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How a Geelong A-League team would work

2nd January, 2017
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How do you feel about Tim Cahill playing for Melbourne City? What about more stars? (AAP Image/Joe Castro)
Roar Guru
2nd January, 2017
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The noises coming from Geelong fans to have their own A-League team has become deafening, however there has been barely a whisper from the group behind the scenes considering a bid.

The Geelong market mainly comprises long-term football people who have the sport in their blood. In order to support its own A-League team, the region needs so much more than these loyal and dedicated pioneers.

The signs are promising though, with football participation in 2016 seeing over 3700 registered players – a 30 per cent increase from 2014.

The best part of this statistic is the number of kids. While a private investor willing to sacrifice some money for a long term return on investment is vital, the only way to find them and convince them is to show them the potential Geelong has in the future. This is where the kids come in. If we can get kids to A-League games, then naturally their parents, relatives and school friends will follow. The numbers can swell if done correctly.

While it is entertaining, Australia’s top flight isn’t the best league in the world, and with all due respect to the participants – apart from the odd Tim Cahill or Besart Berisha – those playing in the league hardly inspire kids to get names on the back of their jerseys.

This is why community engagement is a crucial ingredient for any Geelong football team’s success.

To start with, all juniors registered to play football in the region should get a free season membership, including a cap or scarf. Straight away you will get a few thousand kids in Geelong feeling they are part of the club.

Parents won’t let their kids go to a game on their own, so they have to buy tickets themselves. All of a sudden we have more than a few thousand parents paying money to go.

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To make it a day out, the grandparents now want to go, as well as cousins, school friends, work colleagues, neighbours and their families. Sounds good, doesn’t it?

But to realistically make sure they keep going back for more, we need to make it affordable. At the moment to go to an A-League game in Melbourne, the average family of two parents and two kids are looking at spending $120 (tickets, food and travel) and even more if you are travelling from Geelong. For 13 games a year this is over $1500.

To make memberships for adults and families affordable, the clubs must reduce costs. Stadium deals are one of the biggest costs facing any sporting club. This is where the parties involved need to come to the party by providing a deal that makes it profitable to operate and increase the number of people that actually go.

Surely the stadium rent a club pays can be a small base amount, plus a commission based on the number of people that attend. If stadium rental costs are linked to the number of people that attend – rather than a large, flat rate, which the club needs to recoup by charging higher ticket prices – it provides incentive to keep ticket prices down, because the more people that attend the higher the rental return for the COGG.

This will also mean more people will go and buy food from the outlets that operate within and around the ground. Therefore, not only will those within Kardinia Park itself benefit, but also the surrounding local businesses, a major boost to the local economy.

A single Geelong Cats game brings in more than $5 million to the Geelong economy, if A-League tickets and memberships are kept low and the stadium has a healthy attendance, there is no reason why an A-League team can’t one day get close to this figure.

No point in a stadium which has seen millions of dollars in investment sit gathering dust between October and February!

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Depending on reducing these other costs, why not make an adult membership for a 13-game season cost $100 for general admission or $200 for a family (two adults and two kids)? Give discounts to other registered football players and increase the numbers.

The Big Bash, the A-league’s major competitor, gets huge crowds partly due to cheap memberships given to kids who play Milo cricket and cheap tickets for families. It looks fantastic on the small screen and hence large money is generated via TV revenue, meaning gate takings aren’t as important as they once were.

What about food costs? A bucket of chips or meat pie and a bottle of water costs over $10 at a Cats game. Reduce rent or again make it commission based and there will be more reasonable prices for food and drink.

Next, make public transport free to games. The Western Sydney Wanderers have a deal whereby all members and anyone who buys a ticket gets complimentary public transport and their attendance numbers are among the best in the league. This may not be as significant in Geelong, due to the fact most people would drive, but why not provide regular buses on match-day and encourage people to get local public transport.

Let’s not forget merchandise revenue. By reducing other costs, you will sell more merchandise, which again needs to be reasonably priced. $100 for an A-League jersey is too much for a sport trying to attract fans, due to poor deals (some clubs get as little as $6 per jersey sold).

A major advantage the A-League has is that it runs over summer, during school holidays, when a Geelong team could really make its mark. Make going to a Geelong game a fun outing for the family. There is always a hive of activity around the ground when Victory play their annual game at Kardinia Park. Throw in carnivals, kids’ gala tournaments, clinics – make it a day out for every game over summer!

Kick-off times should be reasonable – 7:50pm is way too late for young families even though TV dictates these times. Why not an hour earlier (and maybe get more TV fans then too)? Why not let kids in for free too? Families are always looking for cheap ways to keep kids entertained over the long summer months and the A-League could be it.

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All of this sounds great in theory but is harder to put into practice. However, if all stakeholders engage and can see the bigger picture, then surely this is workable.

The only way for the A-League to be successful in Geelong is to link closely with the community. That is the one selling point that can break down all other barriers.

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