A-LEAGUE launch: "New Football"

[yob]

I thought that was the NZD exchange rate.

[Jeffles]

Sage - GONE! (Well, going).

Sure Perth Glory resembles Perth Malaise, but this bloke's financial contribution cannot be denied. Nobody can be forced to pump millions of $$ into a place and so he is entitled to pull up stumps.

[Spirit of Santos]

Fantastic Melbourne Derby last night. One of the best A-League games I've ever seen.

[Adelaide_United_Red]

Fantastic Melbourne Derby last night. One of the best A-League games I've ever seen.

I thought so too. Its been a great year for football fans IMO. After 2 seasons with a tinge of the Doom & Gloom impairing ones ability to just focus on the games on the pitch, this year seems to have quashed those doom & gloom merchants with attendances up by 40% and TV ratings up approx 60%. I cant think of a basic KPI that hasn't improved for the A-League this season. Even the normally hostile tabloid trollumnist journos have seemed to produce less "Soccer is dying "articles in recent times:)

[Boba Fett]

And while the two star recuits provided a fair amount of media coverage before the season started, I don't think they've had much impact on the turnstiles. Which is actually a good thing - shows people are interested in the games, rather than specific personalities.

[Rob]

And while the two star recuits provided a fair amount of media coverage before the season started, I don't think they've had much impact on the turnstiles. Which is actually a good thing - shows people are interested in the games, rather than specific personalities.

Eh? Kewell got 40k twice. They would have struggled to get half that without him.

[Adelaide_United_Red]

Yesterday was BigWednesday, a full day of football across 2 countries as FFA tried something different to acomodate the required midweek games.

If you concede that midweek games have to occur because of the requirement to shoehorn 27 games into a 25 week window and that the scheduling of the 10/11 season midweek games sucked, then the 11/12 season scheduling whereby FFA reduced the total number of midweek games and played those they had to play in the summer holiday period, then you have to look at the numbers and think they got it right. Thumbsup FFA
Big Wednesday Summary:
1. WPX v SFC(6 goals): This corresponding midweek game (in Sydney last season drew 4,012) the average for WPX over their 3 midweek games last season was 6,561 [(4700+5529+9456)/3=6561] Today’s crowd: 8,411 = win
2. MHT v ADL(4 goals): Melbourne Heart’s only midweek game last year drew 2,754. Today even with the handicap of kicking off at 3:15pm local time, they drew 8,272. How anyone could call that a bad result is beyond me. 2 Wins from 2 games.
3. NUJ v GCU(5 goals): Newcastle’s 2 midweek games last season drew 7,938 [(7,829+8,046)/2=7,938)] Today on a storm affected day [w/ 5.30pm kick off] they drew: 9,311 =Win
NB: "This one had all the ingredients that usually work to decrease an attendance for A-League games; a club experiencing mediocre form, two home games in quick succession, and a relatively unconventional timeslot. And of course, the usual bugbear for a section of the fanbase, inclement weather."[1] Still a win though!
4. CCM v MVC (2 goals): The Mariners only midweek game last season drew 5,979. Today kicking off at 7.45pm they drew: 12,284 – their second biggest this season. Epic win
5. PER v BNR (6 goals): Glory’s 2 midweek games last season drew7,011 [(7,193+6,828)/2=7,011]
Tonight’s crowd: 6,912 – I call it a draw
Tonight unfortunately Perth let the Big Wed concept down a touch(their 11/12 season crowd average is 7,727). IMO the best thing Sage could do is sack Fergie and get in a decent coach to return the old time buzz to Perth Glory. At least their long suffering fans saw a cracker of a goal from Sterjovski!
Summary:
5 x midweek games drew = 4/5 improvements in attendance = 4 wins, 1 draw from 5 games.
total goals = 23! An amazing day of entertaining football! in 4/5 games teams came from behind to draw level or take the lead
total BW attendance = 45,190
average BW attendance = 9,038
current HAL average attendance prior to BigWed = 11,601 (agg: 788,851 after 68 games
HAL average attendance after BigWed = 11,417 (agg: 833,506 after 73 games)


Final word, despite a few negative Nelly’s BW can only be considered a success.
PS: very interested to see the ratings from today!

[Boba Fett]

And while the two star recuits provided a fair amount of media coverage before the season started, I don't think they've had much impact on the turnstiles. Which is actually a good thing - shows people are interested in the games, rather than specific personalities.

Eh? Kewell got 40k twice. They would have struggled to get half that without him.

I disagree. Well actually, the first game I'll give you, but the second one was the local derby. I would surmise that had more to do with the good crowd figure than Kewell's involvement.

And crowd figures are up pretty much across the league. I would say that Kewell's and Emerton's recruitment have helped bring in a few extra fans, but not to an overly significant degree. Give credit to the A League and the clubs as a whole for delaying the start of the season, running a better ad campaign and getting the scheduling mostly spot on.

[Rob]

PS: very interested to see the ratings from today!

http://www.mediaspy.org/forum/index.php ... h-january/

1 game got 60k, another 50k, the other 3 didn't make the top 20 (under 48k). I dunno whether that would be considered good or not.

It has been noticeable that since the BBL started A-League ratings have noticeably dropped. Last night's BBL match had higher average ratings than all 5 A-League games combined.

[Adelaide_United_Red]

Big Wednesday a big hit

Thursday, 5 January 2012 2:39 PM

The Big Wednesday 12-hour marathon of football has proved to be a big hit among fans on the terraces and at home.

For the first time the Hyundai A-League staged a full round of five matches back-to-back across two nations, cities 5,000km apart, three timezones and an array of daytime, twilight and evening kick off times.

“Big Wednesday was designed to give fans some top-quality football in mid-week at the end of the festive season when most people are still on holidays,” head of Hyundai A-League Lyall Gorman said.

“Based on a comparison with last season’s mid-week numbers, the attendances and TV audiences have been outstanding. I congratulate the clubs and our broadcast partner Fox Sports for making the day such a success.”

• The Big Wednesday marathon average attendance was 32.4% up on the comparative mid-week fixtures from Season 6 in 2010/11
• The Big Wednesday marathon average TV audience was 30.5% up on the comparative mid-week fixtures from Season 6 in 2010/11

The Big Wednesday matches produced 23 goals at an average of 4.6 goals per game, making it the 2nd highest goals aggregate for a round and the 7th highest goals average for a round in A-League history.

“It wasn’t just the number of goals that caught the eye, but the quality on show and the quite unpredictable results,” said Gorman.

“We are at the half-way mark and the A-League ladder tells the story of how close and interesting the competition is this season.

“The Premiership, the top six and the dreaded wooden spoon are all very much in play, so we can expect some fascinating action for the rest of the regular season.”

http://www.footballaustralia.com.au/new ... -hit/44126

[Egan]

Winning and in top 6 but still don't want Fergie as coach...

[bazza]

But parents will be back at work.

It gives Perth a chance to get the red eye though. AC Milan at Princes Park anyone?

match got 5505

http://www.smh.com.au/sport/a-league/fc ... 1q6oi.html

[Jeffles]

Was 5.30pm a TV thing? So early.

The BBL that night started just after 7pm, which was 30 mins later than the previous SCG game - a good move IMO given that aalmost everybody is back at work this week.

[dibo]

Was 5.30pm a TV thing? So early.

The BBL that night started just after 7pm, which was 30 mins later than the previous SCG game - a good move IMO given that aalmost everybody is back at work this week.

TV thing - got it in before the real thing - Mariners vs Heart, aka "Smash and Grab - A Tale From Bleak City"

[Simmo79]

I'm just gonna tune in the last 5 minutes of A-League games because that's when the action happens. Like the NBA really. Except Sydney FC are the opposite of Jordan's Bulls.