Not to mention more exposure on major newspapers and radio shows etc, all being delivered throughout all of melbourne to millions of people. Thats the benefit of having more teams in major cities.

Were they ever going to be approved before any other club was given the opportunity to bid?

If they give up now then it was never a serious bid. Joining the league is the prize not the club joining the league.

This.

Yeah that's nonsense.

Super Rugby standards in Australia fell to shit because Aus has a tiny player base, it can't compete with Europe for wages and the ARU doesn't allow teams to bring in foreign players.

 The NRL has a bigger player base but a lack of a foreign transfer market.

That doesn't apply to football. We have a shit tonne of local players and a whole worldwide market. If standards fall, you can increase VISA players.

its not close enough to sydney for the ffa

about time they stepped towards some transparency with the criteria for entry.

it will end up as vague as the guest marquee rule. also, 2018/2019 is way too long. they need to pull their timid little fingers out.

What's annoying is that for ages the only thing the FFA cared about was having enough Rich blokes on board to cover losses. It didn't matter how shit the bid was, if one of Lowy's mates were on board then they were a good shout to get in.

 This bid has a plan, it has private equity behind it, a local media push for it to happen and is a popular option amongst existing fans and pundits. It even has a government commitment to infrastructure behind it to the sum of $20m-$30m which is just bloody incredible.

Not even 2 years ago this bid would be considered perfect but now FFA can't their hands of their dicks at the thought of Fox Sports Friendly Derbies.

They said 'broadcast appeal'. So Auckland, Christchurch, Stewart Island are out.

I am not surprised that they did not make a decision at the time, but I sure hope they just want Tasmania to submit their bid formally once they have their process set in place. They obviously want to have a look at all their available options before making decisions. That is understandable. If they have come out and flat out rejected the proposal then that is poor form by the governing body who could be arguedare working against their purpose of enhancing the game in Australia as awhole. It would prove another case why the league needs to be run separately from the governing body.

So these same two guys will go back to the office and return with a Geelong bid?

Don't really care tbh - we all know the FFA will fudge the 'criteria' to get what they want.

I'm glad they are starting to list the criteria and player base is one of those considerations but #metrics will clearly dominate.

As for the Tassy bid, perhaps the FFA said not yet and we should see the others first.

Either way, happy that they are forced to increase the comp and set out the criteria so people can build a business case for it.

if they lay it out and actually show in real terms what they are looking for there can be no more excuses.

So from what i can gather this is where we are at:

-The FFA have met with the Tasmania bid
-The FFA have knocked them back for next season only, they can still lay out a bid once the framework is set out. 
This isn't a bad thing as it gives the bid more time to prepare and gather momentum
-Tasmania have publicly set the bar & precedent for the other bids. What other bid can offer government support to the tune of 20-30m?
-This will give a kick up the ass to any other region that is considering to bid and make them really up their game
-So far we know the FFA has had 6 EOI's for the #11 & #12 spots
-If due to Tasmania's public bid, increases more demand from more regions to EOI this creates an arms race from the regions to get a license (the more demand the better)
-If somehow we start to receive 10 EOI's from other regions, we may have just found ourselves a footprint for a second division for aspiring clubs looking to crack it into the big league

Exciting times indeed to be a football fan in this country

Why would you consider Geelong? They are a smallish area. Very close to Melbourne that has 2 teams. They already have a AFL club that would take a large pie of any local sponsorship revenue and they are fanatical about it. I really don't see much angst between Melbourne and Geelong that would make football fans there not support one of the two teams 1 hour up the road? Now if i lived in Tasmania or Canberra, i can totally get not caring all that much about any team in the A-league. 

I do like the idea of ensuring that the new clubs already have the community support. I'd be really interested to see, that if there was a campaign of pledging memberships towards a new team in Geelong, Adelaide, Brisbane, Canberra, Sydney and Tasmania, which would get the most. Might not suit the FFA's agenda though. Derbies worked for them last time so they probly think its a sure thing this time too./ 

Missed this.

By better half said she heard something on the  ABC about it, but I  googled and nothing came up in print.

Agree, but I'm biased.

Honestly, I think the fact that a smallish town has fanatical support for a successful sporting team already gives greater credence to allowing another code to work in the region. Not to mention that Geelong ticks a lot of the boxes that other bids don't:

-Existing stadium infrastructure at Kardinia Park (long term goal to have a boutique rectangle, but Kardinia Park more than adequate to get the team up and running)
-Council support
-Strong football history (produced international footballers such as Josip Skoko, Steve Horvat, Joey Didulica and Matt Spiranovic)
-Melbourne TV zone
-Booming amateur participation
-Geographical difference with existing Melbourne clubs whilst still being close enough to draw on the booming growth of Melbourne's west
-History of successful professional sports clubs

Really, the only thing that makes it an unattractive proposition to most is the small population of the immediate area (approx ~220k as of last year) - this ignores the fact that Geelong is going to be swallowed by Melbourne in the coming decades (much like Frankston has been) so why not beat the punch and have a team that will be competitive on and off the park with limitless upward growth?

I know the FFA wants money asap, and I know the money is generated by big city derbies. I realise that. However, there is no reason why a Geelong bid can't be considered as your 13th expansion side.

That's what they're afraid of.

Nah

#SuccessFactors

#DerbyCash

2 Tasmanian teams it is

Or it could be that the FFA don't want to commit to anything until the next TV deal is done?? 

In regards to the stadium, Kardinia Park is not good enough in my eyes. It's far too big and the atmosphere is horrible.

City Sam.
If the major factor is ratings,then it is completely guesswork.
It doesnt matter where the team comes from ,there is no guarantee the ratings for that team will be acceptable.Melbourne Heart had crap ratings for a long time and are only improving with their marquee names.WSW was a one off.There are no other regions that offer such upside.
A third Sydney team looks a good idea,for derbies.But I struggle to see why neutrals anywhere would want to watch them in big numbers over any other regional team.
It really comes down to how fans nationwide view the team.That is why FFA need to get their metrics right.The idea of derbies is good.But seriously there are only two derbies and the competiton is full of teams with no derbies.
I hope there are Football people in FFA that can cut through the economic rationalism of the the corporate bean counters like Gallop.
The bean counters focus on where the biggest potential returns are for short term monetary gain and are prepared to cut the smaller or lower returning parts of the business ,so the balance sheet looks good and their bonuses keep coming.That sacrifices goodwill to a lot of the Football community that don't fit in with the short term focus.
By taking a long term view ,monetary gains may be reduced short term ,as the base is built by maximising national footprint.But goodwill is created which will provide long term security and future success.
Let Tasmania United live! :)

They will live, just not as early as next season.

Tasmania will have a team, but what the league needs next is a big attraction team. They don't want to throw another team struggling like CCM or the Nix, another big city team would create bigger interest in the league in a far bigger state. If that happens it means more money for the league for future expansions.

Tasmania may be a good 13th or 14th team, but right now the aim is too expand the popularity of the sport in big cities, and that is Melbourne and Sydney, that is where the biggest sway is.

What i expect to happen is a 3rd team in Victoria somewhere, then we'll get a Brisbane team followed by another Sydney team. By this stage almost every week there'll be a big match worth watching which will boost crowds and ratings, then they'll use the money from a better TV deal to get clubs like Tasmania in.

#FoxSports

South Melbourne have been quiet 

Yea, that is very strange, surely they would be putting their hand up again.