The A-League's final round makes no sense

Don't forget that Man City themselves were relegated while playing with the ball by the corner flag in about 1994 as they thought a draw was enough to keep them up. That still makes me laugh 20 years later! It's a very dangerous game to play, assuming that you know scores correctly from elsewhere.

@ Andrew: Not sure I understood your comment, but this seems like an in-between option that (IMO) probably doesn't interest either party. For instance, the TV broadcasters - why should they only let 1 game be played at a different time? If the FFA were not worried about the effect of 1 game having a different kick-off time, why would they then worry about all games as they risk being seen to choose favourites by deciding upon which game gets moved a week before the final round.

@ Ginger71: At the risk of sounding patronising (not my intention), why do you watch every game? Is it because you don't have 1 favourite team? Or are you a SUPER fan of the HAL and like to see how all the teams play? Either way, I'm not sure there are many fans like you that watch every game every week, so whilst not meaning to be rude I don't want FFA catering to the minority that I think you are in.

@ Ballymore: How would you then avoid the problem of those 5 teams ALWAYS playing their last match @ home (and consequently, Roar, Nix, Jets, AU & PG always playing their matches away)? Plus, why should CCM play @ Nth Sydney Oval and not Bluetongue Stadium? Why shouldn't the Jets get a home game (2hrs north of Syd - same time zone)? IMO, the FFA is simply shirking their responsibility (towards fighting match-fixing) as well as pandering to tv by claiming the logistics are too hard to make it work. - The draw is known well in advance, so organising stadia and adjusting kick-off times accordingly should be quite possible to achieve - there is arguably at least 1 back-up venue for every HAL team if their primary venue is booked (AU, MH, & Jets might have to travel out of their catchment areas). - The time-zone challenge is neglible -3 hrs to Perth, +2 hrs to Wellington is the max split IF BOTH those 2 teams play at home. Earlier kick-off times might be a concern for Perth due to the heat, but how often is it over 30 in Perth during mid-/late-April? Wellington might get a lower gate attendence due to the late-night kick-off (ie: after 7pm local time), but not if they have a Finals appearence on the line. It's compelete B******* that the FFA is peddling, and they simply want to max. their dollars - all the while not realising that they could still do that by charging a slight premium for this particular round given the added excitement of simultaneous kick-offs. Gallop & De Bohun should be ashamed of their stance!

Amateur hour. I would like all matches played concurrently, with all 5 matches being played in Syd & Melb. Synergy it is called. SYD @ SFS WSW @ Parra CCM @ Nth Syd Oval MHT @ AAMI MV @ Etihad

@ Jules: I think you're drawing a VERY long bow to suggest QPR slackened off as they had no risk of relegation anymore! City won because they did what they needed to do - score 2 more goals in the time remaining. Unless you suggest every game is played using a universal clock which is controlled centrally and either ignores stoppages or conversely includes them in all matches at exactly the same time, then a simultaneous kick-off is as close as anyone will get to simultaneousness. And yes, I AM in favour of a simultaneous kick-off time for the last round of matches - the FFA are just using a cop-out to say it can't be done!

@Steve So, you're assuming the 4 games on FoxSports would achieve ZERO viewers & ZERO advertising dollars? I'm not that pessimistic. 4 matches at different times should be around 280k. It wouldn't be unreasonable to expect 200-250k total viewing for the 4 matches kicking off simultaneously. Hardly a major issue for advertisers.

$15k per minute of ads. Times 10 mins per game. Times 4 games. $600k. Nothing to sneeze at, even for Fox Sports.

It actually wasn't fully simultaneous. There were some big delays in the Man City v QPR game which meant that QPR were safe from relegation when they still had six minutes to play against City -- who promptly scored twice to win the title. I don't support any teams in the EPL and loved the drama, but the fact that the lack of true simultaneousness may have decided a title left a slightly foul taste in my mouth.

I'm sorry "[facepalm]" doesn't make any sense in your concluding sentence. So, let's know from your worldly experience ... give me a rough idea - from your vast business experience (I understand teenagers & 20-somethings have extremely deep, well-credentialed business knowledge) - how much advertising revenue would be lost?

Over-dramatizing? LOL "The only downside is for advertisers" - yes, let's not worry about the advertisers...[facepalm]

It should be changed to Champion's and Championship. Premiers sounds so dull.

Do you know Fuss the power that Football's generating in Australia currently this will become a reality in less than a decade probably 5 years and due to the compression of the league" tightness" it could make a mockery of the final day of most European leagues I'd suggest, the HAL could potentially take in a greater audience than just Australia and New Zealand too.I'd suggest the EPL picks up a greater viewer ship because of the drama /trauma of the final day scenario Imagine being in sixth position on the final day and winning the Championship in two hours time it would be insane.

No. The FFA determine what the nomenclature is for the winner of the home and away rounds and what this title is called. Since year 1 of the A-League the terms the FFA have authorised in the competition rules have been "premiers" and "premiership". This is not in doubt. It is not up for debate. It is an unequivocal fact.

TV revenue is $40m/yr for 27 rounds of H&A & 5 Finals (I've pooled the amounts paid by FoxSports & SBS for ease of calculation & I'll assume both broadcasters are involved with the "Big 5 Final Day") So, basically, the TV revenue from 5 matches (1 round of HAL) is 1/28 x $40m = $143k FoxSports & SBS would still have to pay some money to broadcast the final round - let's say they pay 50% only = $71k. So, instead of receiving $40m/yr from TV broadcasters, FFA now receives $39.93m/yr PS: The FFA doesn't receive any ticket sales revenue from the H&A matches, so potential reduced gate from the final round (in my view, gates will not reduce) will not negatively impact the FFA revenue.

Look at NFL 2013 week 11 to 17, not all games are done simultaneously, only one game can flexible to a different kickoff time from the original schedule. Why not allow the final round of the A league season, a option to flexible starting time of the one A league game. Just given the affected match a 6 day notice of a changed starting time. This choice wil reduce the advantage of teams starting later in the final round.

@Christo the Daddyo Don't over-dramatise this issue. The final 5 H&A matches accounts for around 3% of the total annual HAL audience on FoxSports. It's ludicrous & irrational to think people, who currently have a Foxtel subscription will say: "no, I won't get a subscription because the final 5 games are kicking off simultaneously". So, the only potential downside is for advertisers during FoxSports ALeague broadcast, however, advertising will not be a significant revenue item for Football broadcasts. At worst, Foxtel loses 350k viewing numbers for 1 ALeague week-end - this is if ZERO people tune in to watch any games. At best, we may get more than 350k people tuning in across the 5 matches.