AFL seeks compensation for World Cup disruption

[mustapha]

Going to laugh my ass off when our World Cup bid is unsuccessful.

**** Soccer.

Until December 2010, supporters of the world game get to laugh their arse off at threads like this. I'm not sure which thread is funnier. This one or the one where we all take a stand against the dreaded sokkah.

 

[mickctiger]

if it does go ahead, it will not clash with our domestic seasons. There is no way that FIFA will allow their showpiece to be held in winter (SA notwithstanding)

 

[mustapha]

if it does go ahead, it will not clash with our domestic seasons. There is no way that FIFA will allow their showpiece to be held in winter (SA notwithstanding)

This has been mentioned over a hundred times before but I will do it again. The World Cup is played in June so that it does does not disrupt the many football leagues that are played around the world. Think of the International Rules series. Would it make sense to play it during the middle of the AFL season when domestic teams have injury concerns etc. or would it make sense to play it when the AFL season is over?

 

[SaintsSeptember]

We're trying to win this bid, one that will benefit our country, and we should go to the organisers of this event and ask them to work around what's best for us??

Possibly the silliest thing i've heard, if Australia wants to win this event and showcase our country to the rest of the world in the process we'll bow to whatever FIFA wants us to do, it is their tournament not ours, they will award it to the country who'll accommodate it best, if we want to start challenging their rules and protocol they'll take it to another country who'll happily play by the rules.

It is not clear that it will benefit our country. The costs will be huge, and the only real economic gain is from an influx of tourists. ( Domestic attendance is redistribution of money that would probably have been spent elswhere in Australia ). It is possible for it to be successful or a loss, depending how it all pans out.

Showcasing our country is not really a benefit but more an ego thing. What exactly are you going to showcase, our oval soccer grounds?

I agree with your overall gist though. Fifa will be very unlikely to be involved in any negotiations. The bid be in the form of a contract with a very longwinded agreement that will be in summary "we hereby agree to conform with all of Fifa's requirements if we win the bid". If you don't sign it you dont submit it.

 

[SaintsSeptember]

if it does go ahead, it will not clash with our domestic seasons. There is no way that FIFA will allow their showpiece to be held in winter (SA notwithstanding)

The world cup has always been held at the same time of year, in a variety of countries in both hemisphere's. I doubt if they will suddenly decide to change it.

 

[Wonaeamirri33]

I love the world cup but I don't think we should host the event. World Cup is all about the passion

USA '94 Zvim?

And given that, unlike in the US at that time, Association Football IS a substantially popular sport in Australia, and that's manifestly clear... somehow I don't think passion is going to be much of a problem.

 

[Wonaeamirri33]

Whether you give a **** or not is irrelevant. What you want is irrelevant

The bid is certainly not going to be withdrawn because of the AFL or AFL supporters. Deal with it.

Just so. There may be a minority sufficiently entrenched in their opinions - and sufficiently fanatical in their hatred of Association Football - to just continue on doggedly propagating said opinions to the exclusion of all else, but that minority will not particularly register on the radar screens of the Federal Government, FIFA, the FFA - or even be noted overmuch by the Australian public as a whole, for that matter.

AFL means nothing to other countries in the Southern Hemisphere.

Yeah - in fact, outside of Australia, you'd be lucky to find anyone much apart from ex-pats who are aware of the AFL. Whereas in the vast majority of Southern Hemisphere nations (and most other countries around the world for that matter), Association Football is virtually a religion.

 

[mickctiger]

This has been mentioned over a hundred times before but I will do it again. The World Cup is played in June so that it does does not disrupt the many football leagues that are played around the world. Think of the International Rules series. Would it make sense to play it during the middle of the AFL season when domestic teams have injury concerns etc. or would it make sense to play it when the AFL season is over?

gee, a top flight international soccer match played in the grey drizzle of a southern australian winter is going to be a good look isnt it ?
especially when the stands appear only half full
I'm sure FIFA will love that look

 

[McCrann]

At the end of the day the majority of sports fans up there dont care about AFL just as much as the majority of sports fans down south couldnt really care about League.

The NRL will bend over just as the AFL will bend over, this is about more than sport, battle lines and silly games played between rival sporting codes. This is about an event, a once in a lifetime event that will bring significant economic benefit to Australia and improve sporting infrastructure in this country. No minnow sporting organisation will stand in the way.

Who cares how many countries you've visited your views on this issue prove you are an insular redneck who is scared of a rival sport bringing its number one event (the biggest show on earth) to this country, just because it could disrupt one season of your "national" code. Get over it! I love AFL as much as the next person but watching the Blues will be the furthest thing from my mind when i'll be at the G with 100k people watching the socceroos play a world cup game in my home city on the biggest stage of them all!

No, stop attacking the strawman mate - tackle the real issue.

I'm happy for the FFA to win a World Cup bid - but not in the arrogant way it seems to be going.

If FIFA is so keen to spread the game, why can't they make like the Olympics and bring it in September/October (For one thing - the Australian weather will be a lot better).

South African World Cup next year will show its not the best time of the year to play a Southern Hemisphere World Cup.

I know of course why they won't do that - because they're FIFA, they're arrogant - and they don't give a rats about anything else - so why should we give a rats back?

And for the record - Americans kept playing their major sports right through the World Cup - but its a slightly different issue as no NBA, NHL or MLB grounds were used in the USA World Cup 1994!

(For any morons out there who think the "NFL Stopped" for the World Cup - NO, the NFL is not played in June/July!!!)

 

[Wonaeamirri33]

Nope.

If Australia wins the World Cup, the AFL will bend over and cop whatever is necessary.

There is absolutely no way, NO WAY, AFL would do anything to jeopardise a successful bid because they would get both sides of government from State to Federal level trying to punish them for the next 10 years.

The AFL needs politicians to survive and prosper far more than most people realise. You don't bite the hand that feeds you.

Another salient point.

Stadium developments, national and state funding allocations, even state-based club funding such as Hawthorn receives in Tasmania... all reasons why the AFL will not seek to undermine the WC bid.

Not to mention a substantial public backlash if the AFL did seek to get in the way of this... including the certain guaranteed failure of GWS in that scenario, amongst many other consequences in terms of public support.

 

[Wonaeamirri33]

especially when the stands appear only half full

Yeah, nah.

Were the stadiums "half full" for the Olympic tournament in 2000? No. Were the stadiums "half full" during the USA '94 World Cup? No.

And apart from that, much as some diehard one-code supporters might not accept it, Association Football IS a popular sport in this country.

 

[Ron The Bear]

You really wonder what FIFA could gain from hosting it here though. To "grow" the game in a country of 22 million people? Asian TV markets would love it, apart from that theres not a lot of inventive for them to award it to us.

This might be a pertinent point. Australia would be easily the least populous host since Chile in 1962.

 

[Wonaeamirri33]

If Australia had the population of the UK, for example, then the AFL would clearly outrank the other sporting bodies

And if a frog had wings, it wouldn't bump its arse when it hopped... this constitutes no real argument...

 

[SaintsSeptember]

USA '94 Zvim?

And given that, unlike in the US at that time, Association Football IS a substantially popular sport in Australia, and that's manifestly clear... somehow I don't think passion is going to be much of a problem.

Wrong
If 7% of the USA population was interested , the entire Australian population would have to be interested to have a similar level of support.

 

[BobbyMorri]

They must like winter. Since South Africa is in the southern Hemisphere as well, and so is also in winter. And then you count in the fact that football/soccer is a mostly winter sport in Europe, which is much colder than poor old Melbourne.

 

[Wonaeamirri33]

Do you really expect every association football competition around the world to change their entire season just so the AFL can keep running? In the grand scheme of things the AFL is very small compared to the EPL, Spanish leagues and FIFA in general.

That's right... it's quite some arrogance for anyone to think that the AFL is of sufficient importance that virtually every other national football league, and the vast majority of other international club footbal competitions in the world, should move their schedules to accommodate the AFL.

 

[Wonaeamirri33]

Wrong
If 7% of the USA population was interested , the entire Australian population would have to be interested to have a similar level of support.

Proportionally, the difference between support in Australia, and the level of support in America, is so large that there's just no comparison.

And that becomes more dramatically obvious when you compare with the even lower level Association Football in the US was at before 1994...

 

[Wonaeamirri33]

It is a fantastic opportunity to bring people into the country, and with that comes many opportunities including the opportunity to introduce our local game to an increased number of visitors.

Another good point. For that matter, the economic benefit of a World Cup in Australia would be substantially greater than the benefit the country derived from hosting the Olympics in 2000.

 

[mickctiger]

Yeah, nah.

Were the stadiums "half full" for the Olympic tournament in 2000? No. Were the stadiums "half full" during the USA '94 World Cup? No.

And apart from that, much as some diehard one-code supporters might not accept it, Association Football IS a popular sport in this country.

The MCG holds 100,000. Do you really think that every single match thats held there for the World Cup will get that much ? Apart from the ones involving the Socceroos, and or Final ?
realistically the average at the MCG would be 50 - 70 K
if its wet more like around 6OK, and there's the rub. even with 60,000 patrons the G will look half empty. And a wet MCG looking only half full of poncho and brolly donning patrons is not an image that FIFA would want to beam around the world. This has nothing to do with being a die-hard footy fan or anti-soccer, but what makes business sense. FIFA is a business after all, and don't think for a minute that they wont be after maximum returns.

 

[Wonaeamirri33]

Are you saying Sydney will sell out ANZ stadium for a game between two light weight nations not going to progress past the first stage?

YES, it WILL. The fact is that tickets for virtually every match in the tournament will be sold out long beforehand.

 

[Wonaeamirri33]

The MCG holds 100,000. Do you really think that every single match thats held there for the World Cup will get that much?

The World Cup is the biggest and most popular sporting event in the world. Substantially more popular than the Olympics. Yes, matches will be sold out there.

Remember how difficult tickets were to get for Olympic events? Multiply that by a factor of 2 or higher, and you'll get the kind of rush there will be on WC tickets...

 

[mickctiger]

Another good point. For that matter, the economic benefit of a World Cup in Australia would be substantially greater than the benefit the country derived from hosting the Olympics in 2000.

for whom is this economic benefit that all you soccer fans talk about ?
the NSW taxpayer is still paying for the Olympics. The Federal Government will commit the TAX Payer to Billions if we win the event. If its held in June, there's already a billion each to at least two corporate entities (AFL and NRL) if they are forced to cease trading during the event, to cover their losses. Then there is the cost of setting up infrastructure needed

 

[Wonaeamirri33]

By the way, the last time Cameroon played in Australia - not even their senior team, their under-23 team - the attendance was 110k.

Exactly. And the World Cup football tournament will be far more popular and well-supported than this.

 

[Wonaeamirri33]

Until December 2010, supporters of the world game get to laugh their arse off at threads like this. I'm not sure which thread is funnier. This one or the one where we all take a stand against the dreaded sokkah.

Quite so - some people (apparently TBD is one) really do live in their own bubble most of the time, it seems...

 

[SaintsSeptember]

YES, it WILL. The fact is that tickets for virtually every match in the tournament will be sold out long beforehand.

I think when you buy advance tickets, it is for a venue, prior to the fixture being known, so its pot luck really. ( Correct me if I'm wrong ). So crappy games can still be filled to capacity depending where/when they occur.

I'm not sure that you can claim for certainty an economic benefit though.
We will not attract the same crowd as Germany , either domestically or internationally.
We would probably get something between $800 000 and $2million internationals for the event. The only way to know for sure is to have it. But it is a gamble rather than a license to print money.