2021 NON AFL Thread - finance, ratings, participation etc.

[Gigantor]

Hard to see what's changed other than the product now is more inaccessible than it's ever been. At least on Fox it was being marketed to millions of sports fans. Now it's just the Channel 10 audience, most of which don't give a sh*t about sports. With most games exclusive to Paramount it's just preaching to the converted.

It makes audience numbers a bit hazy though. Other than 10 ratings the rest will just be unverified press releases.

It's quite funny reading soccer fans jumping through hoops about how wonderful the Paramount deal is, afterall, streaming is the future!
But as you say, Fox was (maybe still is) in about 30% of all homes, and Paramount? Also it's worth a lot less cash, but apparently, they are in there for the long haul.
Well, who knows.
To me, their offering looks like the usual crap you can watch anywhere.
A small number will subscribe just for the A-League.

 

[RedV3x]

Rugby League wasn't a British garrison sport until 1995.

And Australian Football never was either.

It was and still seen as anti establishment by the British establishment

As was ever other football code.

 

[RedV3x]

The way Union is growing internationally is of interest to a casual sports fan like myself. France & Japan are now attracting some of Australias best players & I note we have lost the NRLs Mitchell Pearce to France.

To the countries within the RU bubble, then RU does seem to have a high international profile but it's main players are the U.K., N.Z., Ireland, South France, NSW, Qld and white RSA.
More countries are becoming competitive, but is that because of growth at the bottom or decay at the top (or a mixture of both)?

 

[The_Wookie]

 

[The_Wookie]

 

[The_Wookie]

 

[The_Wookie]

It's quite funny reading soccer fans jumping through hoops about how wonderful the Paramount deal is, afterall, streaming is the future!
But as you say, Fox was (maybe still is) in about 30% of all homes, and Paramount? Also it's worth a lot less cash, but apparently, they are in there for the long haul.
Well, who knows.
To me, their offering looks like the usual crap you can watch anywhere.
A small number will subscribe just for the A-League.

Theres quite a bit of promotion about this time. Ten/Paramount are hellbent on making this work. Free to air coverage on mainstream commercial television, whole of sport content for Austrlalian soccer. Already cross promoting on tens programming.

This would not be the first dawn, but this one FEELs different for a whole hoist of reasons.

Also: next person to call another poster a troll will join Noobpie on the sidelines.

 

[Kwality]

To the countries within the RU bubble, then RU does seem to have a high international profile but it's main players are the U.K., N.Z., Ireland, South France, NSW, Qld and white RSA.
More countries are becoming competitive, but is that because of growth at the bottom or decay at the top (or a mixture of both)?

Without a better (than I have) understanding of finances of the game on a local level, its difficult to understand the strength of the sport internationally.

I agree with your comments on growth/decay. In Australia the old boys club at the top of the game appear to live on yesterdays heroes rather than taking the game into the 21st century. Twiggy is potentially the new blood the game here needs.

The Giteau Law is an example of the problems we have even putting together a best of Wallaby squad.

 

[weewilly]

Theres quite a bit of promotion about this time. Ten/Paramount are hellbent on making this work. Free to air coverage on mainstream commercial television, whole of sport content for Austrlalian soccer. Already cross promoting on tens programming.

This would not be the first dawn, but this one FEELs different for a whole hoist of reasons.

Also: next person to call another poster a troll will join Noobpie on the sidelines.

How many times have we heard this before? Its pretty hard to flog a dead horse!
Soccer in Australia is not only competing for eyeballs against the Cricket and Tennis but also all the main world premier leagues who local soccer fanatics would watch in preference to the local second rate offering any day!

 

[The_Wookie]

How many times have we heard this before? Its pretty hard to flog a dead horse!

The horse isnt dead, it just hasnt been well. This time I think its different.

New governing body who appears to be actively engaged in the running of the sport, greater sponsor interest than Ive seen in a long time, a broadcaster who actually appears to give a damn aboiut the sport. Theres a greater energy in the game than there has been for some time.

Soccer in Australia is not only competing for eyeballs against the Cricket and Tennis but also all the main world premier leagues who local soccer fanatics would watch in preference to the local second rate offering any day!

It doesnt have to be number 1. It just needs to improve, and gradually at that. I expect certain posters here to be among those crying about low ratings if tens broadcast doesnt show much on day 1 of the season.

 

[Gigantor]

The horse isnt dead, it just hasnt been well. This time I think its different.

New governing body who appears to be actively engaged in the running of the sport, greater sponsor interest than Ive seen in a long time, a broadcaster who actually appears to give a damn aboiut the sport. Theres a greater energy in the game than there has been for some time.

The proof will be in the eating.
In terms of the new broadcast deal and sponsorship, it's still all below levels it was at 3 years ago.
The top average attendance the league ever managed was in the 3rd season when it reached an extremely healthy 14,900 odd for the whole season.
That figure looks as far away today as it has been at any point in the past decade.
The two newest clubs have an absolute trickle of support (both in Australia's two largest cities).

 

[The_Wookie]

The proof will be in the eating.

Im not sure any amount of proof would satisfy some, but yes proof remains to be seen

In terms of the new broadcast deal and sponsorship, it's still all below levels it was at 3 years ago.

I dont believe sponsorsship is down at all.

The new broadcast deal may be down, but it was still better than it was expected to be given recent ratings, plus Id suggest that some revenue was given up in order to get matches on prime time Saturday tv.

The top average attendance the league ever managed was in the 3rd season when it reached an extremely healthy 14,900 odd for the whole season.
That figure looks as far away today as it has been at any point in the past decade.

Something to be worked on for sure. Better fixturing and more innovation from APL, and less crazy security and policing driving active support away, should go a long way to addressing that. But we'll see

The two newest clubs have an absolute trickle of support (both in Australia's two largest cities).

Clubs a year or two old with no real demand, and were both probably errors in Football Australias management, Im not sure Western United will ever develop.

 

[Teen Wolf]

If or when the A-League's ratings are underwhelming, I suspect it will be blamed on the broadcasters just like previous years.

I'm not sure any amount of promotion would satisfy some.

 

[Kwality]

The proof will be in the eating.
In terms of the new broadcast deal and sponsorship, it's still all below levels it was at 3 years ago.
The top average attendance the league ever managed was in the 3rd season when it reached an extremely healthy 14,900 odd for the whole season.
That figure looks as far away today as it has been at any point in the past decade.
The two newest clubs have an absolute trickle of support (both in Australia's two largest cities).

Setting up a new club in any sport today has to be more difficult than it has ever been. Even building local support is a tough ask, both members & crowds.

 

[BobbyMorri]

English Premier League broadcast rights: Optus Sport retains rights until 2018

amp.theage.com.au

Optus keeps the EPL over every other streaming platform. Soccer being spread over 3/4 different companies is not ideal not Optus does do a good job with the EPL and they said they know have a million subs.

80 mil a year for 6 years.

 

[Bjo187]

Setting up a new club in any sport today has to be more difficult than it has ever been. Even building local support is a tough ask, both members & crowds.

Agree with this because everybody has access to every team on tv, media etc so will pick their favourite. As opposed to in the old days where you went for your local team because they had the most exposure in your area, so didn't have as much choice.

 

[Kwality]

Agree with this because everybody has access to every team on tv, media etc so will pick their favourite. As opposed to in the old days where you went for your local team because that had the most exposure in your area, so didn't have as much choice.

Family loyalty as passed down from your folks is a strong factor in club support. It would need a strong commitment over 10-20 years to even scratch the surface of sustained local support.

 

[Angus Young]

Your fear of Rugby League is showing again.
Have you ever though why Rugby League has professional and semi professional teams outside of Australia and AF doesn't?

LOL...this guy again ....you hate AFL so much you spend your time on an AFL site trolling it. Then you accuse other people of being 'fearful.'

No one is fearful of NRL.....it's the other way around.... hence the constant hate and nicknames from simple people like you.

Again.....get a *ing life.

 

[Gigantor]

When the AFL commissioners get together to count all the money coming in from TV rights, sponsorships and memberships, one does wonder how much time they are dedicating to worrying about what the other codes are doing.
Maybe during the tea break.

 

[Kwality]

Not sure how relevant Optus is, but it has renewed its EPL contract to 2028.

Optus Sport extends lucrative EPL rights until 2028

Optus Sport has ended speculation over the broadcast rights for the English Premier League retaining it for six additional seasons through to the end of the 2027-28 competition, after the bidding concluded this week.Optus has also retained the rights for the FA Women’s Super League until the end...

mumbrella.com.au

'Optus has also retained the rights for the FA Women’s Super League until the end of the 2023-24 season. Optus first won the EPL rights in 2015 from Foxtel, retaining it in 2018.

The new contract is predicted to be worth around $80 million annually, which will see the local telco broadcast all 380 games live on its online platform.

Clive Dickens, VP of TV, content and product development at Optus said: “In the six years since securing the exclusive Premier League rights, Optus Sport has become the undisputed home of premium European football and has introduced new Australian audiences to the game whilst setting the benchmark on live sports streaming.'

 

[RedV3x]

When the AFL commissioners get together to count all the money coming in from TV rights, sponsorships and memberships, one does wonder how much time they are dedicating to worrying about what the other codes are doing.
Maybe during the tea break.

I think "worrying" is the the wrong word especially when the it's the AFL way out in front.
But I imagine that sporting codes monitor other codes for innovation and possible insight.

 

[RedV3x]

Agree with this because everybody has access to every team on tv, media etc so will pick their favourite. As opposed to in the old days where you went for your local team because they had the most exposure in your area, so didn't have as much choice.

To me, your statement w.r.t. "Setting up a new club in any sport today has to be more difficult than it has ever been. Even building local support is a tough ask, both members & crowds" suggests the OPPOSITE because "everybody has access to every team on tv" and as such are not confined to "in the old days where you went for your local team".

 

[RedV3x]

Setting up a new club in any sport today has to be more difficult than it has ever been. Even building local support is a tough ask, both members & crowds.

Technically, the tools and the historical template for new teams makes the job easier
but competition and the lack of time slots does make things exceptionally hard.

 

[Rob]

The horse isnt dead, it just hasnt been well. This time I think its different.

New governing body who appears to be actively engaged in the running of the sport, greater sponsor interest than Ive seen in a long time, a broadcaster who actually appears to give a damn aboiut the sport. Theres a greater energy in the game than there has been for some time.

That's not a new thing though. Fox always pumped up the A-League very well when it had the rights, as did SBS, and I have to say it did it to an audience far more likely to watch the sport than the average Channel 10 viewer. As someone that doesn't watch a lot of Channel 10, i've barely seen an ad for it. As someone that watches a lot of Fox sports, i'd say my exposure to the A-League has dropped roughly 95%. And i'm the average sports fan that they need to get watching if they want to move closer to mainstream.

There is a bit of a difference in that Channel 10 (or at least the owners) have an equity stake in the A-League. That does give them an embedded interest in the league going well, but it's a calculated gamble by the A-League to allow it, as it's going to actively deter other media organisations from bidding in the future. I don't know if their stake gets them a seat on the board, but at least it'll give them direct access to certain directors. I'd be concerned lodging commercial-in-confidence bids when a competitor potentially has access to them.

In the end, the Paramount deal isn't going to expose them to a new audience. The 1 game on 10 might, but if that doesn't perform early, are 10 going to stick with it if it means coming 5th on a Saturday night? If not, the depths of obscurity await. 1 game a week on 10crap and the rest on a streaming service only the hardcore fans will have isn't a recipe for a path to popularity.

 

[Bjo187]

To me, your statement w.r.t. "Setting up a new club in any sport today has to be more difficult than it has ever been. Even building local support is a tough ask, both members & crowds" suggests the OPPOSITE because "everybody has access to every team on tv" and as such are not confined to "in the old days where you went for your local team".

Yeah but I think people have a natural tendency to go for the big clubs now even if they aren't as local. Across sport the big clubs are getting bigger. A previously curious local that would have gone to local game of the new club in their area, might see for example a GWS match on TV, playing in a mostly empty Stadium and not bother going to watch live. They might watch a Swans game on TV at the SCG and think gee that looks like a good event and atmosphere to attend, lots of people are there, might try that instead.