Soccer bumps AFL for Asian sponsors

[midfielder]

Article from Roy Masters ... giving it to the AFL and using Football... all helps in the long run I guess..worth a read I think...

http://www.smh.com.au/business/soccer-bumps-afl-for-asian-sponsors-20100406-rpig.html

Soccer bumps AFL for Asian sponsors

ROY MASTERS
April 7, 2010


The chairman of Football Federation Australia, Frank Lowy, had a cool reception from the AFL chairman, Mike Fitzpatrick, and its chief executive, Andrew Demetriou, last month when he tried to get them to make Etihad Stadium in Melbourne available for the World Cup in 2018 or 2022.

The AFL has long considered soccer its main rival, holding a disdainful, even contemptuous view of the rugby codes, particularly rugby league. The AFL has noted the rapid rise of the A-League from eight teams a few years ago, to 12 in 2011-12.

This swift expansion has placed pressure on costs. Most teams have lost $2 million to $3 million a year, and the North Queensland Fury was saved recently through an 11th-hour funding rescue. But rather than view these as losses, FFA sees them as stepping stones to the riches of Asia.

The Asian Football Confederation's Champions League consists of the top 32 clubs from the big leagues of Asia. Teams receive $US40,000 ($43,500) for each win during the group stage through to $US1.5 million for winning the championship. Sydney FC reached the play-off stage of the ACL in 2006 ($US80,000) and Adelaide United lost in the final in 2008 ($US750,000).

Australia is represented by only two clubs, Melbourne Victory and Adelaide, because of an AFC rule that means no country can be represented in the ACL by a number of teams greater than a third of the total in its domestic competition. Last season the A-League was a 10- team competition, meaning Australia technically could have supplied three teams to the ACL.

When Melbourne Heart join the A-League next season and Sydney Rovers joins in 2011-12, the number of teams will grow to 12 and therefore render Australia eligible to supply four teams.

However, the number of A-League teams is not the sole criterion for representation in the ACL, and an AFC inspection committee will visit Australia in September as part of a review of soccer in the country. Nor should the rapid expansion of the A-League be seen to be motivated exclusively by access to Asia.

An eight-, even 10-team national league is not taken seriously in any of the top soccer countries and would not have reflected well on Australia's chances of winning either of the World Cup bids. Nevertheless, with two-thirds of the world's population living in Asia, club bosses in Australia believe they can reach millions of TV sets, a big selling point with sponsors.

The Adelaide team have ''Study Adelaide'' on their shirts, in partnership with the university. Victoria, with its history of educating Chinese and Indian students, takes about 30 r cent of the 389,641 students who enrolled in Australian universities this year. But Victoria, with a growth rate of 1.8 per cent, is nearing capacity, particularly with housing, and Adelaide, with annual growth of 1 per cent, has greater potential for expansion. FFA report Adelaide has already recorded interest from Asian students, based on the university's exposure in the ACL.

The mining magnate Clive Palmer owns the A-League team Gold Coast United, as well as its sponsor, Mineralogy. He also owns Queensland Nickel, which sponsors the Fury. Palmer is negotiating with Asian resources customers and taking the Fury's Robbie Fowler, the former England player, to meetings with soccer-loving customers to help clinch deals.

Melbourne Victory and Adelaide are approaching their final home match of the group stage, and although Melbourne's crowds have been poor, their opponent next Wednesday at Etihad Stadium is Beijing Guoan, featuring the Australian brothers Ryan and Joel Griffiths.

Adelaide hosted almost 15,000 at their last match, and a sell-out is expected at Hindmarsh Stadium on April 27 against another Chinese team, Shandong Luneng. With Asia having to accommodate 46 different leagues, there is a time warp between the two Australian teams qualifying from a summer competition and participating in the ACL.

Last month's A-League champions, Sydney FC, and the runner-up, Melbourne, have to wait until 2011, but this allows them the opportunity to find a sponsor with a strong Asian connection, something the AFL find difficult.

 

[marinermick]

Cannot believe how poor the English is in that article. It reads like it was written by a twelve-year old.

 

[midfielder]

Cannot believe how poor the English is in that article. It reads like it was written by a twelve-year old.

Don't tell Dibo... and he is writing to a RL audience

 

[Hagar the Horrible]

I just love the bit about Clive Palmer taking Robbie Fowler to meetings with Asian customers in order to to help clinch deals.

 

[adz]

I just love the bit about Clive Palmer taking Robbie Fowler to meetings with Asian customers in order to to help clinch deals.

lol same. Wonder if he wears a suit and tie or football gear ...

 

[dibo]

Cannot believe how poor the English is in that article. It reads like it was written by a twelve-year old.

It just hasn't been edited at all. It's an explosion of commas. Some sentences don't quite make sense.

Don't tell Dibo... and he is writing to a RL audience

RL audience yes, but it is the Herald. They do tend to aim a little higher and Roy Masters is a good journo. the problem is they've gutted production and editing in there so the journos are editing and subbing their own work and you get messes like this piece. There's nothing wrong with the story, it's just the cosmetic aspects of grammar and sentence structure that are awful.