The news that clubs are planning to actually market the A-League this year is a welcome development for a competition that has wasted the last few seasons.
Actually doing something to advertise the A-League? Now there’s a novel idea!
This season should be all about looking forward and not back into the past, but it’s still hard not to wonder what exactly those in charge of running the A-League have been doing for the last few years.
Enjoying a few too many all-expenses-paid trips to the World Cup from the sound of things.
But with an independent A-League now charged with the task of rekindling some support, it will be interesting to see the sort of tactics they use.
Because one of the main differences with the A-League compared to other codes is that the demographic labelled as football fans tends to skew young.
A big reason competitions like the AFL and NRL have generated such money-spinning broadcast deals in recent years is because they’re predominantly watched by middle-aged blokes with high disposable incomes.
That’s all well and good if your folks are shelling out for a set-top box from Foxtel, but all the anecdotal evidence suggests young Aussies today are both time poor and actually poor and tend to consume all their content on tablets and phones.
So whatever advertising an independent A-League starts to come up with, it needs to be digitally savvy and conscious of today’s limited attention spans.
And it needs to tap into the idea that watching an A-League club go around is about much more than merely consuming a product.
(Photo by Daniel Pockett/Getty Images)
That’s one thing football officials have got badly wrong for the past few years.
The sport is unique enough without pandering to mainstream Australia at the expense of the core supporter base, so now’s the time to try and reconnect with fans who’ve drifted away from the game for one reason or another.
And a campaign to remind fans that their support actually makes a difference – in the stands and on balance sheets – wouldn’t be a bad place to start.
During the week I was chatting with a colleague of mine who used to be a handy defender in the Brisbane Premier League.
He knows as much about football as anyone I’ve ever met, but when I asked if he was planning to attend any Brisbane Roar games this season, he told me he hadn’t been to an A-League game in years.
That’s not a knock on him. It’s just a reminder of how much work needs to be done to get the A-League back on track and fans through the gates once again.
And Channel Ten can play a role in halting the decline in TV viewers if, as expected, two A-League games end up on the free-to-air network this season.
If the criticism is that football has been locked away on pay TV, then doubling the amount of free-to-air content available can only be viewed as a good thing.
But if beggars can’t be choosers, then it probably behoves us to remember that the sort of coverage we’ve enjoyed on Fox Sports for years doesn’t come cheap.
Many of the critics who spend all day complaining about A-League coverage are also the first to admit they’d never dream of paying for it.
And maybe that’s a lesson for all of us heading into the new A-League season.
It’s all well and good to demand better free-to-air coverage and cheaper club memberships, but it will all come to nought if none of us ever put our hands in our pockets and actually support the competition.
Some actual marketing is the least an independent A-League can do.
But it’s up to us to make the most of it and help transform the competition into the best version of local football it can possibly be.
oldpsyco
Guest
Promotion of the game was never a strong point with FFA, they were too worried about owning the game and demonstrating their power over it! Surely, when setting up the Rules for A-League clubs to abide by, they could have insisted that each A-League club employ a full-time professional Sports Journalist, to produce articles on the club for distribution to the media on a Daily basis. Each and Every Club, Each and Every Day. Sure they wont all make it into print or onto TV, but provide the information to the media outlets. Also provide articles for their clubs Facebook, Websites, Match Programs etc. Surely with the budgets being spent, they could squeeze one Journalist in. Many people would be unaware there was an A-League game on near them, NPL and Lower Grades are virtually played in secret, as the clubs have no budget and the Associations have no Interest!
The Ball Bobbled
Roar Rookie
Yes a step in the right direction for sure. I would suggest the moment of truth for the A League is nigh. Get it right this time or or suffer the consequences which you can well anticipate. Understand the text book definition of marketing i e "The creation and delivery of a standard of living". I once saw some graffiti sprayed on a fence "McDonalds Hamburgers are delicious crap". McDonalds created a clever means of delivering a new experience of enjoying a hamburger. Backed by extensive advertising their product was embraced with alacrity by the masses, young and old. Even if it was crap as the spray paint vandal suggested they taste great! Throw as much money as you like at selling a product however will not necessary deliver success. People wont buy what they dont like. I look forward to the product that the marketing experts have in store for us.
Kannga2
Roar Rookie
As David Brent said “You need to 100 percent behind someone before you can stab them in the back “
Buddy
Roar Rookie
Agree with your marketing synopsis event if I do resist those giant chains for all I’m worth. I set my under 12’s a challenge this season with the reward being dinner on me - the coach and they succeeded and chose McDonalds of all the choices on offer!
Buddy
Roar Rookie
I agree with you when watching various leagues and comparing the standards. Having been to two MLS games last month I don’t think there is much difference in the standard overall. Having said that I did see Zlatan in one game and he makes an enormous difference. He plays at an entirely different level to those around him and you can almost see their collective brains click into gear a few seconds after his has performed - it is almost surreal at times. I too though encounter many people who say “I won’t watch A League, I have it a try once etc etc. I think there is a great deal of snobbery out there. In Sydney it seems people also prefer to watch tv rather than live sport - goes for all sports, not just football though.
Buddy
Roar Rookie
fadida - having visited all the clubs with the exception of our newest one and having bought tickets from most of them I get regular emails from most. Funnily enough I get the most email from a club with fairly low attendances so at least I know they are trying something!
Jordan Klingsporn
Roar Guru
If i hear that Australianisms word one more time. :boxing:
Nemesis
Guest
$70k/game was mentioned by Foxtel's CEO in recent times when he was whining about Foxtel's business in decline. And, that's cheap compared to AFL & NRL. Cricket is the most expensive to produce, of the team sports. But, I'm sure there's a lot of fat in there that could be trimmed. For a start, we don't need 2 in the commentary box. The production for streaming for FFA Cup & NPL is extremely good. Add a few bells & whistles for replays, off-side makers. It won't cost $70k/match. Closer to around 10% of that.
Fadida
Roar Rookie
It's not a poor experience if your team is playing full stop. Actually, given the choice I'd watch Nix V ccm over United v City, despite following United for 40 years. Within the EPL there are the watchable and unwatchable. Watching huddersfield go down scoring a goal every second game, watching City win 5-0 every game is tedious, likewise Barca and Real smashing all and sundry, or Juve winning 8 years straight, or PSG.
Fadida
Roar Rookie
Joined the A-league and stopped promoting themselves? I'm pretty sure FFA aren't prohibiting clubs marketing themselves?
Redondo
Roar Rookie
Bilbo - Nemesis is saying that the facts show that what you and your mates do is not representative of the general population, which is what your previous comments were implying.
Lionheart
Roar Rookie
$70K per game? I've seen figures much lower than that quoted here on The Roar. Where'd that figure come from?
Lionheart
Roar Rookie
No, I'm not getting sidetracked. I'm saying people are influenced by the masses. They went to the Liverpool match to be seen, to say I went, because it made the back/front page, not to see a better class of match than what they'll see at A League if they went. Besides all of that, if you were a football fan you would know that the A League is very young. The leagues you are talking about are decades older than the A League. Give it time, and, if you truly want a high quality league in Australia, lend a hand and give it your support, at a minimum.
Nemesis
Guest
No need to bother yourself. Stick to watching LaLiga & EPL with your man friends on the weekends. A-League broadcasts are under control. A new TV deal could be signed tomorrow that will be bigger than the current deal. Might upset a few people initially, but Optus entering the market also upset a few people. Got to crack a few eggs to make an omelette.
Bilbo
Guest
Whoever picks up the rights will pay a lot less than Foxtel has been Of the ones you listed I could see BeIN broadcasting a feed provided by the A League Foxtel quoted production is $70,000 per game, that is $350,000 a week or 10 million or so over a season that would need to be paid for Bein might offer $30mil max, half of what Foxtel does and taking away the $10mil in production costs it is only $20mil going to clubs and the League Haircuts will be needed.
Bilbo
Guest
I've been to one AFL game since 2011. I am Mr AFL. How good is the NPL broadcast when compared to the A League broadcast? No Tara Rushton either. Who will then get to broadcast the league and what TV platform will it be on?
RbbAnonymous
Roar Rookie
"What must be considered here is what happens once the current TV deal runs its course." Unfortunately the FFA has done a poor job of selling the A-league to prospective broadcasters and this sits squarely on the FFA. They need to do a better job of finding prospective buyers of the A-league other than Fox which could include Optus, Telstra, Yahoo, beIN sports or even the prospect of doing it themselves or with a third party. I would much prefer to be a consumer of a Football product rather than a sports product because I know that the current offering from Fox is not worth it. My primary viewing is for football and to tell you the truth that is all I want to pay for. Provide a reliable platform and a fair price and I will be there in a heart beat. The whole point is if Fox wants to opt out of football they will lose a massive amount of subcribers and I think they would be shocked at how many would leave them. I dont think it will come to that and Fox will ultimately pay a fair price for the content but at least the FFA or the A-league owners need to be prepared for that and allow for that contingency. Otherwise they are not doing their job.
Bilbo
Guest
Not sure how it is Fake News when I say my mates and I watch EPL Typical Nemesis, not even reading what has been written
lesterlike
Roar Rookie
Boohoo, we can't afford to let the big clubs be held back from spending what they can actually sustain anymore because the half dozen fans of Newcastle and CCM think they should that the competition should be artifically rigged in their favour so they can theoretically win titles despite spending nothing. All the cap is doing now is restricting successful clubs from retaining their squads on a medium-long term basis and allowing poorly performing ones to continue doing nothing despite their being no relegation.
Nemesis
Guest
"We do watch the EPL, La Liga, Seria A, Champs League" FAKE news. ALT Facts. Of the 380 EPL matches broadcast exclusively on Foxsports in 2014/15, fewer than 20 matches were listed in the Top 20 PayTV ratings. In that season, of the ALeague matches broadcast on FoxSports, 90% were listed in the Top 20 PayTV ratings. So far, since beIN Sport has broadcast on Fotel 0% of La Liga 0% of Bundesliga 0% if SerieA has been listed in the Top 20 PayTV ratings. Not even El Clásico could pull enough viewers to register in the Top 20 PayTV viewers.