Mainstream media has long perpetuated the myth that the A-League switched to a summer season to avoid going head to head with rival codes, but could it soon become a reality?
It was the National Soccer League that made the switch to summer football for the 1989-90 season, although previous campaigns had kicked off as early as January.
The rationale was similar to the one often floated around the A-League – that top-flight football would benefit from increased media exposure if it wasn’t competing with other winter codes – although some of the NSL’s quagmire pitches no doubt helped seal the deal.
However, some comments from a global broadcast rights advisor in the Fairfax press during the week have sparked a debate around whether the A-League should consider switching back to a winter season.
“Where 12 months ago I would have said definitively ‘no, that’s the craziest thing they could do’, because of the shape it’s in now, it is time to rethink things,” Colin Smith of Global Media & Sports told Vince Rugari on Tuesday.
“If I was the A-League, I’d think it’s time to do a really detailed and comprehensive analysis of the business case and it’s something I’d be talking to broadcasters about.”
But would it work? And would it lead to more fans coming through the gates than now?
(AAP Image/Dean Lewins)
There are certainly a few compelling reasons for switching the A-League back to a winter calendar.
Chief among them should be the desire to link the A-League to the tiers underneath it and create a genuine football pyramid.
There’s been plenty of talk about creating a national second division of late, but promotion and relegation will only work if the two leagues are played concurrently.
There are also the health and safety concerns of playing in summer – not just for players, but increasingly for spectators as well.
The week-long threat of tonight’s clash between the Newcastle Jets and Sydney FC being postponed over air quality and the fact that Australian summers are clearly getting hotter suggests these sorts of concerns aren’t just going to disappear.
And as a product – both on TV and inside the stadium – some A-League games lack a certain intensity at the absolute peak of the summer heat.
But Smith’s argument that a winter A-League season would prove more amenable to TV broadcasters like Optus because “they could have wall-to-wall football 12 months of the year” falls down under a bit of scrutiny.
For one thing, football fans in Australia can already watch wall-to-wall year-round football anyway.
And realistically the A-League already struggles to appeal to Eurosnob fans without putting it in direct competition with the start and end of major European campaigns.
But perhaps the most obvious obstacle towards moving the A-League to a winter season is the omnipresent spectre of both the NRL and AFL.
As a football fan, I couldn’t care less about either competition. But as someone who knows first-hand how the media works, there’s a clear danger of the A-League being completely ignored by mainstream media outlets with a long-held preference for covering the other footy codes.
And the debate has stirred up another unpalatable truth about the current A-League season.
It seems that many of us are quite happy to debate almost every aspect of the competition online, but far less willing than we used to be to actually attend a game or watch one on TV.
(Photo by Albert Perez/Getty Images)
And that’s really what’s at the heart of this debate.
We certainly seem to be less interested in the A-League than we used to be, but a quick look around the grounds suggests other sports are suffering much the same problem.
So rather than go for the band-aid solution of switching to a winter season, I’d prefer to see the A-League fix some of its inherent problems first.
Let’s institute transfer fees and launch a second division before overhauling a calendar that worked well in the past.
Chris Kettlewell
Roar Guru
Something doesn’t need to fix all the problems to still be something worth considering. I think there are issues with playing in winter, the biggest probably being that the grounds are shared with League in most cases, which may mean worse playing surfaces and more difficulty with scheduling, but overall I think it works better as a winter sport. Both climate-wise and the fact that all other levels of football in the country play in winter. So having the top level out of whack with all levels below is a bit strange. Changing to winter won’t fix most of the issues, but that doesn’t mean it’s not something worth considering.
David Cope
Guest
Unfortunately for this little duck and his friends, it would be the end of our memberships if the A-League moved to winter. We were avid NSL supporters way back when, and would religiously go to the game (Perth Glory, for reference), which was always every 2wks, and always in the evening at the same time. Perth still has a fairly reliable evening cool-down, as soon as the sun sets, so night time games in summer are always pleasant. We could set our clocks by the schedule, and didn’t even need to plan socially - we’d just turn up at the gate and meet each other, if we hadn’t already been at the pub together. And then…. along came the A-League with it’s total emphasis on broadcast times, or whatever madness drove it; and after a few miserable attempts at going to a (much more expensive) game in the middle of a scorching, randomly-timed, random-day of the week, we just gave up and didn’t bother going for years. More recently, we noticed the day-time madness had seemed to stop, and the price-hikes in tickets were sorted with some good membership deals, so we’ve started going, again. And then, at random, the A-League changes our assigned evening game to a day fixture. We trudged along, with trepidation, and were rewarded with another miserable hot experience, while trying to find some seats in shade, somewhere, anywhere… Really not happy, at this stage. To put the icing on the cake for our group - we’re all AFL members, as well! I love both football codes, but I (and I think ‘we’) find it a challenge to quickly switch between watching one, then the other. I need a long break to change mental gears. On top of this, we’re all watching the EPL, and other Euro leagues during their winter. As it is, it’s really hard to enjoy the finals season of the A-League, while the stupid AFL has been constantly pushing forward the start of it’s season.
Chris Kettlewell
Roar Guru
I think there is a lot to be said for the A-League being a winter comp. being in line with all other levels of football in this country is one, the fact that it gets stinking hot in Australia in summer and really isn’t great football weather definitely another. I don’t know that media coverage really is a big issue. There’s almost no media coverage at the moment. I don’t think clashing with other football codes is a big issue there. To me, the biggest issue with it being a winter comp is grounds. Football generally prefers their grounds being prepared differently than they would be for Rugby League. Playing in the off season probably allows those grounds that are shared with League teams (which, let’s face it, is most of, if not all, the grounds) to be largely prepared more to suit football during the summer. If the A-League was regularly playing games the day after a League game on the same ground it is likely to mean constantly playing on poor surfaces.
ac
Guest
This is pure logic - fish when the fish are biting they are not doing that over the holiday season. Season too long way too long. This year averages lowest in years. Great comment
Roberto Bettega
Roar Rookie
it will pay for itself through the usual means, gate receipts, sponsorship, broadcast revenue, transfers, owner contributions, etc.
Beni Iniesta
Guest
Launch a second division? A national second division I assume you're referring to. Who is going to pay for that?
Christo the Daddyo
Roar Rookie
Unfortunately true.
chris
Guest
Hmm no not really emotional. Just calling out dumb comments like you make
Redondo
Roar Rookie
If I was running a design course I'd use AFLX as the beginner's case study of catastrophically poor design. The flaws are so basic and so obvious it's perplexing how the idea survived one trial game. I'd save a T20 case study for more advanced students because its problems are less obvious and it undoubtedly has short-term appeal. The real meat of that case study would be analysing T20's effects on its model sport of test cricket, where the negative effects will only gradually emerge.
AR
Guest
“Did not say men. This was a bar full of tourist from around the world.” What..?! A bar of people in Italy was watching the Word Cup while the World Cup was on..!!! Well I never!
Redondo
Roar Rookie
T20 isn't cricket so the two sports should have separate tabs.
Roberto Bettega
Roar Rookie
the vast majority are event goeers, they're not true football fans
Roberto Bettega
Roar Rookie
I don't think reducing the number of games is an option
Nemesis
Guest
Wonderful answer Roberto. That's the difference between you, as a person who is obviously immersed in the football landscape. And AR, who is a poser who gets his football knowledge by Google search.
stu
Guest
Hmm....you are an emotional individual from behind the keyboard.
Punter
Roar Rookie
Roberto, don't confuse AR with facts!!!
chris
Guest
Yes thats right they totally ignore it. Just like they ignore basketball. These are younger generation sports that do not fit the audience of newspapers and fta tv.
chris
Guest
"Soccer does not culturally do this, as a game, on the field of play to enough people as it does not suits the Australia mindset". Stu whats it like living in the 50's? Do you miss the good 'ol days? Soccer as you put it, is watched by more people in this country than any other sport. Don't just think A-League, which suits your narrative. Think globally. Kinda like where we are these days and not huddled around listening to the wireless.
Carl Spackler
Guest
It's time for the so called soccer cognoscenti to actually support the sport. The pathetic bar-alongs that did that Liverpool practice match at the MCG a few years back, where are you soccer heads now? When soccer goes down the swannee you know who to blame. Not the FFA, not the media and not this mythical 'marketing' nonsense that gets trotted out. It's your bloody selves. Just maybe soccer is not really loved enough in Australia.
Jimmy
Roar Guru
Do you realise that this article is discussing a piece that was ran in the SMH? Main stream media, so therefore totally ignore is a little bit of Hyperbole.