People are listing seemingly never-ending lists of problems with the A-League of late, so here are some solutions.
Fan engagement
How do we turn football fans into A-League fans? Why do 90,000 turn up to see Liverpool but only 10,000 turn up to see Melbourne City? Why does the nation get excited about the World Cup but not the local comp?
It has to do with connection – for fans to be invested in a team, they need some sort of emotional connection. This is hard for many teams to develop as most are no more than 12 years old. It’s hard to have a rusted on fan-base when teenagers are older than the league.
One way to build this though is through grassroots football. Every team should be handing out free or discounted memberships to kids who play in the same catchment area.
It would be wonderful for a child to play football on the Central Coast during the day, then see their local side in a professional setting. That pathway will connect them to the game and build a strong sense of tribalism.
Stadiums
The lack of atmosphere at games is a simple matter of optics. Having teams in smaller stadiums increases the noise levels, which looks better on TV and draws more people to games, as it looks exciting.
There is no reason why Sydney FC can’t play games at Kogarah or Leichhardt for example. Both are close to the city, have transport links, with the latter has good food options.
Entering into a ground-sharing agreement with rugby league teams might result in a better rent deal. Both have the capacity to build a four-side seated stadium for a reasonable cost, with a maxed out crowd of 20,000, which is a must for our league.
There are teams in the lower leagues of England that have built affordable stadiums. These are by no means world-class, but they provide intimate atmospheres.
[latest_videos_strip category=”football” name=”Football”]
TV coverage
The size of the deals offered to both the AFL and NRL convinced me of the need for a free-to-air broadcaster to take on the A-League.
Now I’m not so convinced.
The rapid uptake of digital streaming and the rise of a variety of online companies looking for increased content makes me feel football needs to jump on board.
Why can’t the league be innovative and sign up with Facebook, Netflix, Amazon or YouTube? Every other day I seem to read about those companies looking to usurp traditional broadcasters and bid to stream sporting rights. Being that they use customer data more effectively, they could provide better bang for an advertiser’s buck.
A home of football
Apologies to the other great cities in this country, but this ground must be in Sydney.
Almost half of the league itself resides in or near Sydney and most grand finals have been played there. NSW has by far the most registered players and most credible expansion bids seem to come from the Greater Sydney area (one vote Wollongong Wolves).
We could go into a partner payment plan with the NSW Government, with the goal of owning the SFS for example.
Establishing a base there and setting in stone the date of the finals – same day or date every year – will give a sense of ownership over the state of the ground and reduce clashes with rivals codes.
Offering reduced ticket prices to say an Adelaide vs Perth grand final could smooth things over.
Structure of the league
I like the idea of a ten-team Division 1 and 2. Having three lots of nine rounds satisfies the ’27 rounds’ AFC rule and gives teams a chance to get one-up on a rival should they stand at one apiece through the season.
The finals should be replaced with a all-league cup, which involves every team. Imagine if your side is out of the race for the premiership but manages at the end of the season to string together a few good weeks of football and end up with a trophy!
The FFA should go for this, as every team being involved would generate interest among more fans and provide more games to sell to advertisers.
The structure of the second division should be built along similar lines: ten teams with a one up-one down process. Relegation from the second division shouldn’t occur until it has firm roots. The salary cap should be half the size of Division 1 teams, providing incentives to move up.
Televising every game is a must and will avoid the problems that a drop in support for team that gets relegated will have on a city (e.g. if Perth gets relegated, the city can still watch their side on TV in the second division).
GavanD
Guest
Get rid of wellington and replace them with the goals for grassroots team for the week (can't go stale with a new team each and every week!) Make them earn that cash!
Ken
Guest
Totally agree we need to expand to 14 teams at least .2nd teir comp won't work becuase no investor will invest in a club wih the thought they could be dropped after one season and we just don't have the population .lets expand the main comp now rather than later and grow it and make the A league inclusive of all the major soccer regions in the country
rolly
Guest
@ Grobelaar what you neglect to mention with your list of AFL clubs being profitable is that 30% of the profits of all those AFL clubs you listed is generated by poker machines . not gate takings or food or drinks or memberships but pokies.
Ad-0
Guest
Open my mind? I have, and Ive come to the conclusion it's economically untenable. You guys come up with these pshionate debates but don't do the Maths. I like having an A League, if they do Pro-Rel then there won't be one anymore. Simple.
Kanga Ernie
Guest
Jeff Williamson Personally I’m looking forward to Edgeworth eagles promotion to the A league especially if Daniel Mcbreen can play another 5 seasons for edgy . Edgeworth v Newcastle Jets
Kanga topper Stanley
Guest
Feast days and folk festivals. Pure gold grobs
Nick Symonds
Guest
"It’s likely 5k crowds for Hume City at their home stadium in Broadmeadows, will generate more profit than 10k crowds for MelbCity using AAMI Park." It all about the stadium deals. I don't know about all the current bids but FC Tasmania can break even with 5,000 and Fremantle City with 6,000. Contrast that with a second team in Brisbane paying the same kind of fees as Brisbane Roar. Clubs that own their own stadiums don't have those problems. Moor Lane only cost 5 million pounds so clubs could afford that themselves, or any decent sized council. And there's nothing wrong with the atmosphere if it's packed full either. I'd rather watch a match with a crowd of 5,000 at Moor Lane than a similar crowd at Lang Park.
Archer
Guest
Chris I actually think that it will never work at Homebush or Brisbane, they should stick with playing at Fitzroy and Footscray.
Kangajets
Guest
punter In that period Liverpool has won 4 fa cups , 5 league cups and a champions league Plus Liverpool beat Sydney FC ?
Kangajets
Guest
Yes , on Wookie figures then More then half the rulz clubs made a loss .
punter
Guest
He's not a fairweather fan, he is a Liverpool fan too, they have not won the premiership since 1990, that is 28 years ago and counting, if he was fairweather fan he would have jumped ship a long time ago.
j,binnie
Guest
Nemesis - question. If you asked a football fan ,married or single,where they would like to spend a "Grand Final Weekend", do you really think Canberra would get the nod. I've attended a final in Canberra, (Brisbane Lions beat West Adelaide,) ,and it was like being at a wake such was the absence of "atmosphere" among the 7000 crowd,mostly "neutral". Cheers jb.
Grobbelaar
Roar Guru
chris Let's try and keep things real, you are being far too optimistic in that prediction in your last sentence. The GWS would have ceased to exist by 2105, and furthermore, by then the alf will be nothing more than an historical oddity, played only on feast days and at folk festivals.
Kangajets
Guest
I’m with waz . Whoever earns the gf should host it .
Grobbelaar
Roar Guru
chris I agree with the point you are making here. The A-League is new, trying to build the game in a market which previously has not recognised the game of football. It's a long, winding road. I just said below that it took the AFL exactly 100 years to reach average home and away attendances of 30,000. Can the A-League do the same by the year 2105? Yes, I believe we can do it, but we all need to show a bit of patience. It won't happen overnight, but it will happen. When it happens, there will be plenty of poeple eating humble pie on the roar.
chris
Guest
Archer you are right in that people tend to forget how long it took other competitions to build a decent fan base. I'm fairly confident that by 2105, GWS should pass the 10k average in Sydney.
Kanga petratos
Guest
A D Welcome to the football sight . I believe that second division football in Australia will generate far more money then the second divisions of other codes in Australia. Cheers
Grobbelaar
Roar Guru
Kanga These are the P&L figures the usually reliable Wookie has for the 9 clubs which have reported their 2017 results to date: Profit/loss St Kilda - $5,267,414 Essendon - $5,054,186 Hawthorn - $4,933,128 Richmond - $3,063,298 Melbourne - $1,363,060 Western Bulldogs - $1,643,050 Geelong - ($339,849) Brisbane - ($2,261,990) Collingwood - ($2,732,624) Anyway, the discussion above was initially about annual revenue.
Grobbelaar
Roar Guru
I thought Melbourne was the fastest growing city in Australia.
Grobbelaar
Roar Guru
Brisbane already has the perfect football stadium to be the home of Australian football.