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If the grand scheme of things where does football sit in Australian sport?
Our traditional codes of cricket, AFL, rugby league and rugby union are all still well placed looking into the future.
Union, if compared to 1993 is well placed, but if compared to 2003 it has gone back a tad.
We should add both golf and tennis to the list. Both these sports are experiencing difficulties holding on to their existing base.
Football is in a growth phase, coming off a very small base.
Today football crowds average 14,000 and TV ratings have stabilised. While the sport is still growing it would not put fear into the top three.
When India invented Twenty20 they threw a life line to cricket in Australia and around the world.
I would argue today that cricket is Australia’s top sport in most measurable indicators.
The thing that all big sports have, and cricket, AFL and rugby league have in spades is large numbers of people who care and will watch and talk about it.
Many of the same AFL and NRL fans switch over to cricket in summer and enjoy the small break between the finals and the summer of cricket.
Football by any measure has come a long way in the last nine years.
Football is at a strange place heaps of blue sky in front. Yet things could still go belly up.
In any analysis and future plan, realistic goals need to be put in place, and acceptance of current facts.
Where do we sit, are we number four ahead of RU or number five behind RU?
The Super Rugby Australian teams draw larger crowds in Australia than A-League teams, big Australian Super Rugby matches rate higher.
However A-League plays a lot more games and in overall ratings and crowd numbers the A-League wins. The Socceroos win easily.
The player base and network of structures behind the national team would have football light years ahead of rugby.
On balance I say football is ahead of rugby, but not by that much.
Rugby is set to launch a third-tier competition from August to November and football is set to launch its National Premier League and Australia Cup.
Football’s big challenge is to lift it all states. If it can, it will become the only football code with a truly national reach.
If football could increase its crowds to a 20,000 average and lift ratings to say 160,000 per match on Fox and 600,000-plus on free-to-air, then by heavens we are in a contest.
I just don’t think we will be anywhere near these levels for some time.
Through continual growth, football will establish itself as the clear number four sport in Australia and will close the gap on the other three.
I think we have hit a kinda ledge and we need to get over the ledge for the next big growth spurt.
I have never been happier, we have football on free-to-air, called nationwide on the ABC, shown on Fox, played in decent stadiums, overall the media is treating football better.
We still have a long way to go to catch the big three. The challenge to connect with the player base is still there today as it was 50 years ago.
Where do we sit in the overall sporting landscape?
I would say number four just ahead of rugby union with lots of blue sky and lots of danger as well. My goal is within five years to have 12 teams averaging 15K per match with ratings around 110K.
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