western Sydney was a must – a large, diverse, expanding population with no other nearby sport besides rugby league.
The move to the Gold Coast by the A-League, AFL, and even rugby league before that has been a lot tougher. Perhaps because even though the population is growing, the clubs are competing with a beach, good weather and great nightlife.
The writer may be about to be mauled by an entire state, but it is hard to see Tasmania garnering any sports team, and would be a poor choice to expand to. Why? The huge costs to update the facilities, compared with the relatively small population, means there will be limited gains.
What about the AFL? Well, they already control the state, and wouldn’t gain any new supporters from putting a team there.
Home is where the Heart is (as well as the Victory, Storm and Rebels)
The old saying, “build it and they will come,” should add, “as long as the food is good, the seats are comfortable, there aren’t massive queues at the dunnies and the viewing is worth the price of admission.”
It needs to check ease of access and public transport facilities, quality seating and viewing (including big screens), good food, beverage and toilet facilities, and great atmosphere.
AAMI Park is home to two of the more recent clubs in the Melbourne Rebels and Melbourne Heart, as well as the already established Storm and Victory. It has excellent facilities, easy access and great viewing from all areas in the ground.
Conversely Dairy Farmers stadium, home to the NRL North Queensland Cowboys and formerly North Queensland Fury, has some serious issues with public transport and ageing facilities. It is being replaced by a new stadium, to be located in the middle of Townsville.
If you were a neutral going to watch a new team, it wouldn’t take much to put you off, so the stadium really needs to be up to scratch.
Brand new toys
The branding of a new team is everything. Branding encompasses the name, colours, designs, even the culture of a team – anything that defines the organisation. It has to really engage the community, relate to them, and make the masses want to be part of what is going on.
The Melbourne Rebels have done this really well. The Rebels really embraced and pushed the fact that they were doing something different in Melbourne. They also pushed strongly their relation to the Eureka rebellion, which includes the five stars on the tops, and nicknaming AAMI Park the “Stockade”, all making the club feel distinctively Victorian.
The Western Sydney Wanderers also did well, especially in a short amount of time, in quickly engaging the community by very shrewdly taking the name of the Australia’s first registered club, which came from the area, and using community forums to let supporters choose aspects like name and colours.
Even though I don’t like the name GWS Giants, the colours of black, white, and orange are obviously aimed at the west Sydney tradesmen, who wear those colours daily as their safety gear.
Wellington Phoenix? Rising from the ashes of New Zealand Knights – nice.
On the other hand, North Queensland Fury and all the Big Bash League franchises are (or were) named and coloured like something I would pull out for a university assignment where I was creating a dodgeball league.
Gold Coast Suns and United are a tad boring.
Melbourne Heart, well, it’s hard to know. They are Victory’s rivals, mostly because they are in the same town. Maybe when they define themselves a bit more, they might be more of a CBD team (the Heart of the city) as opposed to suburban Victory. They really need Kevin Muscat to sledge John Aloisi or some event like that to separate them a bit.
Put up the marquee
A marquee player is a good thing. They can get a new club a load of publicity for the signing, as well as bring supporters through the gates to watch them play.
I would argue the Biggest Bash League is solely running on big names. This writer tunes in to watch Shane Warne, not because he is devoted to his beloved Melbourne pop tarts or whatever it is.
Same with Gary Ablett at Gold Coast Suns, Stirling Mortlock when he went to the Rebels, Shinji Ono at WSW, Ronnie Fowler at Fury, even back to Dwight Yorke at Sydney FC, the list goes on.
Get down to the grassroots
I mentioned this in my first article on the Roar, but sport really does need to think wider than the playing field, to bring more importance and relevance to the club in regards to being an important part of the community.
As much as the AFL wanted media coverage from Israel Falou, visiting a school or charity low key and then letting word-of-mouth spread is a longer lasting and more penetrative piece of marketing than a 30 second news story that will be forgotten the next morning.
It makes people feel like they have a stake in the club, and the club is part of their lives.
Just keep rollin’
Firstly, I apologise for the Limp Bizkit quote, but it is a fact. A new club is under more pressure not only to gain fans but to keep them. GWS signed Tom Scully not on his current, but his future ability. It gives the fans a reason to stick around. North Queenland Fury definitely lacked a bit of that.
A better example is perhaps Western Force in Super Rugby – they have yet to make any sort of impact anywhere, and are starting to lose relevance.
So there you have it – the expansion present. I am looking forward to finding out what we learn in the future!
Kasey
Guest
Said it before and I'll say it again...thank God you are not running football in this country..you are deliriously blind to reality Johnno. 2 teams in Adelaide? Get off the gear. As for South in the HAL...I think we've already put that one to sleep haven't we? Mercifully the game has progressed beyond the NSL days and South have no chance in hell of being in the HAL.
nordster
Guest
Yeah i was going to suggest lakeside but it is out...and you're right i havent been to somers st :) carry on lol...
Kasey
Guest
Ironic Hipster Rebels rebelling against the Mainstream??..expect a Cardigan jersey paired with corduroy shorts and Ironic mustaches next season:)
Beb
Guest
Well, they better make the most of it because it WILL be the LAST big tv deal they will get as the OLD media fta channels are all struggling and will find it increasingly tough to hold on to their existing advertising revenue streams let alone acquire any new ones in the NEW media age, which is Football's domain.
MV Dave
Guest
Somers Street?? You obviously haven't been there in a long time...no chance unless many $millions were spent on it. There are 3 stadiums in Melbourne that are capable of hosting HAL games...Etihad and AAMI whilst a third Lakeside (SMFC) is contracted to Athletics from October to April and cannot be used for Football. Epping has a stadium of sorts but would need many millions to bring it up to scratch. That's it.
nordster
Guest
I agree...fill the more suburban stadiums ...but keep the large venues for a few games a season, derbies etc. best of both. SFC out of kogarah was a good example. Heart from somers st maybe? Guess they have to get the tv folks on side facilities wise, plus not sign exclusive stadium deals.
Swampy
Guest
Ronnie Fowler was awesome for the fury and glory. Warning: long post. I've mentioned this a few times in the past - the hottest ticket in town theory. Smaller stadiums leads to better atmosphere. Better atmosphere leads to better fan experience and thus return fans and their friends. If the game experience inside the stadium is great then it won't matter if there is no parking, crap public transport, poor facilities etc. People will forgive the major failings. Eventually, when it works you get full houses. Full houses are the key to success. Fans who pick and choose their games will have to commit or risk missing out. When tickets become scarce people will go to see any opposition rather than just try and see say Sydney (del piero) when they are in town. As time goes on it becomes apparent that the best way to guarantee a seat is buying a season ticket. Season tickets give clubs some financial stability. Media take a greater interest when the full house sign is up. Radio stations love full houses as it means they can run mindless comps for ticket giveaways and people will actually tune in for them. This is the model for success of so many of the world's sporting franchises. Even small market teams (see Green Bay Packers, Portland Trailblazers) can build longevity by being the hottest ticket in town. In Australia, the success of the NBL started with great atmosphere and full houses in the old tin sheds, leading to moves into bigger stadiums (& then again into even bigger stadiums where most teams started running into trouble financially). Sadly, the players and the teams got too greedy and the costs spiraled out of control and, in turn, to the league's demise. You could only dream of the day when our teams had supporters passing season seats down through their wills and that was the only way you could get a seat (& the most valuable thing in the will). When I watch something on tv, I always instinctively have more interest in any game that is played in front of a packed stadium rather than an empty one. A classic case in point is the Hobart Test match vs Hobart Hurricanes. The test was played in front of what looked like stadium security only and I basically turned it off and just checked scores online occasionally. The last two BBL games there have had crowds that must be close to capacity. I pretty much watched each game in it's entirety. I'm sure other people are just the same as me and I'm not an isolated example. So match the stadium to the crowds that currently turn up and get the full house sign up and build stability from a solid base. Out of all the expansion teams, it seems only the WSW have this part right at the beginning. I guess the AFL have attempted this with the much smaller capacity stadiums at GC and GWS but the numbers have been way less than the AFL optimistically hoped for. -- Comment left via The Roar's iPhone app. Download The Roar's iPhone App in the App Store here.
Johnno
Guest
The next build the base to expansion . NSW: Woollongong, Northern spirit i still think would be a hit, north shore types like to have there own team and they got big crowds to North sydney oval, . Heck Foz, played for them for pete's sake. QLD: -A 2nd Brisbane team, bring the fury back but market it as Townsville Fury not NTH QLD, Gold Coast United is a must but under a new owner. ACT: Canberra Deakin to, must come in too the comp South Australia: A 2nd adelaide team, west adelaide would really add something to the comp. Adeliade city VS West Adelaide, was the biggest local derby in the old NSL. Victoria: STH Melb FC, Geelong, Morwell maybe NZ: Auckland city has masses of potential too, a big established fan base unlike the old Auckland knights, and now NZ has made the 2010 world cup, and the Olympics 2012, NZ football is really on a high , developing nicely. Then align all state leagues, and have an FFA cup.
Kasey
Guest
I seem to remember the old Hartford Whalers(NHL) played out of a rink attached to a shopping centre (sorry in US English ' center')
thinker
Guest
true next option for the A-league is to make a number of seasonal licenses(rather than the usual 5 year licenses) available to give to the state federations in return for adopting the NCR recommendations in the same way the AFC determine spots for the ACL. Having the A-League to be seen as a champions league would work a whole lot better the a more traditional vertical competition given our continental spread.
Paul
Guest
The comments about the AFL are interesting. Western Sydney a must while Gold Coast a struggle? Please, I'd say it's the opposite. Expanding to the Gold Coast was the must for the AFL with a large expat southern population. While many older AFL followers would already have their teams, their children would most likely identify with a local outfit than one based 1500km away (an eerily similar situation to football with older persons supporting clubs in Europe while the growth in the A-League is driven on younger persons particularly children and adolescents). Western Sydney, however, has been tough. Failiing to break 10k when Collingwood came to play them at Skoda when I had to settle for standing room tickets in 2011 to watch the Pies at Metricon shows how tough Western Sydney will be, and that it will be a long-term project. Sydney's media has also been quite hostile to the Giants, compared to the friendliness the Courier-Mail and GC Bulletin have afforded to the Suns. Nonetheless, with the richest media deal and no national teams to fund (save a bi-annual galavant to Ireland), I'm sure the AFL will be able to hang on. A luxury FFA doesn't have.
Kasey
Guest
And Cronulla's deal has seen them asset rich and cash poor since they bought their stadium. I am far from an NRL expert but as I understand it, there is no guarantee today's shark fans will be able to watch their team in the Shire in 20 yrs time, Central Coast Sharks?
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
Bit of spare time before I leave for AAMI Park ... According to Wiki: Parramatta: Parramatta Stadium, owned by NSW Government Manly: Brookvale Oval, owned by Warringah Council Penrith: Penrith Stadium, owned by Penrith City Council St George: - Jubilee Oval, owned by Kogarah Council - Woolongong Showground, owned by Woolongong Sportsground Trust Only Cronulla: Endeavour Field is owned by the RL club.
Evan Askew
Guest
I'm not an expert on NRL but wouldn't the Sydney based clubs such as Cronulla, Parramatta, Manly, Penrith and St George own their own stadiums already?
Kasey
Guest
I've mentioned it many times to our good friend jb.... the break even mark is not a 10k crowd. The break even point is unique to each club and is a direct consequence of how good a stadium deal each club has. The 10k mark was a self declared aspiration all goal mentioned by Lowy at the launch presser of the A-League. I think the problem with averages is that one big or small result can too easily slew the average. Perhaps it's time to start looking at medians? Or weighted averages?
Kasey
Guest
Taking off the tin foil hat, I think Fuss has hit on the reason in a reply in past threads, there just isn't any traffic on the other sports' tabs. If you want a topic to be commented on it should at least make a passing reference to football so it can be placed on the football tab. Short of a blatant code war article, that is the only way to get comments.
Timmuh
Roar Guru
North had no choice. The AFL had a contracted number of games to each stadium, which when North's contract renewal came up left North negotiating with only Docklands and no bargaining power so the AFL's contract could be met.
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
Yes, Nth Melb are one of the lowest drawing AFL teams, but Docklands - like all sports stadiums - operates well below capacity. Stadium management would be negligent if they tried to turn a tenant away - there are no other sporting clubs waiting in the wings.
Titus
Guest
What sort of rebels are the Melbourne Rebels meant to be? Rouge traders?
nordster
Guest
Weird, wonder why that is? Still i think the point may still stand that the HAL stadium deals are what they are for underlying reasons for the most part...running costs primarily then market factors with a privately owned venue especially...like u say with MVFC docklands are desperate for a tenant. Maybe the management there has too many teams there in winter and wants to push a club out by offering them a bad deal they didnt think would be taken up...are the Roos one of the lower drawing teams?