The inclusion of the Gold Coast Suns and Greater Western Sydney Giants was always going to spread the overall talent pool more thinly than previously.
It is something we can hope over time that will spread more evenly, but in an 18-team compeition it seems to be largely accepted at least eight teams are already unlikely to play finals and at least 12 if not 14 are not genuine contenders for the premiership.
This means week to week we have games that are going to lopsided or almost meaningless, games that the neutral fans are unlikely to tune into, nor will they attract new fans.
The recent TV rights deal was somewhere near a reported $1.25 billion dollar deal, yet last week the host broadcaster in its two prime time slots had Brisbane vs Collingwood at the Gabba on the Friday night and Geelong vs Gold Coast at Simonds on the Saturday night.
Saturday also had the lopsided Carlton vs GWS game and Sunday the Hawks took on the Demons, the only interest was in how whether the margins in the last two games would balloon out to 100.
The TV rights money is important to all clubs and while the poorer clubs need TV exposure there does need to be care taken with fixturing to ensure there is value for money for broadcasters.
Brsbane were missing several players, this could not have been expected, but that was arguably the most boring game served up on TV of all time.
Neither club provided much worth watching, and essentially 10 minutes in the game was over.
Listening to various radio reviews the next day the consensus was that there needs to be something better done to keep these games out of the primetime slot.
There are a few possible solutions to consider but all must be tempered with the fact that to maintain sponsors and buld a brand all clubs need exposure.
One solution may be to work out the broadcast guide closer to the date.
Currently you can see the broadcast details up to Round 22 as the channels are locked away, maybe the free-to-air games could be decided closer to the round, at least for the Saturday night fixture to ensure the most interesting one is on free-to-air.
Another option might be too add an extra Friday night game at the expense of a twilight weekend spot, this means there is a greater chance to ensure Friday night always has a good game for broadcast.
If they are to be at the same time, again it may need to be decided closer to the day which one is broadcast on free-to-air.
Alternatively when drawing up the fixture ensure at least one side from last year’s finals series is scheduled every week in the free-to-air Friday night and Saturday night games.
It may be necessary to go as far to exclude underperforming teams from the golden Friday night slot.
Lastly, the AFL could look to broadcast some games itself at the next tv rights deal, it may reduce the TV rights deal, but the income from its own broadcast could offset this and ensure that TV is left for the quality games.
There has always been lopsided contests, but in days gone by they never made it to TV, embracing online mediums may be the way forward.
There is balance in there somewhere, and the AFL banks heavily on its equalisation methods to ensure the bottom teams move quickly, but more Friday night games like Brisbane and Collingwood may be more costly than any other problem the AFL may face.
too many knock ons for me
Guest
afl is easily the most boring game on earth
Anthony
Guest
Is that a promise, Titus? I hope so! It's only anti-AFL trolls like you & Matt that make Roar a nasty place. Stick to trolling on the soccer & NRL posts, please. And if anyone thinks that GWS Giants' effort on Saty was boring they need a reality check. Not to mention the Suns victory :-)
Neil
Guest
Eighteen teams is going to be a good fit should the AFL lengthen the season with two byes for each club. Just one bye means that for three weekends we have six matches each week; but should there be two byes, it would be six matches for six weekends, which I don't think would be too much football.
davo willmot
Guest
expansion has made the code really boring too many teams not enough talent
Australian Rules
Guest
Warren, I think the AFL has already seen some crowd decline as a result of the widened broadcast deal. From the moment the AFL had every game live on Fox, there was a small decrease in crowds...add in the 2 new clubs and the average went down further. Fortunately, crowds were always pretty decent so the AFL was able to take a small hit on this. I think it'll be a while before we see crowd averages go up.
Titus
Guest
Wow...I think I'm done with this site, what a nasty place.
holty
Guest
Too right Stavros.
warren
Guest
Yes it was and will continue to increase. The issue for the AFL is how do they now make sure this does not become a cultural problem. I am a RL supporter and hardly go to a game because why would I when I get all the games on either Fox or free to air. I then get to watch the AFL which I enjoy as well and all the other sports that come along. As someone said to me the other day the broadcasters did not pay over a $1B for people to go to the games. They need them sitting in front of the box and paying their $100/month subscription. I know I will get arguments from AFL supporters who will tell me differently but once people understand that they are not getting as much value by spending $150 to take the family to the footy then I see an issue with crowd numbers for the AFL. It will not drop dramatically but I do not think they will grow either. If clubs like the GWS and Suns need this to meet budgets down the track then I see some real issues for the survival of some clubs.
holty
Guest
We will take the dog, but you can F#@K off!!
Stavros
Guest
That's right Titus, I consider myself completely assimilated. You can't get more Aussie than Sheedy. He cares more about this country than guys like you could ever understand.
Titus
Guest
Good for you, you must be an average Aussie, just like Sheedy.
Stavros
Guest
Matt, your last point is a good one. You can't make people passionate about a sport. That's why the average Aussie couldn't give a damn about soccer. Was there any talk in the workplaces about the Japan v Aus match? Nope. Where I work it was all about SOO.
Floyd Calhoun
Guest
You're a good sport Sheek, I wasn't making a barbed comment at all.
sheek
Roar Guru
Thanks Floyd, Which is precisely why it never happened, & won't! ;-) As a young bloke living in Port Moresby in 1969 (& attending boarding school in Sydney), PNG did a very good job of hosting the South Pacific Games that year. But yeah, PNG have a better chance of hosting the Olympic Games than forcing any Melbourne based AFL club to relocate.....!
Floyd Calhoun
Guest
No recourse to emotional attachment?! You said a mouthful there Sheek. Richmond moving to the Gold Coast?! It's one thing to have a detached view of the game, but realistically, PNG will host the Olympic Games well before that happens.
sheek
Roar Guru
I support 100% the AFL's push for a second team in both Greater Sydney & SEQ. What I support less than 100% is the increase from 16 to 18 clubs. AFL diehards tell me that the game can handle the increase in two extra teams, but I remain yet to be convinced of this. It would have made more sense to have two Melbourne clubs relocate, one each to GWS & Gold Coast. I'm not at all sure that Melbourne can continue to service 10 AFL clubs, irrespective of the past. But who would/should relocate? This is where the politics became very murky. For me, given the choice without any recourse to emotional attachment, the two clubs to relocate would have been North Melbourne Kangaroos to GWS & Richmond Tigers to Gold Coast. Sydney would then have had both the old South & North Melbournes playing out of Sydney, but also the red & white (Swans) & blue & white ('Roos) contrasting colours. With the Tigers going to Gold Coast, the marketing opportunities would have been "huge", with SEQ selling itself as the domain of the "big game" reserve for Lions & Tigers! Anyway, it is what it is.....
Judy Morris
Guest
Not having out of the 8 teams not on Tv, is stupid and selfish.They all have supporters who follow them, regardless whether they win or lose.All teams have the right to be on Tv while they build up their players.Eventually the tables will turn and the ladder will reverse.As it is, Brisbane lions are only on TV about 4 times in 22 rounds and play in Melbourne about the same.How can anyone deny Fitzroy,Brisbane lions supporters their right to watch their team play ?Collingwood supporters would have loved the game as it helped them get back in the 8.The ammount of fans going to the games might go up if the costs were more reasonable.I would hate to pay for a family going every week.Very expensive.Maybe the league should be worrying about the FANS and not the dollars for a change.The teams will sort themselves out.A great game.
Stavros
Guest
The AFL will start dominating the Pay TV ratings now. Syd v Ess was the highest rating Foxtel show last weekend and Fox Footy was the highest rating channel overall. Pretty good when you consider that NSW has twice the number of Victorian subscribers and Queensland has even more.
Matt from Singapore
Guest
I went to a Kings game at the Staples Centre in 2011, which I enjoyed greatly, but the place was more than half empty, the atmosphere extremely flat & passionless, then at the end of the game they thanked the crowd for selling out the stadium & everyone erupted laughing (must be the same crowd counters that GWS use). I noticed no media build up & I got tickets at the stadium about 30 minutes before puck off?(just made that up). The next night I went to watch the Lakers, I had bought my tickets online 3 months earlier, the game was really sold out, celebs galore, media build up massive, passionate fans, vibe around the general area, tickets selling for $500. Point is you cant make people passionate about a sport, which the AFL is expensively finding out.
clipper
Guest
It was only 2 years ago that league had 77 of the top 100 pay tv shows for the year. It would be interesting to know how what the percentage decline is this year and what percentage increase the AFL have. I also suspect that the A league may have a few in the top 100 this year.