Vanishing A-League fans vote with feet
A small crowd looks on during a Brisbane Roar home game against Adelaide United at Suncorp Stadium. Picture: AAP.
The Australian12:00AM December 16, 2017
RAY GATT
Sports reporterSydney
@Gatty54
Amid dwindling attendances, alarming broadcasting figures and off-field shenanigans, it is not hard to see why some would be tempted to describe it as the season from hell for the A-League and Football Federation Australia.
The game’s ills have been at the forefront of media attention and commentary on social media over the past 18 months. And it is the national competition, the lifeblood of the sport in this country, which is clearly taking a big hit.
The attendance and television figures don’t make pretty reading.
Total attendance for the first 10 rounds of the season was down 92,167 on the same period last season — a 12 per cent drop. The average is down from 13,507 to 11,902.
Broadcast figures for free-to-air television show they are down some 18 per cent on last season while the pay-TV figures are down a whopping 762,000.
There is no better illustration than the numbers for last week’s Sydney derby between Western Sydney and Sydney FC.
The corresponding game last season drew more than 60,000, a record, but only just over 36,000 turned up at ANZ Stadium last week. Significantly, just 55,000 tuned into One HD to watch the biggest game in the A-League.
GRAPHIC: A-League by numbers
While admitting there are some concerns, A-League boss Greg O’Rourke remains bullish.
O’Rourke believes the off-field issues regarding FFA’s fight with FIFA and the A-League clubs, the poor results for Melbourne Victory and Western Sydney, and the extra competition from the Rugby League World Cup and the Ashes has had an impact.
“We are seeing a very different dynamic about the teams that are winning and those not winning. You have the Jets and Mariners in the top four and Victory and WSW in the bottom half,” O’Rourke said.
“While it is good for the league and potentially for fans that any team has the ability to beat any other, what it is doing for crowds ... they are down seven per cent.
“Victory have 20k-plus members but there was just a 60 per cent take-up for their game against Adelaide recently.
“The club surveyed the fans and the response was that they don’t like going to Etihad Stadium and prefer their games at AAMI and that they are unhappy with the results. It’s the same with the Wanderers. They feel displaced because Parramatta Stadium is being rebuilt and the team is performing poorly.
“Yes, we’ve got issues and I fully understand that and we are addressing them. But I can’t do anything about results or the way teams are performing, that’s football.”
O’Rourke pointed out that during mid-November there was a Socceroos game, the FFA Cup final and a Sydney FC home game all in the one week.
“And we got 100k attend our games in that week in the same city ... that was surely significant,” he said.
In terms of the television ratings, O’Rourke says it has been an unusual season in that the RLWC, The Ashes and even the later than usual scheduling of a Bledisloe Cup game have had an impact.
“I don’t want to be making excuses. Yes, they are down 19 per cent but there is clarity in the reasons why,” he said. “There has been a lot of competition you don’t normally see at this time. The RLWC is a four-year event, the (home) Ashes is the same.
“Our ratings were damaged during the RLWC, particularly in NSW and Queensland which are big on rugby league.
“We even had to contend with a Bledisloe Cup game on a Saturday night not normally played at this time. Given all of that, it would be naive to think there would not be some effect on our broadcast figures.”
O’Rourke found some support from Perth Gory boss Peter Filopoulos, who admits the A-League is facing a lot of challenges but still sees many positives and is confident the national competition can make significant strides.
Filopoulos, regarded as one of the best sporting administrators in the country, knows what he is talking about. Since joining Glory several seasons ago he has transformed a dysfunctional club into a solid, well organised entity.
The club has bucked the trend with crowd attendances, memberships and corporate backing significantly up.
“I firmly believe the quality of the league is strong and this season will be very competitive. The A-League is a $100 million-plus business and growing in revenue that it generates as a league,” Filopoulos told The Weekend Australian.
“Clubs are generating between $10 million to $20 million per annum in revenue.”
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/sport/f ... 1286012da4
I didn't know Ch10 were broadcasting it for free