There are just 38 days remaining until Adelaide United hosts Sydney FC in the season opening A-League encounter at Coopers Stadium.
There are reasons to be excited about what will follow. After three wooden spoons in four years, the Central Coast Mariners are starting to take shape under Alen Stajcic.
Through to the final eight of the FFA Cup, the men from Gosford have appeared far more committed and organised since his arrival late last season.
There are still some issues around defensive shape and after conceding 70 goals in 2018-19, there will be no quick fix, despite some new personnel.
The depth of the talent pool available to Stajcic will again test the squad in times of injury and strife, however, the good news for the A-League is that Central Coast will be a better and more competitive team in 2019-20.
Alen Stajcic (Photo by Catherine Ivill/Getty Images)
The early signs suggest that Brisbane Roar are well on their way back under Robbie Fowler. After scouring the British Isles, the Englishman has a toolbox of talent with which to work and looks to have already introduced a little steel and resolve that has been missing in recent seasons.
Despite membership numbers looking a little light on at Western United, their A-League debut brings nothing but a mood of change and sense of energy.
Manager Mark Rudan has assembled a solid squad and with his astute tactical knowledge and ability to manage people, the club will be hopeful of playing finals football in their inaugural season.
There are exciting new foreign players. Newcastle’s Wes Hoolahan and Abdiel Arroyo have already caught the eye, as have Brisbane’s Tom Aldred and Melbourne City’s Craig Noone. Most exciting of all looms a pair of Uruguayans.
Javier Cabrera and Adrian Luna may well take the league by storm in what looks a fresh and newly energised City squad.
Throw into the mix Adelaide’s promising 19-year-old Al Hassan Toure, the repatriations of Robbie Kruse and Andrew Nabbout at Victory, Sydney FC’s active and promising recruitment and the arrival of a sprinkling of South Korean talent and there is plenty to discuss and anticipate.
Off the field there is great hope, but also grave fears.
Commercially, the newly independent league stands to bring about real change. Should it be able to broker a new free-to-air television deal that increases the number of matches accessible to those not subscribed to Fox Sports, the way many Australians view the A-League may change permanently.
The need for that to occur is a no-brainer. However, being able to structure a deal with the Ten Network, the likely partner at this stage, will not be simple and the days are counting down to kick-off.
The latest murmurings have suggested that Ten could pick up the production costs of two matches per week; easing Foxtel’s financial burden. Whether that deal is indeed a reality and in which time slots those matches would be televised are unanswerable questions at this point.
A potential deal offers great hope yet a failure to strike it could be disastrous.
There is no need to read the tea leaves when it comes to Foxtel’s commitment to domestic football.
Their decision to strip back non marquee content, employee departures and whispers that the FFA Cup will eventually find a home away from the cable giant, all suggest they somewhat regret the terms of the A$346-million broadcast deal signed in 2016.
That is a sobering and disappointing reality to admit and makes the next few years of an expanded competition so vital. As first Western United and then Macarthur FC join the league, promoting it and broadening its coverage will be paramount.
FTA TV is the way to get more viewers to the game. (Photo by James Elsby/Getty Images)
Collaboratively, the clubs will have more money in the coffers to ‘sell’ themselves and the league, with the long awaited ownership of their property finally having arrived, yet that guarantees nothing.
Any suggestion that independence will provide the magic elixir is just wrong and decisions made in the next 12 months could prove some of the most important in the history of the A-League.
Solving the free-to-air challenge would be a vital first step.
One fundamental question remains when it comes to a potential media partner. What is in it for them?
Based on average audience figures from the past, not much. Yet without adequate promotion, advertising and a resolute commitment to the cause, has free-to-air coverage of the A-League ever really been given the colloquial ‘red hot go’? Probably not.
Helping free-to-air providers see the long term potential benefits of covering the domestic game is the only way a deal will be done. In the past, few have been keen to commit totally and invest considerably in Australian football for the long term, without short term or guaranteed reward.
That could well be the tipping point in the negotiations for this new deal. Getting it done and finding a new ‘friend’ is the A-League’s biggest challenge over the next four weeks.
Munro Mike
Roar Rookie
I really struggle to see how that model is anything other than a race to the bottom in the manner of the old NSL.
Martyn50
Roar Rookie
You just dont get it. 28/32 clubs is financially unviable in Australia, when your competing against AFL and NRL
Martyn50
Roar Rookie
So 3 million out of 16 million adults in Australia. 20% are Pay TV viewers then. Free to air 16 million. So where would the best option be to show sport? Where the majority of viewers are. FTA
Martyn50
Roar Rookie
Be carefull what you say. There are some here who disagree with you just because you don't toe the soccer line
Oldpsyco
Guest
Free to Air Television is the obvious answer to getting football in front of more fans. Pay TV or Streaming only allows their members to view the game, thus by its very nature restricting the viewing audience. Yes I realise they pay the money, but hows that working out? Crowd/viewing numbers are dropping in many markets around the world, particularly where Free to Air has been excluded! Take the money but its only short term gain, and there are a lot of conditions, VAR is a product of Televisions interference in the running of the game, Game times & venues are moved to suit Television, another is the lack of an off-season overseas, Referees are more like television compares than moderators of the game, where does it stop. Football needs to be careful, not to sell its soul for a few more bucks!
Munro Mike
Roar Rookie
#Nick But in the jungle/rain forests you often have a rich under-storey of flora and fauna - an adapted ecology living safely below the lofty canopy above.
Munro Mike
Roar Rookie
#chris 'relevance' in that respect is what you make of it - I suspect. For a domestic national league - the A-League has greater 'international' relevance because.....of the Asian Champions League. Good-o. For all of that - it's done very little to bolster the A-League. It seems more of a feel good intangible. For the NRL - within Australia it's pretty well Sydney and Brisbane and a ripple now and then in Melbourne even though their most successful 'fly in-fly out' side ever is based there. But - they have some links to a city or two in England. But - that 'international relevance' that drives is of far less value than the annual 3 game State of Origin which over shadows all else. And for the AFL - as a league - compared to the A-League - I'd argue the absence of 'international relevance' is a boon rather than a burden. As a sport - Association Football vs Rugby League Football vs Australian Football....well yep. But in this case - we're talking AFL vs NRL vs A-League and I don't think the AFL or NRL would kill for something so un necessary to a strong domestic league.
Munro Mike
Roar Rookie
#Nemesis.... There was a week off. And even the Ashes tour had effectively a week off with a game against Derbyshire......a lowly 2nd div county team and ... I can only comment so much about Mitch Starc (I didn't want him back in the team.......).
Nemesis
Guest
Find it strange that, at the most exciting part of your precious AFL season, you'd waste even 5 seconds talking about A-League. Yet, here you are, probably written more on this topic than most of us have written on combined topics over the past week. Don't you bother yourself with our crap A-League. Focus on the world's best AFL. So much excitement, you must be finding it hard to contain yourself.
Winnie the Pooh (Emperor of China)
Guest
They could just bung it up on youtube like the Lithuanian league and make it free. Instead of only a couple of million potential audience, you could loop in 100s of millions. Make it free and shove it up on youtube.
Munro Mike
Roar Rookie
#Nemesis Ah but we will probably agree - the A-League pretty well gets one shot at it - the live audience. Because - across the rest of the week if there was a 'FoxALeague' channel showing replays and panel shows - it would be in direct competition much of that time with the international presence of soccer. For FoxFooty and FoxLeague - these channels run all week with effectively no competition - showing replays and panel shows and replays of those. The lack of connection to the existing Aust based A-League clubs in interesting. On what basis should soccer 'folk' be making connections? All sports is built up from local levels up through the tiers to the top 'elite' domestic competition. It seems to me - perhaps - the position you argue for is indicative of a lot of reasons not to support being conjured up. Because - it's no longer a case of ethnic based clubs. And surely the new generation of supporters are no longer bogged down in old NSL jealousies that their club never got a crack at the A-League (SthMb, Marconi, Knights etc). So - - why is it that soccer folk are so precious and can't get behind the 'elite' clubs? MVFC got decent support. But was SFC just too cliched in it's franchise based construction?? The 2nd Div perhaps will simply drive more of an NSL style feel about the whole thing - won't it?? It'll reinforce what I've just referenced. It seems like a gamble to me. It could turn out counter productive.....i.e. lowering the bar rather than raising it. Just a though bubble.
Nemesis
Guest
Nothing that you opine about the ALeague is relevant or factual. It's a boring, clichéd opinion that comes from someone who doesn't watch the content. As irrelevant as my opinion on the quality of the content produced by: AFL, SuperRugby, NRL, or BBL. I don't watch it so my opinion would be ignorant & worthless. Just like your opinion on A-League. The A-League broadcast Live competes against very few football products. There's some overlap with J-League, K-League, CSL. That's it. Nothing else. I don't know about other sports, but football is a LIVE viewing experience for people who are fully engaged. It's an on demand viewing experience, or mini matches for those who are semi engaged. For those who are event-watchers they just watch the goal highlights. A-League football needs to do one thing & one thing only. It needs to engage the football community in Australia, who have told the FFA they want to engage, but they don't have any connection to the 10 existing Aussie clubs. So, what ALeague needs to do is create 2 Division with 28-32 teams and open the pyramid to the entire football community. This is how Australian football will thrive. It won't work for other sports, just like the other sports models won't work for A-League.
Timmuh
Roar Guru
Its costs Fox stuff all to show the channel in NSW & Qld. Its probably more expensive for them to cut the option, and unlike a terrestrial broadcaster doing so wouldn't free up more frequency for other programming. The money from Vic, WA, SA obviously makes the channel worthwhile having. They did overpay for the rights to all sports, but now they have the content they have to get back whatever they can on it.
Munro Mike
Roar Rookie
I stand corrected - I suspect my reference was driven by RoyMorgan research numbers which I've now found here. The RM numbers get referenced quite widely. I note an FR story from Feb this year quotes "Despite the quick start for Kayo, Foxtel's business-wide subscriber number of 2.9 million barely moved in the three months ended December 31, when compared to the September quarter." and an SMH story from Aug last year "The pay-TV platform had 2.8 million subscribers by June 30, driven by streaming offering Foxtel Now. In June 2017, Foxtel reported having 2.8 million subscribers - down from 2.9 million in June 2016 - partly due to the closure of Presto." So - accept your point - thanks for that. At any rate - Foxtel from a sports perspective has certain value propositions - for NRL and AFL fans it's pretty good - if you have A. the spare coin and B. the spare time === both of which I'm not flooded in!! - I did trial Kayo for a month and I'm afraid if we got it I'd never see one of my sons again. Anyway - - back to the point of this article - where does the A-League fit in with respect to FTA and or Foxtel/Kayo or whatever in Australia. All I can say is that I'm astounded that the A-League hasn't made a better fist of it. With the multichannels for the FTA networks - there's much to be found if you know where to look - and even the exposure that the A-League has had - the SBS time - clearly not many people were looking for it. But I still assert the main competition is not so much the NRL and AFL (yeah sure - they are with respect to opening the purse strings of domestic broadcasters) but the problem is still that there's so much global soccer offering that the A-League gets relegated. Ironically it's FTA footprint is about akin to the 2nd tier RL and Aust Footy leagues. Harsh. Fair?
Nemesis
Guest
PS: "There’s about 5 million (but falling) Aust subscribers to Foxtel." Nonsense. Foxtel's own financial reports released to the NYSE tells us that there are just over 3 million Australian subscribers to Foxtel's products. Set-top-box & satellite: 2.3m Foxtel Now: 0.5m KayoSports: 0.4m
Nemesis
Guest
I agree Foxtel has a national business model & wouldn't care about city ratings. I'd go even further and say Foxtel don't care about ratings at all. The Foxtel Chairman has told investors the only 2 things they should look at when analysing Foxtel's financial performance is: a) ARPU (Average revenue per user) b) new subscribers and churn. He never mentioned: look at the ratings, because he knows ratings don't add any significant revenue to Foxtel. Advertising accounts for less than 10% of Foxtel's revenue. It's all about subscriptions. The only reason I provided those Foxtel figures by city is because some clown tried to suggest the reason why FTA TV ratings for AFL are embarrassingly low in Syd & Bri is because huge numbers of AFL fans are watching AFL on Foxtel in Syd & Bri. This is clearly rubbish.
Munro Mike
Roar Rookie
Yeah - understand that - but when it comes to the national footprint of FoxFooty and FoxLeague; what I'm meaning here is that FoxLeague will be minimal outside of NSW/QLD. FoxFooty is largely minimal inside of NSW/QLD. Fox needs both to get the dominance provided. One alone would leave large gaps. Were there just one dominant footy code during this time - then - it would be easier to understand the metrics. But - to look at Fox Footy in Sydney alone and question that, would be akin to looking at Fox League in Melbourne alone and question that. What is the point?? Clearly - clearly - via marketing etc Fox knows the demographics of Melb and Syd and what to push into each market. Also - they'll understand the maturity of the product in the markets and scope for growth. Or decline. There's about 5 million (but falling) Aust subscribers to Foxtel. 3 million to Stan and 11.5 million to Netflix. We suspect the urgency for Foxtel in aligning with Netflix. Clearly the hope is that this alignment provides scope for increasing Foxtel and Fox sports subscribers/viewership. Our household has Netflix but we long ago gave up on Foxtel (about 15 years ago).
anon
Roar Pro
This is my whole point. There is no viable market for A-League soccer. There are people with an iPhone and a gimbal that get hundreds of thousands of views doing a daily VLOG on Youtube. They just walk around talking rubbish. You don't need to send equipment and commentators all over the country to get 3,000 views on Youtube. Just $50 used iPhone from Gumtree and some confidence.
anon
Roar Pro
The new sides will be a monumental failure and will be insolvent in a matter of several years. There is no FTA money coming down the pipeline for the A-League. The simple fact is that the A-League rates very poorly. Just no market for it. Soccer fans need to give up on this dream/delusion and start being realistic otherwise the entire league will become bankrupted like in the bad old days of the NSL.
Nemesis
Guest
"You can drill down on individual markets all you like but I really don’t know what you’re trying to prove?" If you don't understand, then it doesn't matter. People whose job it is to understand markets & customer demographics are the people who do understand. You stick to what you do well - collecting data & then writing lengthy posts that have zero relevance.