If we were to ever expand into Asia, I see that as bad news for the Nix.

The Western Force were not kicked out because of the Japanese club.  the Japanese club is getting kicked out itself.

Thats an interesting article.

On Sages idea about expanding the A-League to Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and creating some kind of Super Rugby competition.... I agree with comments to date please please please on bended knees don't do it .

The kicker tho is if what Sage's says is correct that by bring in 3 teams from Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, would increase revenue to up to 300 to 400 million [which I doubt] would have a huge appeal to existing owners... another issues is all these countries already have their own professional leagues and why would people watch the A-League in preference to their own national domestic competition.

it makes more sense to have a team from Singapore and piss off the Nix.


I think the answer to this question is Foxtel. 

is the ffa going to organise the fixture for this season or is it the new a league board? 

I wonder who will pay the flights and land transport for the independent leagues.

Problem No 1 - STOP comparing football to other codes, there’s a big reason we are in this mess in Australia. 

But we have a Japanese club playing in Australia super rugby at the expense of Western Force as the Jap club brought in more money. So it can work and at the expense of Aus based clubs.

I seriously hate the idea. The reason I hate it is because we have plenty of football clubs or potential football clubs who would emerge if the right conditions existed. The main one being a pro/rel environment. There are plenty of stupid wealthy individuals would like the idea of owning a football club.  This investment just doesn't occur to the extent it does in other countries because we have a closed shop environment. The NZ team I would consider because we have a much closer affiliation with NZ than we do with Singapore but I would only consider it if we happen to be in the same confederation. Something needs to happen on that front either from FIFA or NZ football itself. 

I am totally against this idea of Super Leagues, whether they be in Europe or Asia. I understand that there are countries or regions who are represented in some domestic leagues ie Wales, Monaco etc but those are situations which I feel are a lot easier to manage. This idea of a team from Singapore has been tried before in the NBL and it doesn't work. It doesn't work in Rugby either. I just feel we have enough teams who would emerge and want to compete once we get all our ducks in a row. In all honesty we could have an amazing A-league, 2nd Tier and even 3rd Tier if we get this right. 

Sky sports pay $100k now right, how much would they pay for two teams do you think? 

This will not get off the ground - FIFA know the European clubs want to form their own pan-european league and UEFA are blocking them. There is no way they will allow SEA to set a precedent that will lead to a European super league. 

I believe another team from NZ and one from Singapore would do the league good. Sky Sports would pay more $$$ so would the Singapore bids TV sponsor.

Because there's this thing called cost-benefit analysis...

Would rather than could.
Why would the clubs decide to add long distance flights other than Perth and Wellington to the costs. 
As I understand, the FFA pays for flights for A-league teams. Additional travelling squad members are paid by the clubs themselves.

Well, the whole concept is fanciful but compared to the NZ league the HAL is a powerhouse. 

Thankfully it doesnt appear to have broad support within AAPFC and I would guess that international expansion would be one of the things the FFA could veto. 

Sage is full of sh1te. 

"New Zealand side Wellington - technically not even from the same Confederation after Australia were affiliated to the Asian Confederation (AFC) in 2006 - play in the A-League, so why not introduce teams from other countries whose own domestic competitions are weak?"

Anyone else think this part of the article is not only super ignorant, but embarrassing? Not exactly like our league is a powerhouse 

Ah yes, and we know he is not the only owner keen on this...

And with domestic broadcast revenues set to dry up after the current Lowy TV deal expires, it will make sense in a lot of owners eyes.

Here’s the article 

https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/48971764

Why would people in Jakarta follow a team in an Australian league when they have their own teams with more history than any a-league side? 

I can only think his ideas for teams from other countries comes from the isolation of Perth to the rest of the country.

Perth may be relatively close to a few south-east Asian countries, but the rest of the country is a very different story. His main reasoning appears to be that this country is saturated already, which goes against the conventional wisdom of needing more player pathways here in Australia.

There is still room to grow the market here before looking at anything like that. Maybe an ASEAN club cup might appease him, with commercial opportunities by having an ACL style event just for ASEAN member nations. Anything more than that will fail miserably, given the distances and costs involved.

Get the 2nd tier up and running and drive the overall structure forward without letting the imagination run free trying to think of a few short term business deals that he sees this unlocking, likely at the expense of the game as a whole in this country. 

One way to fold the league

No. No. No.

Sage still pushing for Asian A-league sides.

https://twitter.com/joshua_thomas97/status/1149946253628735488?s=21

The ticket prices for away fans are ridiculous. Derbies quite often approach $40 for a fairly average seat. With NSW having 4 and soon to be 5 teams within reasonable proximity I think away members should be able to get in for $20. Same with Melbourne where there will be 3 teams next season.

Marketing, promoting the actual damn product which has been non-existent the last couple of seasons.

Of course ticket prices and repairing the relationship with the fans which will be a hard slog now.

Brenton Speed and his 'go-ahead goal' is another Americanism.

Trying to fix active areas is something that supporters and the FFA have to fix. It’s not a one side story that one based on quite a few past incidents. 

Salary cap removed would be a significant step, but one likely to be a true game changer without a vastly improved operating model coming into play. 

That aged well.

good points tbh 

what changes can the new a league make that will make next season the best ever?

i'd say obvious ones would be destory the salary cap, try to fix active area and better marketing 

yeah ..I guess it only affects those who watch AFL ...not a problem for me .
I do watch Rugby league though...and one of my little annoyances is the recent adoption of NFL/Baseball  terms by commentators....."they are O and 4 this season"..apparently referring to losses to wins . I have only started hearing this in the last few seasons.
It is a harmless term but it grates a little as we seem to be adopting more and more Americanisms in our speech.
(off topic a little but have you listened to many teenage girls now  ?....they say "beeby" instead of "baby" ....I am sure in 50 years we will all sound like yanks ..sad really)