The A-League’s elimination finals have conjured two of the most intriguing match-ups imaginable, but the question is whether anyone will be watching.
Just how badly did Wellington Phoenix want to play Melbourne Victory at AAMI Park?
The bean counters at Football Federation Australia probably preferred a Melbourne derby to kick off proceedings, however Wellington’s third trip to AAMI Park this season should be equally compelling.
They should have beaten Victory at the same venue in January when they overcame an early deficit and raced to a 3-1 lead inside half an hour.
It was none other than former Phoenix star and long-time Kiwi international Kosta Barbarouses who scored the equaliser in the 88th minute of that thriller.
James Troisi got on the scoresheet that night too, and how badly will he be missed in a sudden-death encounter that looms as a potential banana skin for the home side?
Troisi could be headed for the exit in the off-season and so too could Barbarouses, so will Victory have a genuine crack at signing Wellington striker Roy Krishna to fill the gap?
Roy Krishna (AAP Image/SNPA, Ross Setford)
There are plenty of other subplots to this clash, such as the idea that Mark Rudan might have lulled Victory into a false sense of security by taking things easy in last week’s 5-0 thrashing by Perth Glory.
The Phoenix coach is off to Western United next season, so can he dump their soon-to-be local rivals out of the finals in the meantime?
The other clash, between Adelaide United and Melbourne City, seems just as enticing, even if it feels like these two clubs play each other all the time.
And with Adelaide’s resident football journo, Val Migliaccio, revealing that no less than 23 players had played for both clubs in the nine years’ of City’s existence, it’s no wonder this fixture has such an air of familiarity to it.
Is there a bigger contrast in the A-League than the clash of these two coaches?
Marco Kurz projects the aura of a man who might spontaneously combust at any moment, while Warren Joyce has all the personality of a paperweight.
But which one’s the better coach?
Kurz has his detractors – which perhaps explains why the Reds are happy to see the back of him – but his side has looked unbeatable ever since the club hierarchy revealed that his contract would not be renewed.
Meanwhile Warren Joyce is, well, Warren Joyce.
Ironically, City are the only team to have beaten their elimination finals opponent this season, after they downed the Reds 2-0 at Coopers Stadium just before Christmas.
They looked a million dollars in smashing the Central Coast Mariners 5-0 last weekend, but can they reprise that performance when it really counts?
Perhaps a more pertinent question is whether anyone still cares?
Last season’s elimination finals were poorly attended, so will this year be any different? And is anyone still watching on TV?
It can’t be overstated just how alarming some of this season’s broadcast figures have been.
And the idea that it’s somehow not a problem because fans have simply shifted to Kayo Sports or the My Football app on a mobile device is absurd.
A drop in revenue is a drop in revenue however we try to frame it, and less money from broadcasters means less money for the league overall.
No new investors are going to swoop in and insist they want to pay more than the current broadcast deal when few fans are tuning in.
Let’s hope tonight’s game is a cracker and heralds the start of the most exciting finals series to date.
Because the A-League needs it.
The competition needs to find a way to reconnect with fans again.
There’s nothing wrong with the quality, but you wouldn’t know that unless you’re watching.
Waz
Roar Rookie
There isn’t any personal abuse in my reply lol. It’s pretty clear your just here for a bit of a tro!
Beach
Roar Rookie
There burden of proof is on the person making the assertion. I don’t have to disprove what you have failed to prove. Your post above is so desperately irrational that in the end all you are left with is personal abuse as a response.
Mister Football
Roar Guru
Good article from Lynch, certainly a story worth telling. Let us hope the growth in such representation continues.
Redondo
Roar Rookie
Not sure how much the finals will help Mike, but more stories like the following would do a lot of good... Young, gifted and African: The changing face of Australian soccer The children of the African diaspora are breaking through in the A-league and the Socceroos, and are changing the face of the Australian game. http://www.smh.com.au/sport/soccer/young-gifted-and-african-the-changing-face-of-australian-soccer-20190503-p51k0v.html?btis
Waz
Roar Rookie
Please, feel free to provide your facts n figures n data that prove people aren’t watching football on Kayo and Telstra because as far as I can see ... you ain’t got any! So while I can point to numerous supporter surveys that say 35-50% have switched to either Kayo or Telstra, and I can even point to FFA CEO Gallop quoted as saying the Telstra My Football App numbers are good and healthy ... what have you got apart from your own opinion and wishful thinking?? So if you haven’t got any data or any frame of reference for your opinion, perhaps you should shut up now?
Waz
Roar Rookie
It is. But it’s not like it couldn’t be seen coming, we’ve talked about these composite broadcast deals on these pages for years. AFL/NRL will likely continue to suck in the big dollars for decades to come but second tier sports like football will have to spread their earnings across multiple platforms - it means more hard work but more opportunities st the same time.
Ben of Phnom Penh
Roar Guru
The switch of viewers to different forms of media provides a threat to short and medium term revenues for the competition body and clubs as media companies and the parent body find ways to increase revenues from these platforms. This is a problem with any sport that has a young viewer base, who are quick to adopt emerging media platforms. A major factor as to why this is a problem is the rigid expenditure structure clubs must adopt as part of licensing conditions. The A-League licensing model needs far greater flexibility to enable clubs to operate in the black during periodic swings in revenue.
Beach
Roar Rookie
The next screen deal (need to stop using the term “broadcast”) is going to be very interesting. I just hope that the independent A League has eough time to turn things around.
Beach
Roar Rookie
Who conducted these surveys using what methodology? Sorry but unless you can provide links to the data and that data has been gathered with appropriate rigour then your assertions are little more than wishful thinking.
Working Class Rugger
Roar Guru
Reality isn’t negativity.
Nemesis
Guest
Rugby guy fascinated by our crap, low quality A-League. Why is this? Super Rugby crap TV ratings, crap crowd numbers. Number of adults playing organised Rugby in Australia? Lower than Table Tennis. As a football fan, I could go onto every Super Rugby discussion & push this negativity. I choose not to. What would prompt a Rugby fan to interrupt his world class Super Rugby season to discuss A-League? Loneliness? Inability to form basic social interactions with people who enjoy what he enjoys?
Waz
Roar Rookie
Plus Telstra, Plus Kayo.
Working Class Rugger
Roar Guru
22k on Fox. So cumulative 57k on TV.
Waz
Roar Rookie
Sorry, couldn’t help it lol
Nemesis
Guest
Waz, stop making sense. Offering such basic business thinking is beyond the understanding of the majority of posers on this forum. If people still think viewing numbers, or page clicks, or viewing minutes are important to providers of subscription services, they don't understand basic e-commerce. The whole point of a subscription business is to gather recurring revenue from as many customers as possible. To do this a subscription business needs to provide customers with content that they "must have" at least once a month (assuming a monthly subscription, like Kayo Sport, Optus Sport). Here is a good discussion: A guide to understanding and monitoring performance for subscription businesses Key Metrics for Subscription Commerce https://info.recurly.com/key-metrics-for-subscription-commerce
Working Class Rugger
Roar Guru
35k for the Vicotry/Phoenix sudden death final last night. Not great.
Mister Football
Roar Guru
Plus 35k on 10 Bold
Waz
Roar Rookie
Whilst I totally agree with your last line, you’re only painting half of the picture. Supporter surveys prove that football fans have abandoned Fox Sports and moved to Kayo or Telstra. Why they’ve done that and AFL/NRL fans haven’t is up for discussion, but more than a third have stopped watching on the old platform and gone to the new. I’m surprised Gallop and Fox couldn’t see this happening. (and where football goes from here is anyone’s guess - mine is to a mobile or broadband operator eg if it moves to Optus my families 3x mobile phones and home broadband leave Telstra and go to Optus, that’s $4,200/year of spend .... if there’s 100,000 people like me that’s $420,000,000/year of revenue to Optus - I’d say there’s value in that!)
RF
Roar Rookie
#TVratings Friday STV #ALeague #FoxSports#MVCvWEL 22k Nope is the answer. It will take a commercial miracle to save the A League now. And yet Gallop still has his job.
Waz
Roar Rookie
Gallop on SEN said FTA numbers are up on last season, but Fox numbers obviously worrying. Also said my football app numbers were doing well. So the picture for football is mixed. Crowds are flat and on line activity (twitter, FB) is healthy. The FFA model of give everything to Foxtel and “she’ll be right” is clearly dead.