“This confirms that football is entitled to be ambitious and confident in its future.” said David Gallop after last season’s grand final.
The record viewership garnered that night, watching what ended up being a tense, cagey skirmish between the two best teams in the league, was rightly wheeled out and showed off by the sport’s governing body.
“On top of a sold-out match, the broadcast numbers for the Hyundai A-League 2017 grand final were truly outstanding,” said Gallop, “with the grand final broadcast to 115 territories globally, this could very well be the most watched A-League match in history.”
Indeed, last season was a sparkling rollick, fuelled largely by Sydney FC’s year-long dominance, and was punctuated with some firebrand derbies in the nation’s two biggest cities.
The subsequent months have seen the Matildas achieve new, raucous levels of success and exposure, as well as a Socceroos World Cup campaign that has attracted more interest and discussion than ever, albeit often for reasons – and results – many fans would rather not have to talk about.
Football is now making a deeper, longer-lasting national impression; the national teams are even maintaining the momentum over the off-season.
So why, as the domestic league kicks off again, has the promotion for the 2017-18 season been so muted? Last season’s ‘You’ve gotta have a team’ campaign was, by most accounts, a success, in spite of Yoshi’s egregious plasticity as a fan.
The point of that campaign, one assumes, was to plant the seeds of devotion; casual observers were urged to evolve into impassioned participants, picking a team, painting their faces in the appropriate colours.
(AAP Image/Dean Lewins)
So much fervour over the course of the season revolves around the city derbies, which of course are events that trade entirely on the currency of partisan rivalry, even the Melbourne Derby which is rather lopsided when it comes to the two teams’ active support.
Football is at its healthiest when fans are devoted to their teams, and are vocal about it on matchday, and more fans, the better.
So if that was the point of the last campaign, it seems a little strange to re-up another edition this season, one that seems a little watered down on its second time around.
Gallop spoke on this season’s recycled campaign last week: “We will follow up the success of last year’s ‘You’ve gotta have a team’ campaign with fanbassadors at each club,” he said. “It’s part of the ongoing strategy to connect the base of the pyramid to the A-League and W-League.”
The A-League website has a blazing “You’ve gotta have a team” banner at the top of the home page, urging visitors to “Find your team here”. Clicking on the banner takes you to a rather pared-back page, where there are embedded images of A-League players, W-League players and kids acting as “fanbassadors”.
Click on any of them, and a brief biography comes up, complete with eye-drooping sentences based around elementary scoring or international appearances stats, as well as hackneyed cliches, like how Johan Absalonson “will add another dimension to the Reds’ forward line”, and “will deliver inch-perfect crosses into the area”.
As much as it must have been a thrill for 12-year-old Josh from Peregian Beach to be chosen as fanbassador for the Roar, finding out he “is passionate about developing his skills in football” and “loves to take on new challenges” isn’t really getting the heart racing in preparation for what might be the biggest A-League season ever.
What about the free-to-air television deal secured with Network Ten? How much has that been hyped up pre-season? Well, the network – recently acquired by CBS and set to broadcast Saturday night A-League fixtures for the next two years – hasn’t done much to promote its coverage of the league; it’s difficult to find a marketing promo anywhere online, and the Ten Sport website only has two articles posted in their A-League section, one announcing the broadcast deal, the other announcing the season fixtures.
Seeing as the huge portion of young people don’t own or watch free-to-air television – and are the key demographic both the league and Ten want to appeal to – perhaps there’s a presence on their catch-up portal, reminding all the on-demand-ites of the impending season.
No, even the advertisements embedded in catch-up episodes of their recent sporting programs have no trace of the A-League. Considering the fact Ten are shirking their share of marketing responsibilities, the FFA should really be doing everything they can to make up for this.
Perhaps they have invested in a hefty online presence? Well, the A-League YouTube channel hasn’t uploaded a video for two years, and while the FFA’s YouTube account seem to have dedicated time to promote the Matildas match against Brazil on their channel, as well as putting out a number of sponsored Father’s Day-themed videos with various Socceroos, there is nothing over the last month that mentions the domestic comp.
The club channels post various content promoting a kit launch, or a new signing, obviously more concerned with rousing their specific supportership than the league’s generally.
The A-League Instagram account posts photos regularly, though nothing too innovative or eye-catching, and the A-League Twitter account appears primarily to re-tweet from the various clubs or players.
Fox Sports are making up some ground online – their online coverage of the FFA Cup is excellent, for example – but clearly have their own profit margins chiefly in mind, not necessarily the betterment of the league more generally.
Now, clearly it’s difficult for the A-League and FFA to compete at this time of year; the sporting stage is dominated in late September by the AFL and NRL grand finals.
The A-League can’t yet hope to drown out that noise, and it might be viewed as a waste of funds to try. But if the extent of this season’s efforts are the clever combination of the words ‘fan’ and ‘ambassador’, and a few copied-and-pasted bios, then we’re entitled to demand more.
The FFA’s 2015 “Whole of Football Plan” has a whole section dedicated to outlining how the FFA will connect with the fans. It begins by asserting that its research indicates fandom is based on tribalism and loyalty, but then confusingly props up the idea that “Supporting one team will not stop you supporting another”, setting it as one of its targets.
That baffling contradiction aside, it also emphasises the importance of digital channels when it comes to reaching out to fans, especially teenagers. It’s hard to see evidence of this, two years, later, with the FFA’s various digital accounts stale or dead.
How should the marketing be structured? The old method, building ads around the name-brand marquees are less viable now because while the marquees have improved on the dawdling standards set by Emile Heskey and a washed-up Harry Kewell, names like Adrian Mierzejewski and Oriol Riera don’t rate as well in the focus groups.
What should the new approach be centred around? Perhaps our champion teams, and their place in Asia? The AFC Champions League’s awkward scheduling makes that difficult. And where should the FFA focus their efforts, on television, radio, or new media? Perhaps a spot of skywriting?
What’s clear is that, either bolstered by or in spite of the FFA’s marketing plan, the A-League – and football generally – has prospered over the last five years. Everyone reading this article is likely just as excited for the 2017-18 season to begin as they would be were it accompanied by some flashy advert, or a novel online campaign.
But for the rest of the untapped masses, especially the ones who already play football but don’t follow the A-League, the FFA’s current efforts are falling short.
Not so super
Guest
And watched in 2 of them
Nemesis
Guest
@matth Very valid points. My gut-feeling is that the TV ratings on Foxtel are never going to substantially increase, at least in the short term. There are 2 ways ALeague ratings on Foxtel can increase. 1) ALeague fans who don't have Foxtel will subscribe & start watching 2) Existing Foxtel customers who are not tuning in for ALeague will start watching I can't see why this will occur with better promotion/advertising. 1) It's expensive to subscribe to Foxtel and, no one who decides to tip their toe into the ALeague market will suddenly spend $1000/yr to watch a few ALeague matches 2) Existing Foxtel customers have known about ALeague on Foxtel for the past 12 years. If they're not watching already, they'll never be watching in sufficient numbers to boost ratings over the whole 135 match season So, the only way TV revenue will be boosted in the future will be by Free platforms. I'm sure if the ratings on TEN meet expectations, TEN will start promoting more & more. The CEO of TEN says spoke at yesterday's MVFC Business Lunch and said: Take a look at (what we did for) BBL and we'll be doing the same for ALeague. If this happens, blue skies ahead.
matth
Guest
Problem is its usually 5 people posting around 25 times each
matth
Guest
You are a football snob. You are basically saying to anyone who does not already 'live for football' or has not grown up in a 'live for football' family that football does not want you. How does this grow the game? If there had been this attitude from the beginning, then the English would be the only ones playing.
matth
Guest
Nemesis I agree with your premise. However it's not just about increasing the attendances, otherwise your numbers are correct. If the advertising only adds, say 10,000 new spectators, who attend say 3 games each you get 30,000. But the other pay back for the advertising is that if you can increase the viewer ratings, then the next TV deal brings in substantially more funds, and may also include advertising as a contra, which increases ratings again.
Grobbelaar
Roar Guru
Sage: Ten can start A-League Explosion https://www.fourfourtwo.com.au/news/sage-ten-can-start-a-league-explosion-474707 At Glory's season launch, Tony Sage stated that he is looking for Ten to do for football what they did for cricket.
chris
Guest
Andrew - some good points about fees. Whilst there are some clubs that have a mens senior team that require funds, the majority of clubs charge what they do purely based on economics. After the hiring of grounds, referees, insurance, gear, coach payments (yes most do it for free) etc, you can see why the costs are what they are. And don;t compare football with AFL or league where fees are heavily subsidised by their respective organisations. Football has over 1 million players compared to league which is around 230k. It would simply be impossible for the various state organisations to subsidise fees. Im involved with an association club and I can tell you not much money is made from fees (if at all).
Boban Fett
Guest
Bring Nick Tana and Roger Lefort back to the game, without them the A-League would not exist.
Nemesis
Guest
Andrew, you seem to have poor grasp of how football operates. 1. Club fees to play are high, but clubs are private operations & can charge what they like. The problem is football is too popular, so clubs know they can keep raising fees & they still have demand exceeding supply 2. 27 match season cannot be reduced because there is a 27 match minimum requirement to play Asian Champions League. 3. My rough guess is 90% of matches are normally played on rectangular pitches. Currently it's slightly less because WSW is building a new pitch & has to play on a temporary venue. It seems you & your family want to watch Aleague for free. This won't happen. I suggest you try AFLW, they realise their product is not worth an entry fee.
Anthony
Roar Pro
You are onto something here... Soccer needs to establish itself for two pathways/alliances; 1. Soccer pathway 2. Developing kicking skills. FFA could aim to team up with AFL/Rugby in their pursuit of excellence in kicking, kicking techniques. Rugby kickers in Australia are horrendous compared to England, South Africa and NZ. AFL players often start off with soccer, and then finish with soccer. Why not tie into their pathway/system.
Anthony
Roar Pro
You are onto something here... Soccer needs to establish itself for two pathways/alliances; 1. Soccer pathway 2. Developing kicking skills. FFA could aim to team up with AFL/Rugby in their pursuit of excellence in kicking, kicking techniques. Rugby kickers in Australia are horrendous compared to England, South Africa and NZ. AFL players often start off with soccer, and then finish with soccer. Why not tie into their pathway/system.
Anthony
Roar Pro
I don't have the Roar on my icon along with Rugby/Rugby League and AFL. I probably should, but this has what has turned me off soccer; 1. Club soccer fees for young kids (pre-teens). Too high. High fees means parents who have laid out so much cash and want to see results. It adds pressure at an age where it shouldn't be so high. I'm talking $700+. These fees are used to pay for clubs to fund chance at winning FFA Cup. 2. At young age, the season is too long. 26 weeks. Other codes are not this ridiculous. 3. Games are shown on round pitches. Why? Don't do this. Don't ever do this (or as last resort). To bring me back I want value for money. How about this. Ring fence seniors from fee gouging juniors. Set a maximum price for junior soccer participation fees across the country at a reasonable level. The participation fee also doubles as membership with your local A-League team. Basically, you get to use the membership for free entry to A-League games at games which are not historically sold out. That at least would get me in through the gates. Fill the stands. Look better on TV. Get my kids into it. They become adults. They are then a 2nd generation supporter.
Doc Disnick
Roar Guru
@Fuss Rick says: "Germany are nothing like this, preferring a more structured approach coupled with a moderate to high level of technical ability" punter replies: "Germans play a more structured technical" Sounds remarkably like the same thing dip$h!t. So in essence, you're effectively insulting punter with your comments also. Tell you what though. I'll let punter once again officiate in getting rid of me off this forum for good — much to your delight if you're up for it. I want you to explain to him HTF you thought Ronaldo only just recently left ManU when in fact he left 8 years ago. The world's most famous footballer and someone like you — who claims to watch world football — didn't know this. If you can give a valid reason for your stu@idity then I'll let punter judge whether I should leave or not. When you can't do that, I'll advise you once again: you're just not smart enough for these witty conversations. Off to bed old man.
Liam Salter
Roar Guru
That's a pretty good idea, Stuart. The cross-code thing might work well. It could be a logistical nightmare, but at least in theory it sounds like a good way to garner support for the various codes.
Lionheart
Guest
Roar did a deal with the local AFL side for one match - they came to us for free one game, and we had a similar offer. After that I've noticed on TV that they've adopted some of our chants. But some promotion like this is good, if it can be done.
Nemesis
Guest
Punter, you're wasting your time. He doesn't even know what "technical" means if he thinks Germany is not a highly technical unit. Every German player, even the GK has exquisite technical attributes. And, as you point out countries with much smaller population than AUS produce technically strong players, because the football education system focus is on technique, not just running laps, beep tests, lifting weights, etc. But, Aust football education has now more focus on technique. I've watched u16, u19 Aust & the players exhibit better technique than same age players over past 15-20 yrs.
Nemesis
Guest
Impossible to organize. The 5 clubs that have those home matches would have to agree to taking a revenue cut, whilst the away clubs are unaffected. Also, free entry can be very costly depending on the Match Day contract with venues. Eg AAMI Park charges clubs a fee for every person who enters. But, MV contract with Etihad doesn't. It's a fixed rental fee that gives MV all the revenue.
Stuart Thomas
Expert
Here's a radical idea.....address the issue at hand. Personally, I would like to see the opening round of matches allow children under 12 in free of charge. I would also like to see at least four other rounds with a similar sort of incentive for kids/families to attend. Perhaps a round where you show your membership of a league/union/afl club and get in free as well as a round where mums get in free, dads get in free, and a round where an a league jersey of the two competing teams gets you in free.
Stuart Thomas
Expert
Agreed docker........not something to be laughed at. Many people suffer from anxiety and mental illness, Austin had a moment, we should support him and not see it as a weakness.
Stuart Thomas
Expert
Great line.....'I can't name a current wallaby', who can and who cares? The most irrelevant sport in this country.