The rise of the A-League in its first three has been phenomenal, so much so that Rugby League and Union no longer have to look over their shoulders to see the looming presence of the sleeping giant of Australian sports, they only need to turn their heads to the side.
There is a need for the football on the pitch to match the increase in crowds and media coverage off it, however, this article will deal with the suggestion by Con Constantine, the owner of the Jets and the man who poured $15 million dollars of his own money into the current champions, that there should be one full game on free-to-air television per week as well as an hour long weekly highlights show.
As I previously stated, I grew up in Melbourne following AFL and I am very much a footballing convert. While in the About Me section, I attributed my conversion to a game, another critical component was SBS’s weekly converge of the English Premiership. Say what you will about the quality and style of football in England but one aspect of the game which the EPL is clearly superior to La Liga and Serie A is the quality of its television presentation. Eight years down the track and ESPN’s coverage of La Liga is still poor with the camera, in my opinion, being too far away from the action and the quality of picture being rather blurry compared to the EPL.
In contrast, the hour long EPL highlights show was fast paced, well presented and entertaining. The length of the show is perfect for anyone who does not follow football and is trying to get into it. If I started watching full length games from the off, I no doubt would have been turned off by the style of play of some of the teams. However, the highlights show really masks these negative aspects of the game which can often turn some one who is new to the game away before they really begin to understand and appreciate the game. The presentation and commentary also portrayed the players as more than mere sportsmen on a pitch. They were casted as real life characters in a sporting drama, characterising some as villains and others as heroes and really emphasising the players emotions and reactions when a goal is scored or a player is sent off.
An A-League highlights show can have a similar effect, emphasising the positive aspects of the game. I am not saying that the show should misrepresent the game in trying to gain new fans. I am advocating that like any good salesman, we should only talk about the positives until prospective fans gain an understanding of the game before they are exposed to every aspect of football, including the negative aspects. Hopefully, by that time, they will be sufficiently hooked or appreciative of the game that the negative aspects do not drive them away. A highlights show could really allow the game to reach new fans, I should know, I was hooked by such a highlights package that did dress the game up with many bells and whistles. No doubt some people claiming to be footballing purists will stomp the feet on the ground and say “If you don’t like the game for what it is, then we don’t want you as a fan”. To those people I ask, did you enjoy the Wigan v Derby game on the weekend?
In relation to showing a full-length game, I think it is needed but a highlights show should be priority. For those that get introduced to the game or develop an interest in the game through to the highlights show, watching a weekly full-length game would be the next step in their footballing education. All the editing tools will be put away and this will be the real test to see whether the prospective will become footballing converts.
As Australian football moves into the right lane as it prepares to overtake League, football is still no where to be seen when it comes to free-to-coverage in comparison to League. League fans get to watch two full games a week as well as the Sunday and Thursday Footy Shows. If the A-League can draw some blood on the free-to-air coverage front, we could give League a front seat view of the continuing revolution in Australian football.
