As a new era dawns on football in Australia, it is time the women’s game got the respect it deserves. This includes investment from authorities, clubs, sponsors, broadcast networks and, most importantly, fans.
Like it or not, more fans need to start paying their way for women’s football.
Many it is cheap to attend a women’s game and this is fantastic to get fans through the gate and attract sponsors, it is actually a big part of the problem.
The revenue generated by A-League Women teams, while improving, is relatively small. In fact, grants provided to support women’s sport form a major chunk of income generated for A-League Women – for those that get it, that is.
Actual match-day ticketing, merchandise, food and sponsorship revenue remains rather small.
At present, A-League Men memberships generally give free access to women’s games. Essentially this means fans who are club members pay $0 to get in to women’s games.
While many argue the access to women’s games forms part of the value of a membership, the stark reality is the majority of fans buy memberships to support the men’s teams.
To be fair, a decent portion of the membership revenue generated by clubs is then used to cover the expenses of women’s teams.
The cost of running a women’s program is thought to average around $800,000 each year to cover players, coaches, facilities, marketing and other overheads.
Most clubs keep the cost of their women’s programs and revenue generated under wraps. One club, who asked not to be named, claimed they receive $25,000 in sponsorship and only $35,000 in match-day revenue from seven women’s home games.
The average A-League Women’s attendance figures in 2019-20 – the season before COVID – was around 1536. Last season’s average was 1028. Averages peaked at 2122 in 2017-18. This factors in double headers, while standalone averages are much lower.
It is unclear how many of these fans actually use their memberships to get in as opposed to paying at the gate.
Most clubs sell A-League Women standalone memberships, however the take-up is small, partly due to the access given from A-League Men’s memberships.
There is an argument that A-League Men and Women programs should sell separate memberships, with one not giving access to the other. However this goes against the ‘one club’ mentality most are trying to instil in fans.
Clubs also seem to believe this will have a detrimental impact on A-League Women attendance numbers. However, in some ways it may be counter productive to give free access.
Women’s football must be given its chance to prove itself. This is fair enough and comes back to the main point.
We need fans to buy women’s memberships, women’s tickets, women’s merchandise and food while attending women’s games to help generate income.
(Photo by Ian Hitchcock/Getty Images)
We also need clubs and the Australian Professional Leagues (APL) to make games accessible and attractive for fans to attend. The best way to do this is to have decent kick-off times at decent venues.
To make the game attractive we need to enhance the quality of the league by getting marquee players, as we see in the men’s game.
A similar incentive should be provided for women.
In 2019-20, Sam Kerr was apparently paid $400,000 to play for Perth Glory in the W-League, dwarfing the women’s minimum salary of $16,344 and more than doubling the men’s average salary of $180,000 in that season.
While reality means European and American Leagues are going to attract the best players, there is every reason world-class players will come to Australia, where working conditions are of a much higher standard than a lot of European countries.
While the minimum wage sits at only $17,055, the players in Australia generally have good facilities and access to decent hotels when travelling.
With a World Cup coming in 2023, players may want to acclimatise, meaning clubs can leverage this for the next two seasons.
Marketing women’s games is also an important point. The new broadcast arrangement with Channel Ten Bold will see a women’s domestic game broadcast on commercial free-to-air for the first time. The ABC and Foxtel provided decent coverage over the past 13 years, but commercial free-to-air coverage is vital.
Ten is already doing its part, giving tremendous exposure to women’s players on their news bulletins and shows.
Feeding off the popularity of the Matildas is also important. The Matildas vs Brazil games last month at CommBank Stadium attracted 15,000 and 12,000 respectively.
The upcoming two-match series between Australia and the USA is on course to set records at both Stadium Australia in Sydney and McDonald Jones Stadium in Newcastle.
Alanna Kennedy of the Matildas and Marta Vieira Da Silva of Brazil embrace.(Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)
Nearly 29,000 tickets have been sold for this Saturday’s game in Sydney, as Australian and USA football fans look to break the current Matildas home attendance record of 33,600 fans set during the Sydney 2000 Olympics.
Meanwhile, McDonald Jones Stadium is on track for a sell-out crowd for the first time in Newcastle.
The Matildas attracted TV audiences of over 2 million during two of their games at the recent Tokyo Olympics.
While the disconnect between the Matildas and A-League Women is glaring, with clever marketing and leveraging of future Matildas stars like Courtney Nevin, Kyra Cooney-Cross, Bryleeh Henry, Charlize Rule, Jessika Nash and Remy Siemsen – who still play in Australia – there is no reason why more fans won’t go to domestic games.
By providing an incentive, fans will be more willing to fork out, which will bump up the dollars being brought in, which will provide an incentive for the APL and its clubs to invest more.
It’s about time we all fork out.
Brainstrust
Roar Rookie
AFLW got as much coverage if not more than the a-league let alone the w-league. The whole point of this article is ridiculous lets support a league that doesn't exist according to the Australian media. There is no point having a league without media coverage. I dont think we will see any focus change at all across the media only if Channel Ten puts an effort in, so far they have done a b grade half hearted job, but thats way above what the rest have done previously . The ABC SBS you would think with their political agenda would be covering the w-league who can forget the world cup where SBS had zero promos for the W-league and A-league instead had non stop ads for a single refugee show. The idea that you can influence someone to watch something by putting on an ad promo for 6 months while ignoring your other programming is what got Channel 10 into big trouble. They need to promoting what they have maximum a month ahead, but not beyond its simply inefficient.
Lionheart
Roar Rookie
You're kidding right? Whatever your last sentence means, sure beats me. As to not playing a full season because it would be cheaper, that's nothing short of an insult to our women players. And we're certainly not here to facilitate US football. Imagine, let's cut the A League down, chop off ten rounds to save money, and oh yeah, release our players to play in some other countries league. Why bother with a professional league at all? I did reply earlier but seems that got lost, apologies if two replies turn up but your comment does make me a tad angry. By the way, not so many play in the US these days, some do the majority of our overseas players now play in Europe and UK.
Lionheart
Roar Rookie
wot? how can a league be a league if it doesn't have a full home and away season draw? It's got nothing to do with the US and the NPLWs. It's our premier, top shelf women's league. Our ladies professional league. Our only ladies professional league. It's not a training run for US players or anyone else. And to say it's cheaper, what a *#@** insult to the women's game and our women players. Right, let's cut the A League Men's season in half, that'll save us money and work well for any internationals and NPL players.
Brainstrust
Roar Rookie
Can you stop this rubbish about playing a full season. The W-league gets a host of top class players from the US league, they also have a lot of Australian players do both and get full year football. It also fits as well with the womens state leagues. Thirdly its cheaper with the shorter season. The dumbest option possible is have a full season, for these reasons. Saying the W-league is meaningless because it doesn't conform to your idea about playing in one Euro league a year is beyond ridiculous.
NoMates
Roar Rookie
Lets see how the ratings go first, the Matilda's rated highly and if that pushes though to the A-League Women's then great.
Janakan Seemampillai
Roar Guru
ALW has tremendous potential in my view
NoMates
Roar Rookie
BBW = entertaining, ALFW = entertaining. ALW = boring
Jordan Sports Fan
Roar Rookie
Great points :thumbup:
Lionheart
Roar Rookie
It’s meaningless until the A League Women is made a proper league. It’s half way there, but they don’t play a full season or full rounds. It’s also too easy for clubs to bring in a top level player for the last few rounds and finals the way it presently sits. We should also promote the women’s game differently. It appeals largely to a different demographic, but we kinda’ hope that somehow our men’s game followers will become W followers. Won’t happen, apart from a few diehards (like us maybe). Needs to be promoted, and viewed, differently.
Jordan Sports Fan
Roar Rookie
Being that ALM and ALW are now in a way combined via the club championship, I would find it weird if one uses it and another does not. Ditch it entirely I say but really I'd like to see the will of ticketed members adhered to on VAR. If most in fact want it, then there's your evidence as to why it must stay. The club championship is an excellent concept but meaningless until both competitions are uniform with their teams. Mariners and co. cannot win this trophy as it stands.
Lionheart
Roar Rookie
VAR was a farce on Friday night. In his post match interview, Kosnorbo said he was told it was broken for the first part of the match but came good during. Yesterday I saw a tweet reference to APL saying it was broken because of a Telsta glitch. This is all third world stuff. As coach Moon said, preparation for NPL matches, when he coached there, was better than the preparation he was allowed for Friday's match, but that's off topic.
Jordan Sports Fan
Roar Rookie
Fair enough but it’ll all come to a head next weekend when their comparitively primitive technology provides for a substandard viewing experience. And then the following weekend and the next… Done properly they will get 4-5xALM full matches out of me, plus 1xALW full match and then 1-2xALM minis and 4xALW minis each weekend as a minimum, and then more with doublescreen. As it stands, it’ll be much less than that, not out of protest but just because you literally can’t fit it all in. If you build it they will come. Does ALW have VAR I wonder?
Lionheart
Roar Rookie
we need to allow Paramount+ a bit of time. They've bought into the league and have shown real intent to improve the league.
Lionheart
Roar Rookie
We need to talk about our women’s game more, bring women players into the football conversation. Five goals and two assists scored in England’s NWSL on the weekend, by two of our Ausy women and barely a word. I’d bet that if we had even one male player in England’s top competition coverage would be week long, let alone if two men had scored five goals and two assists. Don’t forget there’s more than a handful of other women in top European leagues. The
WA League women is already a top shelf competition, and has attracted plenty of top level players. Most of the Matildas have played in the old W League in very recent seasons. Of course many of our leading players are now attracted by big money in Europe but we have plenty of very good young players coming through. The A League Women’s need to be expanded into a full home-away season, sooner rather than later. Ch 10 have done some great promotional work so far, one really nice feature on Minnie Gorrie. Saw another, maybe on ABC, about the NPLW, how favorable it was for foreign players pre World Cup years, because it is streamed live and a few fringe players from the US said it would enhance their chance of WC selection, or at least get them in the door for training sessions/opponents as they’re already here. Clubs around the world keep a close eye on the NPLW and A League W. There’s a lot going for the women’s game in Australia right now, we just have to take advantage of it. Never mind this, we’ll have to fork out for the A League Womens, they’ll pay their share and then some, through the national team. We just need to get it into the football conversation.Janakan
Guest
Great points
Jordan Sports Fan
Roar Rookie
Better system design and functionality of Paramount + will help A-League Women. Look at how Optus aggregates mens and womens football together in one carousel. In Paramount + however, matches are cordoned off from one another so you only know something is on if you found out another way. This design does nothing to encourage people to take a peak out of interest of the A-League Women if they weren’t otherwise an avid follower. Secondly, doublescreen functionality stands to benefit the A-League Women as much as anyone (although would be handy for tonight’s FFA Cup fixtures too). As men and women’s matches are often played concurrently, users will be forced to choose one or the other as it stands (with most choosing the men if we are being real). Ideally you could watch both at once and interchange the volume and “main screen” as you can on Kayo. I also wouldn’t recommend flicking back and forth between a mens and women’s broadcast due to the lack of rewind/fast forward/ pick up where you left off functionality, as well as the minimal amount of replays the broadcasts seem to show. All that can lead to is missed goals. Leveraging technology is a big part of the answer in developing the A-League Women and right now Paramount + is holding both competitions back. Stand alone Thursday night games worked too I found myself watching that more often than not but they seem to be gone.
Tigertown
Guest
The A-League Women, has had more time than other popular female codes to grow. Yet, sports such as AFLW flourish. Aussie Rules are busy creating bronze statues of its ladies, while football fumbles around. I think the Women’s World Cup will change this. We’re going to see a huge focus on girl’s playing soccer.