Lederer just got elected leader of an A-League club body that will push for an independent league
Will free up ffa for other things but would they act in the best interest of the game as a whole or best for the clubs?
So the independent a league will be run by lowy’s best mate and the chairman of one of the worst run clubs in the league? Happy days
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I think this needs to happen to uncouple the expansion of the league from the political wrangling of the past couple of months. I’m not sure it will be perfect, but it will mean the staff in charge are dedicated to this one thing alone and FFA can work on grassroots and youth.
Ooh I know! Pick me! Pick me!
But what will the Wanderers fans do? They love the FFA FC moniker, what will they make of having a part owner and chairman of their club the chairman of the independent A League?
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The same thing they do when they remember they were founded and owned by the FFA: just ignore it.
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Full PDF available here:
I’ve got some initial thoughts, but won’t comment yet until I’m through it properly.
My first thought is that the anger and contempt for the FFA shines through, it’s a brutally detailed Dear John letter.
Also, fucking FIFA 19 player ratings as an argument is mickey mouse as fuck.
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Oh apparently it’s already covered in the other thread
I’m really interested to see how the A League develops when run independently. I hope we could expect to see much better marketing, and I’d hope that the current “metrics”’ improve.
In general, I’m getting a bit nervous about Fox Sports and their future involvement. Once the current deal is up for renewal, I’m predicting that they either dramatically drop what they’re offering for broadcast rights or pull out altogether. Football isn’t a bit part of their overall sports package anymore, and I wonder if strategically they’ve decided to focus elsewhere. Either way, the A League suffers, and could only hope that Optus or someone similar comes along and wants to pay decent coin and take the game forward. This is where I really hope an independently run competition may result in a better product, and one that is more attractive to broadcasters.
When it does come to negotiating the new contract, the A League can at least take solace in the fact that Cricket and Rugby are in such sorry states at the moment. Perhaps Fox won’t dump so much money into the Cricket deal next time too.
Fox will be throwing more money into competing with Netflix, Stan and all the million other streaming services
Considering Fox want Kayo to be the Netflix of sport I reckon they’d be looking to not only keep the A-league but also go back in hard for the Premier League and other bits they lost to Optus.
If Optus decide they want the A-league as well it may just help to keep the price for it at current levels without the predicted drop in rights fees. The product needs drastic improvement either way though.
Yeah that’s my gut feeling too. Does anyone remember when the Premier League rights are up?
Also Optus wouldn’t go for the A-League because they aren’t interested in producing content.
Football without dickhead commentators and Bozzas punditry? Sign me up.
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Can they get a 3rd party to produce game say? A lot of the resources Fox and other channels use for example (broadcast trucks, camera equipment etc) would belong to 3rd parties like NEP etc.
And Optus do have a bunch of in house shows they produce to talk EPL, UCL etc, and talent on the ground to report from the stadia - and that’s remotely from Europe.
Runs through to 2022
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New League Working Group report is out and FFA have decided to release it publicly:
The key principles in the report included:
• That a new and separate professional leagues entity must have regard to the best interests of Australian football as a whole;
• The new leagues entity would be responsible for the professional football leagues including, but not limited to, the A-League, W-League and Y-League;
• The new entity would be autonomous and separate from Football Federation Australia (FFA);
• The leagues entity would offer the clubs greater responsibility and encouragement to invest in order to commercialise and to grow the professional game as a part of and for the benefit of Australian football; and
• The new Leagues entity should foster the development of the leagues and, through the Leagues, football in Australia by providing the pathway for Australian footballers to an elite level and, ultimately, Australian national teams.
In addition, the NLWG determined that the legal, commercial and regulatory arrangements required to give effect to the various principles involve complex matters which require more time in order to be finalised.
The NLWG recommended that the detail and structure of the new league entity continue to be discussed by the stakeholders of Australian football with a view to formalisation by 30 June 2019, with a suitable transition period to be implemented thereafter.
I’m not holding my breath but bring it on.
These last couple of years in particular have been a total waste of time, like FFA’s been waiting for something to happen, but no-one there had a clue what. They just need to let go.
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