There are now two distinct types of football fan in Australia, and Football Federation Australia is busy marketing games almost exclusively to the smaller camp.
It hasn’t been a great few months to be a sports administrator in Australia.
From the strike action threatened by Australia’s cricketers, to a pay dispute in the NRL, and the botched culling of a Super Rugby team, the executives who run sport in Australia could be forgiven for feeling like they’re under siege.
But at some point, fans who pay good money to watch these sports need to ask one simple question: what exactly are these administrators being paid to do?
Because if the answer is to improve the fortunes of their respective sports, it seems that many of our administrators are going about it backwards.
Take the Socceroos. After fewer than 30,000 fans turned up at the Adelaide Oval to watch one of our most important World Cup qualifiers in years, an equally disappointing crowd will descend upon the MCG for the friendly against Brazil tomorrow.
Why? Because the FFA has never bothered to play to its strengths and market the Socceroos as a football team the entire nation can get behind.
In fact, they barely advertise the national team at all.
There was little fanfare after Australia won the Asian Cup – as though we were embarrassed by the achievement – and outside of Ange Postecoglou, you rarely hear anyone talk up Australia’s results.
(AAP Image/Julian Smith)
So you end up with a situation where a minority of supporters understand the significance of a World Cup qualifier, while the rest of the football fan-base prefers to pay good money to watch Argentina beat Brazil at the MCG instead.
And very little is said or done by football’s administrators to question that status quo.
There’s nothing inherently wrong with Bart Campbell of TLA Worldwide bringing down teams like Brazil and Argentina. As a money-making exercise, it’s been a phenomenal success.
But we should be under no illusions that companies like TLA care about football in Australia.
They care about profits – like all good businesses should – and whether that benefits the game in Australia is largely immaterial to them.
You could argue, then, that the FFA is caught between a rock and a hard place in sanctioning the Socceroos’ involvement in tomorrow’s friendly.
From a footballing point of view, it’s an excellent hit-out before the Confederations Cup. And if it encourages a few more locals to throw their support behind the Socceroos, that’s even better.
But what FFA has failed to do is market the national team as the pinnacle of football in Australia.
So the Socceroos end up playing second fiddle in their own backyard – doomed to the role of support act to a travelling circus that pitches up on Australian shores, swipes the cash, and sails off on its merry way.
And that’s a risky role to play in a world in which globalisation means more fans than ever are strolling around in Barcelona shirts – but rarely the jersey of their own national team.
That only 13,000 fans showed up at AAMI Park on Saturday afternoon to watch the Wallabies go around should have got the FFA taking notes.
If administrators continue to charge premium prices for every single sporting fixture that comes to town, at some point fans will simply choose to stop attending.
(AAP Image/Paul Miller)
It’s cheaper to watch the games on TV – and often more comfortable too – and with the Socceroos playing in front of funereal atmospheres, there’s no unique selling point to entice new fans through the gates.
It’s time FFA took a new approach to marketing the Socceroos, starting with ticket prices.
No matter how cash-strapped they are, the tactic of charging through the nose and hoping the hardcore faithful show up isn’t working.
And unless they’re careful, they’ll have missed the chance to market the national team to a whole new generation of fans – one happy to wear a Messi or Neymar jersey, but never a Socceroos one.
CrampsRowZ
Roar Rookie
I couldn't agree more with this article. It can't just be the FFA, perhaps more a cultural cringe associated with the game in Australia unless you're going for a trendy European club.
CrampsRowZ
Roar Rookie
Anon It's basic economics that the FFA either ignore or haven't addressed.
Perry Bridge
Guest
#Mike Tuckerman Credit where due - I enjoyed this article - even as a non-soccer person - it's an interesting perspective and discussion and you didn't pot any other codes along the way - you referred reasonable to Union and Cricket but didn't take any nasty pot shots. Well done sir.
punter
Guest
Chris, We have never produced quality players, the fact that the greatest Socceroo is more known for athletic ability then his technical ability says it all. Those Aussie players back n 2005 & 2006 running around in mid table teams in Europe are now replaced by Africans, Eastern Europeans & Sth Americans. Look at a player like Ninkovic from SFC, never played in the big 4 leagues in Europe, he has a lot more skills then Culina or some of those Aussie players in mid table Serie A or EPL players in 2005 & 2006. Only Viduka & Kewell can measure up skill wise, maybe even Bresc, but I think Mooy & Rogic is the level of Bresc.
ChrisJ
Roar Rookie
Bloody hell Nemesis. Why do you continue to stubbornly stick to your party line, regardless of what is obviously occurring. I think it is pretty obvious that our playing stocks at the moment are very poor. I would say that talent available to the national team is perhaps the worst since I have been old enough to be able to assess it. This goes back to at least 1997 (we all know what happened then), but on review, perhaps even as far back as the 1993 Qualifiers against Canada and Argentina. You say we have 3 players in the EPL? Who are you talking about, Smith and Federici? (They never play) who is the other? 2 in the Bundesliga? Who are they? Leckie who's former team just got relegated and so is moving to a team that see-saws between the Bundesliga and the 2nd Divison? Are you counting Langerak, who's team just go promoted? You are twisting the situation to support a narrative. Even if we did accept the numbers you put forward (which you can't really do at all), that is still a pretty poor array of European-based players. Players we have had in the past, lets say 2005, 2006 were playing and usually starting every week for their EPL and Serie A teams. in 2006 we had Culina playing for a Dutch team that had just made the Champions League semi-final. So we didn't really have players playing for the really big clubs, but we had a lot doing very well in EPL teams in the top half of the table. Wake up, it is time to assess why we aren't producing the same quality of players we did in the past, not stick out heads in the sand and pretend things are going well.
punter
Guest
Caltex, i loved the WC06 Socceroos, gave me the best 2 weeks of best times of my life, i was there in Germany. However, many uses this squad as comparison to today's team. Apart from Viduka & Kewell, I don't see to much difference, both teams are bereft of high technical skills & Hiddink said at the time. Those apart from those 2 mentioned above would struggle to play in the top leagues these days.
pauly
Guest
Wolvehampton were in the running for his signature? Wow
Neil
Guest
News Break - Federal Liberal Speaker bags Soocer fans in Federal Parliament - I Vote.
Caltex, TEN & SBS support Australian Football
Guest
No problem----ready to change to whoever takes over.
Realfootball
Guest
Well said. I agree.
Chris
Guest
tbh I think he is a better player than Mile. His distribution is better and he is much more mobile. And he's got a mean streak which is whats required back there.
Brisvegas
Guest
And Craig Moore hardly played for Newcastle leading up to the World Cup. Mostly he was injured, but also regarded as back up to other fairly mediocre defenders.
Realfootball
Guest
Ten's shares suspended. I can't see the network surviving. Both Gordon and Murdoch have walked away. Looks like the first FTA casualty of out brave new world. Adapt or perish.
Marcus
Guest
Caltex..........you may have to remove TEN from your signature?? sadly may not be here much longer
Caltex, TEN & SBS support Australian Football
Guest
Milligan will take the penalties is my guess and I'm sure he'll be the captain tonight.
valhalla
Guest
youre obviously not privy to an earlier conversation that chris and i have had .... given that context - huh??? apropos of nothing - surprised youre not focusing your attention on the trading block on TEN shares?
Chris
Guest
Caltex, not sure we are blessed with too many quality holding midfielders atm. Milligan would be the obvious choice in the short term. Who will take the pens!
Caltex, TEN & SBS support Australian Football
Guest
@ Valhalla - you must be wearing your international rules Galah jersey today, to ask a silly question like that, good grief mate.
Nemesis
Guest
No one, other than Leo Messi & his business advisors know for certain how much money Messi earns each year. Even the Spanish Government would have part of the information. However, only yesterday, "CIES Football Observatory", who are "a research group within the International Centre for Sports Studies" produced their valuation for the Top players in Europe's Big 6 Leagues. Leo Messi's current transfer valuation is estimated to be A$225 MILLION. The most expensive transfer valuation is Neymar, estimated to be A$311 MILLION. Here are the Top10 estimated Transfer Values (Ronaldo doesn't make the Top 10) https://goo.gl/photos/L1d2Jtqtv4LSZAnK6
Timmuh
Roar Guru
There's some truth in there. I was surprised by the amount of All-Blacks shirts I saw in Buenos Aries a few years back. Obviously nothing compared to Boca, River Plate and Messi gear; but noteable and not all Kiwis on holiday. Or if they were, more Kiwis speak fluent Spanish than I thought. We are also among the most sporting diverse nations. Comparing Australian turnout to Eurpean nations is misleading .Many barely have a second major sport. Just among types of football, we have four (arguably three with rugby's drop). For me, that's good thing- as much as I can't get into RL at all, the choice is all to the good. Australia is, and always will be, a multi-sport market. Comparisons to anywhere else just don't work (except maybe US and Canada, but even there its dodgy due to the overall value of the markets). It does mean we tend to only look at the top ecehlon of a sport though, following your club down into a fifth division that goes on in Association Football in Europe and elsewhere will never be reflected here (in the future, this is going to be hard for promotion/relegation to ovecome; it must be planned carefully and moved on slowly). Nor will paying premium prices to see non-premium events (and as much as Saudi Arabia may be a good team, they aren't seen as a premium drawcard). Cricket suffers that as well, Pakistan even when number one in the world aren't the drawcard that England or India are. All that said, Association Football - whether the Socceroos, Matildas, or A-League - has made big strides since 2005. And there possibly is just an expectation that Australia will play World Cups, so qualifying against other middle-power nations doesn't draw the attention when so much other sport is on. Or, arguably, the attention that game deserved.