Having watched the A-League over the past few seasons and speaking with friends and work colleagues, I couldn’t help but think that Australian Football has been losing its charm amongst Australian sports fans. The A-League was initially fuelled with Australia’s first World Cup qualification, with solid crowds supporting the inaugural season challenging NRL and Super Rugby attendance figures.
Unfortunately, the interest seems to have waned over the years and most teams are basically playing in front of friends and family. Two teams have folded since the inception of the league, not including an unsuccessful Sydney Rovers bid, and many are in dire financial circumstances, including the newly crowned champions, the Brisbane Roar. But after watching one of the greatest Australian football grand finals of all-time this past Sunday, I realised that there is definitely a place for this league in Australian sports.
The scenes at Suncorp Stadium this past Monday were amazing - one of the best spectacles I have witnessed in the past 12 months. Ben Buckley said that there was considerable interest in the Roar franchise when being interviewed after the game. That's all well and good after winning a grand final but he FFA needs have a look at how the competition is structured. I think they are not harnessing the potential of what the league can reach.
To me, playing the game of Risk is similar to the Australian sports market - If you spread your men throughout the board, trying to branch out as far as possible then you are vulnerable to attacks from all players. When starting out, solidify the areas in which you control and strengthen your position by growing slowly.
Know where you stand in the market - The current season starts in August – not the best time when all eyes are on the NRL and AFL final series. With nine out of ten teams with AFL and NRL teams, (seven of these teams have two or more NRL/AFL teams) it would be smart to capture the audience of the fans in both codes in the off-season.
Season Length - Should be shortened from 30 weeks to 26 weeks. This would allow for an 18 week home and away season and continue the three week finals series.
Proposed season Breakdown:
-26 weeks between end and start of NRL – AFL seasons - play inside those dates
-18 week season
-3 week finals
-4 week FA cup style season (see below)
Shortening the season would let the A League link in with the Asian Champions league. The teams that play in the grand final could continue on their good form overseas giving Australian football a better reputation, keeping the bandwagon going after grand finals like Sunday night.
Derbys/Utilising Public Holidays - The season should start with two big derbys utilising the Monday Afternoon (NSW Labour Day public holiday) after the NRL Grand Final with a NSW derby. (CCM, NEW or SYD). Victorian teams could utilise Melbourne Cup week and the tourism it brings - have Melbourne Victory play either Sydney, Adelaide or Brisbane or even the Heart which could give extra meaning to 'Derby Day'. Other regional derbies and other Grand final rivalries can be played at Christmas and on Australia Day.
Player retention - Its always going to be hard to retain standout players in the competition when there is Asian competitions with significantly bigger cheque books at their disposal. Teams should look to continue to lure big name players to play out the twilight of their careers in Australia.
Incorporate a knockout style cup - 22 team competition with a field of the 10 A-League teams as well as 12 state league teams. First week have the two top teams from each state, NSW, QLD, VIC, SA and WA as well as NZ to playoff for six spots in the round of 16. Second week, The bottom two A-League teams square off, with the state league teams playing the other A-League sides in the round of 16. The top two A-League teams have the second round off - yada, yada, yada.
Having this competition will allow the FFA to grasp which areas they need to expand through the development of the state league teams. It will help develop solid supporter bases in regional areas that will be more than happy to have accommodate A-League teams playing in their region. It will also allow A-League teams to field junior players who will benefit from the extra experience in the competition and allow the teams to rest their A-league regulars.
The cup final could coincide with an A-League XI v All-Stars match (Rising Stars and International players) double header in one of the A-League cities. The All-star team could allow FFA to bring out the likes of Zinedine Zidane and promote the game and league within cities around Australia.
Free-to-air exposure - This is a contentious one with Fox Sports owning the rights to all A-League games, but at the very least, there should be a highlights show which would be a great advertisement for the game especially with customers who do not have pay television.
Getting the juniors into the games - Junior football players should be given season passes to attend their local A-League matches. With A-League crowds gennerally at low level capacity, bringing in the young players is a great bonus for kids to keep playing the game at the grassroots and should increase crowd figures. The A-League cops way too much bad press with regards to the crowd and getting better attendances may mae people start heading to games for atmosphere. Its just too easy to turn on Fox Sports and watch a game when you see poor crowd figures consistently.
With that in mind, its your call Mr. Buckley. With the AFL, NRL and Super Rugby just about to start playing their turns, how are you going to play your pieces?
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