When the A-League first made its tentative steps in 2004 - leading to the eight foundations clubs in 2005 - we still had the overhang of the NSL, and frustration with the existing media players. I and others often referred to the combination of 3AW, Ch7, and The Age, as the Axis of Evil, and shouted, "remember the email".
Legacy media -FTA TV, Radio [especially AM], Newspapers- is in this modern age dying a slow death.
No longer is just being on legacy media going to grow your market share, simply due to the fact that most under 40-year-olds don’t engage with it. In saying that, they may read some of their articles via different platforms.
In the USA, some are calling the ratings of established codes as a HUB. The HUB refers to long established relationships formed when FTA TV, Newspapers & Radio were new to the sports world, and grew huge followings. The HUB of FTA TV, Radio, Newspapers, was where people went for information, updates etc.
The thing today is the under 40’s, by and large, don’t go looking for information in the HUB. If you're established as a code you already use the HUB as you're connected to it and it still serves a purpose. Unfortunately, it's shrinking.
The new world of online media, and streaming is where people under 40 go for information and updates. Herein lies the problem, the HUB had few players, online media has hundreds if not thousands, and how do you connect to the online community.
In all this it must be remembered that being on FTA is still very desirable, but not to grow your market share, but rather as a tool to send fans to watch games.
In many ways, this is what Danny Townsend identified and tried to find a solution to. Unfortunately, he failed horribly to do so and wasted a pile of money in the process.
Having a savvy online knowledge is only part of the solution. Football needs to identify what are the two to three major things it needs to fix. It needs to identify who they wish to target. Finally, determine a way to connect to the fans.
My major items to fix are; getting respect for Australian Professional Football across the community, uniting the various tribes to a common goal, and determining a growth point were P & R can make some tentative steps.
Who are my target groups? Existing hard core rusted on A-L fans, NSL old school, the so called Eurosnobs and new fans.
James Johnson, in an exit interview on Fox, said the new head the APL needed to find a way to connect to the broader football community.
The existing hard core rusted on fans are not an issue, neither do I believe the NSL Old School - as hopefully they will grow in the future. The Eurosnobs and new fans are as they don’t respect Australian Professional Football, and that lack of respect also hinders unification.
Marketing 101 says the best way to sell a product is to have someone you trust, and respect their knowledge on a subject, recommend something to you.
I actually don’t know the number, but a mate suggested it was around three thousand, so I will use three thousand and whether its right or wrong the principal I am about to detail can be adjusted to suit the number of teams.
Each local park Football club has a committee of say 6 to 10 committee members. These are normally hard-working football people who are trusted and respected by the players in their local club.
Taking an average of eight committee members per club across 3,000 clubs, that’s roughly 25,000 people who love football, mostly people who respect the game and are connected to that elusive player base.
Most committee members are over worked so to add to their load would be crazy. APL should look to how to help each committee, and for committees within a certain radius of a A-League or say former NSL club, 16 season memberships in a good stadium position. Then seek feedback from these committees.
I have no idea how much it costs if anything to give away a seat at a stadium but given our crowds they would fit.
The nexus is that the committee members would start to promote Australian professional football as needing respect and - in my opinion - gaining of respect will have a large effect on both crowds and ratings.
The committees by and large become the tool to send people to FTA TV, and encourage usage of other smaller online sources.
In summary the HUB needs to be used as a tool to show Football, and is not a tool to provide rapid growth.
Love people's thoughts.
Legacy media -FTA TV, Radio [especially AM], Newspapers- is in this modern age dying a slow death.
No longer is just being on legacy media going to grow your market share, simply due to the fact that most under 40-year-olds don’t engage with it. In saying that, they may read some of their articles via different platforms.
In the USA, some are calling the ratings of established codes as a HUB. The HUB refers to long established relationships formed when FTA TV, Newspapers & Radio were new to the sports world, and grew huge followings. The HUB of FTA TV, Radio, Newspapers, was where people went for information, updates etc.
The thing today is the under 40’s, by and large, don’t go looking for information in the HUB. If you're established as a code you already use the HUB as you're connected to it and it still serves a purpose. Unfortunately, it's shrinking.
The new world of online media, and streaming is where people under 40 go for information and updates. Herein lies the problem, the HUB had few players, online media has hundreds if not thousands, and how do you connect to the online community.
In all this it must be remembered that being on FTA is still very desirable, but not to grow your market share, but rather as a tool to send fans to watch games.
In many ways, this is what Danny Townsend identified and tried to find a solution to. Unfortunately, he failed horribly to do so and wasted a pile of money in the process.
Having a savvy online knowledge is only part of the solution. Football needs to identify what are the two to three major things it needs to fix. It needs to identify who they wish to target. Finally, determine a way to connect to the fans.
My major items to fix are; getting respect for Australian Professional Football across the community, uniting the various tribes to a common goal, and determining a growth point were P & R can make some tentative steps.
Who are my target groups? Existing hard core rusted on A-L fans, NSL old school, the so called Eurosnobs and new fans.
James Johnson, in an exit interview on Fox, said the new head the APL needed to find a way to connect to the broader football community.
The existing hard core rusted on fans are not an issue, neither do I believe the NSL Old School - as hopefully they will grow in the future. The Eurosnobs and new fans are as they don’t respect Australian Professional Football, and that lack of respect also hinders unification.
Marketing 101 says the best way to sell a product is to have someone you trust, and respect their knowledge on a subject, recommend something to you.
I actually don’t know the number, but a mate suggested it was around three thousand, so I will use three thousand and whether its right or wrong the principal I am about to detail can be adjusted to suit the number of teams.
Each local park Football club has a committee of say 6 to 10 committee members. These are normally hard-working football people who are trusted and respected by the players in their local club.
Taking an average of eight committee members per club across 3,000 clubs, that’s roughly 25,000 people who love football, mostly people who respect the game and are connected to that elusive player base.
Most committee members are over worked so to add to their load would be crazy. APL should look to how to help each committee, and for committees within a certain radius of a A-League or say former NSL club, 16 season memberships in a good stadium position. Then seek feedback from these committees.
I have no idea how much it costs if anything to give away a seat at a stadium but given our crowds they would fit.
The nexus is that the committee members would start to promote Australian professional football as needing respect and - in my opinion - gaining of respect will have a large effect on both crowds and ratings.
The committees by and large become the tool to send people to FTA TV, and encourage usage of other smaller online sources.
In summary the HUB needs to be used as a tool to show Football, and is not a tool to provide rapid growth.
Love people's thoughts.
