We need the A-League finals to help us forget a dreadful regular season

What’s often missed about those packages here is that in the US (and Canada for NHL followers) they blackout matches shown on TV locally. So if you love into Dallas, for example, you can’t watch matches shown on Fox, CBS, NBC, ESPN etc in Dallas. This means that the packages have a limited impact TV rights negotiations. If the FFA wanted to sell these packages (either themselves or to an intermediary), that would affect the value Fox would pay for the rights. Of course Fox, as the current rights holder, could sell the packages if they deem it in their commercial interest.

Harry it's nice to have dreams. You need to get out to the western suburbs of Sydney to see what's really going on.

Speaking of which, my daughter brought home her school photos the other day, and there are two girls called Pip in her class. I mean fair dinkum, what is this, 19th century England?? (admittedly, she does go to perhaps the most prestigious grammar school in the country)

at least ten last count

Is this true??

"Victorian Rules"? This name is 100+ years behind the times, from back on the 1890s WA goldfields when lots of Victorians went over there to make their fortunes (plus escape the 1890s Melbourne's economic depression). and they brought 'their' game with them. What Foot Ball meant over there was undecided until that influx.

I don't know if it's fair to equate the crowds at the moment. WSW don't have their home ground and haven't had a great year. I would also take the participation rates with a pinch of salt, it's hard to now the real number, but I suspect that Football is still well ahead, although AFL is growing, like Football, league and Rugby are declining. I also don't know why people keep attacking GWS for trying to grow their brand by giving away tickets - they're in a hostile area and need many years of support - look at the Storm, after 20 years of unbridled success, they still have 2 for 1 tickets and still haven't overtaken 1 AFL team in Melbourne.

You forgot to add that GWS crowds, membership and TV ratings have surpassed WSW. Not bad for an AFL wasteland (vs a traditional soccer heartland).

@ C.Claudio and your comment "$200 million a YEAR" LOL Try about $200 milion over 10 years from AFL HQ -much of it is covered by private sponsorship for GWS (about $11,500,000 in 2017), far better media rights deal ($2.5 billion) etc. GWS just recorded 20,000 members in record time 2 days ago.-great result by Sydney standards. Strong growth in registered Australian Football participation in Sydney's WS and the ACT. Further good growth will occur in WS and the ACT in 2018 AFL Official 2017 Registered Participation 1,547,915 FFA Ofiicial 2017 Registered Participation 1,631,041 As Australian Football is experiencing good participation growth around Australia, it is very likely to overtake soccer in the next 2 years. This is quite remarkable, as soccer has had a big "free kick": very high immigration in the last decade -200,000+ pa.

Everyone's a Pip.

"Agenda". Thus sayest the man with the tin foil hat. You are so absurdly off the mark that I'm not sure whether you are serious or not. I grew up with the game. I played state league football as a youngster. I've coached junior teams. My three kids all played. I was there at the first Roar game, with them.. I pay for Fox just for the A League. I detest AFL. It represents so much about the negative aspects of Australia I encountered as a migrant kid - and the aesthetics don't appeal either. So, please, to call me Pip and accuse me of being an AFL guy... gimme a break, CC. I'm a concerned fan, that's all. Very, very concerned, and with good reason. I'm watching Lowy and Gallop throttle the life out of the A League. I've also worked in the screen industry for 30 years, and if you can't see the issues here with negatively trending attendances and with ratings, in particular, then you simply don't understand the commercial context that the A League operates in.

Re "Freebies never work" - well, they do, but too many times in ways which were never intended, as noted above. Perhaps the smartest way is the 'family pass', a common package which gives kids (usually two, but sometimes more) free entry with two adults. Of course, there have to be some criteria about how a group qualifies, but they seem to be popular in various paid entertainments. In the wider sphere, one of our nation's biggest problems is that the federal and state governments have gone on a 'freebies' splurge chasing votes, which has the consequence of what was a (temporary) help becomes an entitlement, and politicians can't uninstall them.This point, too, is above. (Many of these indiscriminate handouts should be replaced by rebates at tax time, which returns some degree of personal responsibility to the benefactees, which in turn is taken to mean that no personal income should be automatically tax-free.) Another effect is that being 'free' often cheapens (even if subconsciously) the esteem of something which was once seen as worthwhile, and therefore worth paying for.

Pip, when you look at how much money Victorian Rules has compared to other codes, I wouldn't be praising their administration. Imagine how much real Australian football would boom in this country with $1.5 billion to spend. How much have they spent on the Giants? $200 million a year? How far have they progressed? Still giving away free tickets at Macdonalds.

Comparison to overseas football leagues is "completely irrelevant"??? I can see your agenda. Pip, you and your cronies compare the A-League attendances and phony TV ratings to Victorian Rules EVERY DAY. That is not relevant - Apples to Oranges mate. Then you also conveniently leave out the FACT that the A-League is now shown live to EVERY country in the world on TV and Online. https://www.a-league.com.au/news/hyundai-a-league-201718-season-goes-truly-global Every week the A-League is watched by between 5 to 10 million viewers around the world. Football is a truly GLOBAL game, unlike some parochial suburban league. This article even estimates that up to 250 million people watch the A-League now; https://theworldgame.sbs.com.au/article/2015/10/13/leagues-global-coverage-expands The A-League is doing just great given the opposition it faces every day. The NSL only averaged less than 2K attendance and had no TV ratings to even mention and it lasted for 27 years. If you and your Victorian Rules mates think that the A-League is going to die any time soon, then save your energy for something more worthwhile, like congratulating the mighty Sydney FC for their fantastic achievements over the many years of the A-League. Long may it continue late into the night..

Harry an interesting article, but surely this is just another case of the AFL-friendly mainstream media talking up the AFL way above its true station?

Vargas pre injury was doing more at least than he is doing know, but he was being given all the credit from those deluded commentators. From the first match, Nabbout and Petratos were the stars and Ugarkovic the engine, its terrible that the foreign recruiting with Pato who would be on huge money has been abysmal.. Donovan he was suspended recently , and at least before he was suspended he was still hacking people and motivated. What is he doing now I don't have an answer for that. If you let players slack off in your team the way Merrick has let Vargas and Pato recently then expect to hit rock bottom and other players to join them. If you look at Merrick he low balled two of the best and hardworking players in the history of the A-league out of a contract, in Fred and Riera. Look at Phoenix without Riera they have fallen off the side of a cliff. If the midfield is an open sieve then the result of that is not Boogard saving the team, but Boogard doing what he does in previous seasons , he then brings down the last man from behind and gets sent off. The first gane Pato started Jets lost to Phoenix of all teams 3-2 with Boogard . Imagine how Boogard would have gone with Pato and Vargas starting as happened against Adelaide Shouldn;t you be saying Absalonsen is in incredible form three goals in three games in his come back. Adelaide were a team that provided Sydney Fc with difficulties this season but put in Absalonsen there and his walking ways it was an easy thrashing for Sydney FC. It helps being a goal threat if you walk around and don;t mark up, then your fresh and unmarked on the counter like Bobo. What happened to Mitch Nichols he went from box to box to being the blob,. players can get lazier as they get older, and Taggart is heading down the slippery path to oblivion. If you look at Chianese a player who has had more injuries than most and yet he is one of the highest workrate players in the A-league.

"except AFL, who have the benefit of piles of money." Well yes, but that was not through good fortune, its been through good management. The old VFL was almost broke in the 1980's. Now...http://www.afr.com/business/sport/how-etihad-stadium-has-transformed-the-afl-into-a-financial-powerhouse-20180324-h0xx82

PH yes true re A-League. I was looking at FFA more specifically. I don't know enough about O'Rourke to comment but you're right in wondering if he would shine if the A-League was run independently.

The point you ignore, CC, is that where the A League stands in a table of attendances from overseas is completely irrelevant. The only metrics that count are commercial: are the clubs sustainable on the basis of the attendances and tv money, and is the tv money sustainable in the context of ratings. At present, the answer to both questions is no. Obviously, that has to change. The other factor that must be considered is the trend of these metrics, which has been negative for three seasons now. No matter what you would like to believe, CC, that too is unsustainable. I am not saying these metrics and trends can't change - they can. But I am saying, as any rational person would, that they must change if the A League is to exist in 10 years time.

No, I've kept watching. I understand your frustration with some posters, but this is an informed opinion from a true believer. Of course you can disagree, but denigrating it as uninformed is both unnecessary and incorrect.