Expansion Gold Coast issue a knee jerk reaction to inevitable A-League expansion ?

[fishmonger]

I think so.

The biggest motivator to AFL expansion is A-League expansion.

The AFL have intensified their turf war having missed the boat with both the Titans and the East Coast Aces NRL and ARC licences.

But now it is also facing the threat of a second team in Melbourne to compete against a crowded market of AFL teams, having already seen a new ARC team and NRL team's success.

The media start a frenzy whenever growing A-League crowds or expansion are mentioned.

If A-League ever threatened to have a team in Tassie, watch out Hawks !!

And if Townsville does get an A-League licence, another fast growing area, just watch for the AFL to start talks of a Northern based in Darwin/Cairns team come up.

Thoughts ??

Beckham set to fly to Coast
By Marco Monteverde
May 16, 2007 DAVID Beckham is coming to a beach near you.

The world's most famous footballer, who will earn $172,860 a day when he joins Los Angeles Galaxy from Real Madrid in July, is set to head to the Gold Coast as part of the Major League Soccer franchise's Australian tour later this year.

With negotiations having started to bring the Galaxy to Australia for matches against Sydney FC and Melbourne Victory in November or December, Australia's tourist capital wants a piece of the action.

As part of the Gold Coast's bid for A-League inclusion, Beckham and the Galaxy could take part in a showpiece affair at Carrara Stadium.

The match is set to kick-start the Galaxy's link with the Gold Coast hopefuls, with the relationship tipped to prove crucial in the franchise's bid for an A-League berth.

Who the Galaxy would play remains unknown, but Gold Coast Soccer boss Peter Gray yesterday hinted at the possibility of Queensland Roar being invited to take part in the match.

Further discussions about the match and the relationship between the Galaxy and the Gold Coast will take place next Wednesday at a meeting involving Gray, former Sydney FC chairman Walter Bugno, ex-Roar coach Miron Bleiberg and several of the region's big spenders.

Gray said Galaxy was one of five clubs from around the world that the Coast bid team could forge a relationship with. If Los Angeles becomes the club of choice, the Gold Coast team could also be known as Galaxy.

Bleiberg, expected to have a say in who will coach the Coast side if its application succeeds, said a relationship with the LA outfit would be more for commercial than football aspects.

"There are a lot of similar institutions in LA and the Gold Coast," Bleiberg said.

"For sure it's going to be good for us."

Bleiberg suggested the LA franchise would almost be obliged to take Beckham worldwide.

"The LA Galaxy are paying so much money to David Beckham, not only to play in the American competition, but for him to spread their sponsors around the world," he said.

Beckham, the former England captain, is in the closing weeks of his sometimes stormy stint with Spanish giant Real.

It has been reported that the husband of Victoria "Posh Spice" Beckham will be paid five times more than the rest of the Galaxy squad put together.

Gold Coast ponders A-League licence competition
The chairman of Gold Coast Soccer says it could be competing against four other bidders for two A-League licences.

Peter Gray says the national competition could have two new teams entered in the 2008/2009 season.

He says the Gold Coast and Townsville are both in contention.

"Wollongong have showed interest, they're about the only other one at this moment," he said.

"But you always think someone from west Sydney would try and get involved and possibly another team from Melbourne because they've been so successful."

Second soccer team for Melbourne bid
VICTORIA is set for a new soccer team as powerful business groups manoeuvre for a second A-League licence.

The Herald Sun can reveal at least three consortiums are positioning themselves behind the scenes to take ownership of the new club.

The new franchise would join Melbourne Victory in the thriving national competition from 2010.

Victory and the league's seven other clubs are protected by a deal preventing rival teams from being formed in the same state. It expires after the 2009 season.

Two business groups are from Melbourne, with one believed to involve mobile phone magnate John Ilhan. He refused to comment yesterday.

Another prominent businessman within AFL circles confirmed his involvement but asked not to be named.

"There's a number of groups that are interested," the source said. "It will move quite quickly. Victory has been very successful here and there are a number of groups that are coming out."

It's believed both Melbourne parties want the team to join Victory in playing its home games at the new rectangular stadium, ensuring a match in Melbourne every week.

But a group of Geelong businessmen is believed to have a $3 million bankroll and wants control of Victoria's first regional soccer team.

The three consortiums would not say whether they had discussed team names.

A Football Federation Australia source said board members were having their coats tugged almost every day for another franchise in Victoria because of Victory's outstanding 2 1/2 seasons in the league.

"The rumours are rife but nothing official has been brought to the table," the source said.

It's believed FFA would want to see consortiums produce $1.5 million in assets or cash before taking them seriously.

It costs up to $10 million a year to run an A-League club.

Victory chief executive Geoff Miles said Victoria had room for only one soccer team.

"We believe the one team, one city model FFA has introduced to the A-League has been a great move and the key to the success of the league and the support Victory has received," Mr Miles said. "Our view is that this model has been so successful, you would question whether you would want to move away from it.

"We don't believe there's a strong case for splitting the support in our code into more than one club."

Mr Miles said there were more suitable regions of Australia where new teams could flourish.

FFA chief executive Ben Buckley did not return calls.

 

[catters05]

17th license required for Gold Coast, 18th for Tasmania , 19th for West Sydney and then 20th for Territory. AFL DONE.

 

[shawthing09]

I'd say that Rugby is still far more competition to AFL in areas like queensland and Sydney then the A-League simply because the season's clash effecting attendance and t.v ratings in these areas, Also as trivial as it is if money is tight I dare say it is easier to fork out money two memberships 6 months a part. Aswell as the fact that in melbourne the A-league is very sucessful and is in some fans mind a good past time between the AFL season and hasn't affected AFL attendances etc.

The A-League and AFL can coexist without effecting each other greatly unless the A-League season lengthens and or changes and clashes with the AFL season.

 

[Doctor Jolly]

A-league has enough of its own problems to worry about.

Anyway, if the A-league expanded it would be in Western Sydney.... which the AFL arent even talking about. So there goes that theory.

Anyway, ones a summer sport, ones a winter sport. I cant see the AFL being overly concerned.

 

[yioughtta]

Good work, fishmonger! Well put together.

I personally feel that whilst the A-League may be a concern to the AFL on the Gold Coast, it didn't really matter which competition went there. As soon as another sporting competition said they were going to the Gold Coast, Andy D's ears pricked up and he has been hounding the issue ever since.

The problem is that three national sporting teams all popped up at the same time and caught the AFL way off-guard. Now they are definitely on the back foot and are panicking at the thought of missing another boat (just like Canberra). If the A-League does go there it will only compound the problem.

Good post.

 

[roger explosion]

there will be a Gold Coast bid for an A-League license next season. you can put your house on it, i've heard it from Peter Gray himself. but i don't think that it will compete with the AFL's plans, because the sports are in different seasons. i think what you'll find is, eventually, the two most popular sports in Australia will be footy and soccer.

 

[stephen_bayne]

I think it isn't so much the A-League but the fact that if the rumours are true and the Gold Coast Galaxy has been given the green light for the 2008/09 season that means AFL will be the rotten egg as far as the Gold Coast goes. By the time they smuggle the Roos up there will be two Rugby teams, a soccer team and a basketball team.

 

[Subprime]

Is the A-League really a threat?

Apart from the Victory, A-League crowds are generally well under 20,000 a game and in some markets they struggle to pull 10,000. How do they sustain a professional league on that basis? Teams like Perth must be bleeding money all over the place.

Maybe someone's got some facts & figures to correct me on this but I would have thought too much expansion is a bad thing for the A-League. I saw an article last week saying there were a lack of high profile players in Australian soccer. I can't see how adding new teams is going to help that.

 

[adasano]

The A-League will be the dominant sport in this country by 2020.

AFL is followed by Southern & Western states; Rugby by Eastern and Northern.

The round code is universally supported.

At the moment, the 2 calenders dont really clash. But there will come a time when the A-League has 12-16 teams and runs longer into the season.

thoughts?

 

[Subprime]

adasano - Crowds in Sydney and Perth are dropping like a stone this year. The problem for soccer is the best players will go overseas to make a living and you can't charge a premium for second or third best product.

 

[stmookeyj]

Maybe someone's got some facts & figures to correct me on this but I would have thought too much expansion is a bad thing for the A-League. I saw an article last week saying there were a lack of high profile players in Australian soccer. I can't see how adding new teams is going to help that.

I don't think the A-League necessarilly would target the high profile players. What I think it is targeting is the players in the minor European leagues and British (Eng/Sco) lower leagues as well as giving developing talent a place to show their wares without having to go overseas too soon. But again with the season running from September to about February/March it shouldn't be a worry really if the parties co-exist.

Mind you, GC may bid, but so will NQ and probably Wollongong so it's not a given that a team will be on the Coast next season.

I also wouldn't worry about the RU team too much, their crowds were low and interest not great.

 

[stmookeyj]

adasano - Crowds in Sydney and Perth are dropping like a stone this year.

Perth's been dropping for a while. They need a winning team and off field stability (still not that stable if the gaffer's under the pump) to be successful. Sydney may be disappointing and they have had a few home games, but once again if they start winning....

 

[adasano]

Perth's been dropping for a while. They need a winning team and off field stability (still not that stable if the gaffer's under the pump) to be successful. Sydney may be disappointing and they have had a few home games, but once again if they start winning....

Crowds for Perth Glory back in the NSL days we in the 30k range..

once they get their act together, they will return.

 

[Subprime]

Perth's been dropping for a while. They need a winning team and off field stability (still not that stable if the gaffer's under the pump) to be successful. Sydney may be disappointing and they have had a few home games, but once again if they start winning....

So what happens if you bring in expansion teams in small stadium markets and they start winning. The A-League really needs Sydney and Melbourne to play finals every year otherwise the crowds will fall off. The more teams you bring in the less chance of that happening I would have thought, especially if you don't want new teams going broke.

 

[roger explosion]

adasano - Crowds in Sydney and Perth are dropping like a stone this year. The problem for soccer is the best players will go overseas to make a living and you can't charge a premium for second or third best product.

sydney's crowd picked up by about 7,000 this week after Kosmina was installed manager; if he can make them successful again then they will get similar crowds to melbourne.

perth has a number of issues that they need to sort out, and i have no doubt the FFA will sort them out in the off-season.

and if you've not seen any games this season... its hard to say that the standard is poor. sure, its no Premier League, but some of the games have been absolute crackers. i don't think there is an issue with the quality of the game, particularly with players like Alosis, Bridges and Elrich in the league, and the probability of more players like Fred coming over and lighting the league up.

 

[The Teflon Dean]

It'll expand a lot quicker if they relocate my club.

GO VICTORY!!!!!

 

[Doctor Jolly]

It'll expand a lot quicker if they relocate my club.

GO VICTORY!!!!!

Ive always found that an odd line. " Dont kill my club because it has 100 years of tradition, because if you do I'll go support one with less than 5 years tradition. "

Anyway, back on topic, could it be argued that the creating the "A-league in summer was a knee jerk reaction to AFL and NRL expansion".

 

[stmookeyj]

Anyway, back on topic, could it be argued that the creating the "A-league in summer was a knee jerk reaction to AFL and NRL expansion".

No. Australia needed a fresh approach to a National League in the World Game. Before then for nearly 10 seasons the old NSL was a summer competition. It moved to summer in order to get more exposure knowing that they would be buried amongst the back pages if it competed against the AFL/NRL. Same thing happened with the NBL.

 

[The Teflon Dean]

Ive always found that an odd line. " Dont kill my club because it has 100 years of tradition, because if you do I'll go support one with less than 5 years tradition. "

The Gold Coast Kangaroos would be starting from year 1, you twit.

If AFL football turns it's back on me then I will turn my back on it and actively participate in it's downfall. Many other North fans think likewise.

 

[Doctor Jolly]

The Gold Coast Kangaroos would be starting from year 1, you twit.

If AFL football turns it's back on me then I will turn my back on it and actively participate in it's downfall. Many other North fans think likewise.

You do whatever makes you feel good. If you like soccer, you like soccer. No big deal.

 

[stephen_bayne]

No. Australia needed a fresh approach to a National League in the World Game. Before then for nearly 10 seasons the old NSL was a summer competition. It moved to summer in order to get more exposure knowing that they would be buried amongst the back pages if it competed against the AFL/NRL. Same thing happened with the NBL.

Also most of the world's leagues start in August so it makes sense. From what I understand the A-League is only looking into expansion after this season because the first two seasons have been much more successful than expected. Also the crowd average has just this weekend hit time high of around 14k per game.

 

[RUNVS]

People seem to forget that the AFL isnt in direct competition with the A-League as AFL is a winter game while A-League is a Summer game.

 

[VoR]

Surely the AFL won't be spooked by the Gay League?

Gayball will always be a side show in this country because the best players will always leave for better money overseas.

 

[The Chad]

the gold coast galaxy are pretty much ready to go. bleiberg to coach (very media friendly), attractive destination to lure home O/S based aussies, and a ground sharing agreement with the rectangular stadium built for the rugby.

it's a pretty sweet deal and whether there's an AFL team or not it will be a success, so i would say the AFL will discount it as a head-to-head competitor.

 

[stephen_bayne]

Surely the AFL won't be spooked by the Gay League?

Gayball will always be a side show in this country because the best players will always leave for better money overseas.

The AFL showed they were spooked by soccer with thier childish behaviour during the world cup last year.