To each their own. If that works for you then fair enough... Im not the arbiter of what makes a football fan or why. I picked a club (or to be honest was taken to one and that was it) as a wee lad and wherever I may live in the world that wont change... but thats me.  To be honest, I would be a little more annoyed if I was an APIA supporter and you, remaining in the inner west,  chose a club like Sydney FC or Wanderers just because a new shiny thing came around if that makes sense?

Absolutely, I would have stayed with Apia if that was the case. As it was Apia's keeper at one stage, Terry Greedy (ex-Socceroo and Mariners life member) ended up being the deputy principal at my son's school on the Coast. I'm pretty sure that Andrew Orsatti started at Apia as the 'orange boy' when Terry was there.  

When I was a wee lad my first match was Manchester City vs a NSW rep side in the early 1970s. Ron Corry was the only NSW player I can remember. So my first club would be Manchester City. No thanks!!

Most AL fixtures after the halfway point of the Season are dead rubbers. Very little interest value.

P/R changes all that, regardless of the quality of A2

In theory Silverwater don't care who gets relegated.  The individual owners are the scaredy cats

It only takes 3 clubs to agree with CFG/Silverwater.

If I were one of the big clubs, I would be an advocate of pro-rel. There's no chance they'll ever get relegated (well, there was Victory last season, but if relegation was on the cards you'd think they'd pull out all stops to avoid it rather than wallow in the mediocrity), they don't have to carry water for clubs that aren't performing (e.g. Mariners in the past, Newcastle now), and they get to mix it up a bit in terms of which lower clubs they play, which should help retain fan interest. What's not to like?

And if I were one of the smaller clubs, I could potentially see the upside, as long as there is a functioning second division to drop down to. Instead of playing like shit every year and having no prospect of winning the league, gradually alienating their fanbase in the process, they get to experience the highs and lows of relegation followed by a winning season to win back a spot amongst the big boys.

With the dilution of the salary cap, the gap between the bigger and smaller clubs will only grow wider. But this is not such a bad thing (for one it will improve our competitiveness in Asia). The prize that the smaller clubs should go after is not winning the league, but being in the league.

Victory in a relegation battle would have made last season interesting

HE is like those nuts on Youtube ranting about how Star Trek invented after 1970 isnt ctualy Star Trek as all.... Most of whom weren't alive in 1970.

Sure.

Supercars have a similar split production deal with 7 - an approach they developed in their previous partnership at 10.

They have invested in the establishment of a huge production arm (Supercars Media) and own and operate all the cameras and other production capital (including an OTT platform for OS broadcasting) and broadcast talent at most their events and supplement them with additional cameras of the broadcast partner at their big events. Supercars Media is a vastly bigger operation than Supercars itself, but importantly, motor racing needs many more cameras and broadcast staff to make it engaging than football does.

Going this way APL wIll own all the content (I notice they purchased the archive content from Fox in their final TV deal), they can exploit it in the editing booth to drive content through the broadcast partnership itself, tbrough their new aus football hub, podcasts, specialist apps, undertake documentary film production, push out content to content hungry regional media parters about the FFA Cup, develop made for TV special (like e-series football, awards nights etc...) and they sell it all here - and importantly, they can sell the league and cup broadcast directly via their own OTT platform to OS audiences.

This approach has also enabled Supercars to self-fund additional capacity in production and broadcast that they have subsiquently been contracted as a braodcaster for a couple of 'lower league' domestic and asian motor racing series.

I have no doubt this is where the APL are headed - but football has a vastly bigger and younger 'built in' football family here to sell content to than motor sport and there are many more global football fans or developing leagues looking for content or a broadcast partner at the right price point. The opportunity is huge if you own your content and build your production capability. 

Silver Lake will, by the look of them, bring something else that is missing from the Supercars Media aproach - a big data driven strategy to link and grown the football family and then market online content, club membership, tickets, events, merchandise etc... and the APL are rightly seeking to leverage popular foreign leagues to drive eyeballs to their hub also... Supercars have wanted to 'footyfy' their sport for years creating a finals series of sorts, franchising entry licenses to create 'racing clubs', buying out and building lower divisions of V8 racing and even adopting the language of football in their commentary to create tribalism within the 'league', not just between the two car makes. They have not been able to do it well to be frank as it all feels very forced and fans follow drivers more than teams increasingly. this will all come more naturally to football obviously.

It still amazes me that someone like Greedy was socceroos keeper and at the same time a school teacher, Paul Wade was a draughtsman I think ... they all had careers and soccer was a passion... 
Glad you didn't gel with the "Citizens" they are a special breed of people the lesser Mancs. 

Who the f@ck watches Star Trek?.??? Is this meant to be some sort of weird plastic insult?  

Very  very  disappointing  isn't  it.

Is  that  how a  real  football  person  refers   to  our  great  game ?  

OK thanks for your brief......
Its interesting and agree its very hard to compare supercars to football but the media partner directive has similar lines to market, selling a product......
In the big picture the "product" itself has to deliver and I've seen supercars going backwards for some years due to their governace led by Archer/Seamer.
Rivalry red vs blue was created long before that investment company you may know, another investor before them failed as well after Cochrane sold at its peak I think around $195M.
2020 Fox/7 deal of $200M is the only reason the Series has kept afloat - its viewership declining, a new Invester buyer talk is around $100M.
Archer paid around $190M in 2011, what a loss and their content platform hasn't done much, Middle East/Asia/USA normal target for this content I expect you know.
Overall you could say it is similar to APL/AL, no matter where additional funding comes from be it content the big picture is no amount of money invested keeps people/supporters invested or attract new. Its an unkown to a degree and a sell up.
Supercars, Archer over the years have reduced "support" races that used to entertain having varying class's to watch that was exciting for many.
Archer decided to be greedy and its all about the main show, as you've mentioned they bough or closed out other competitors in the game, the format is a long drain of "practice" of the same main game before we finally see the main race, you touched this. (isn't it ironic APL blocks out NPL or NSD P/R for eg )
Its turned the whole series into a boring joke and the content advantages haven't helped in the big picture that is surprising maybe for the USA audience are into our type of cars and follow so many varients of racing.

What I'm coming to in the end of this - no matter what great businessmen do with their product, all this deal represents to me its not about the good of the game but the good of the investors (pockets) having content available to sell abroad ( whatever OS deal is struck the money won't come back into the sport) for thats how big business operates.
Will it sell enough ? time will tell I guess, what is the OS viewership like of the MLS ? 
Maybe latin america for many players are from there but europe ? I'd say bugger all.
I just don't think a franchise football product gains the attention like say motogp/F1/EPL and other normal P/R leagues......

Excitement by some over a headline.

I once read that the Mexican viewership of the MLS is actually larger than local viewership, which might help explain why compared to the other American sports, it's broadcast deals are worth peanuts.
As for South America proper, I mean why would your average Argentinian or Brazilian have the remotest interest in the MLS?
If their local leagues weren't enough, they have all the European leagues to worry about.
Who else is going to care about the MLS?
Certainly not your average European football fan.

aha  can  you  explain  why  you  bother  with  the  double  spacing  thing?

Is it just because every word you write is so important to you that it needs a little room to breathe?

not surprised re the Mex mention, I mentioned latin merica purely on the base's players are in the MLS as well and some would have interest to follow, not devotees 100% but passing interest unless its one of their top players like a Chichorito for eg.
Their own league and typical latin merican leagues would be their foremost full stop and following some of their own in Euro leagues way more than MLS.
Merica is a bubble and squeak DNA way different to their way of thinking and DNA as you'd agree..

Again, I agree with (pretty much) all of that.

Money calls the tune everywhere, but an A-League club doesn't have to be your only club. I take an interest in a number of clubs but I'm also the sort of bloke who'll stop and watch a couple of kids kick a ball with jumpers as goalposts.

I've played against Terry numerous times in the O35 and O45s. I usually play left back but occasionally play in goals (where I played my highest level of football - level 3 state league and intervarsity). 

One day I was playing v Terry's team, and I think it was 1 v 2, when our keeper was injured so into goals I went. Five minutes later I pulled off one of the best saves of my life - a diving header from my blind side at which I instinctively flung myself (high to my left after moving right following the cross). I even managed to hold the ball.

Both teams gave me a stunned ovation (which was very cool - I was pretty stunned myself), but at half time Terry sought me out and told me it was one of the greatest saves he'd ever seen. I was a bit star-struck - even at 50-ish - and mumbled something in reply. What a top bloke to do that during a hard fought top of the table clash.

I have  a few clubs around the world and locally I "follow"  too... I cant speak for all of us soccer tragics  but I would hazard that most of us were a step above our classmates in Geography at school?. Who else but the soccer nerds knew where the hell Lisbon,  Kiev and Dortmund were?  Hahah Everyone in my sphere has a favourite EPL club, German club, Italian club, Spanish club and Greek club etc etc. But there is nothing like your first true love, the club above all other clubs. The one you ride the highs and lows with over 40, 50, 60 years of your life.... , the one where as a grown  man you still stumble out of the gate after a heavy loss feeling like you've been through a colonoscopy. The club who's last minute winner actually causes your heart to skip a beat.....
Maybe I'm a sentimental old fool but money and marketing and artificial rivalry can't create that, and part of "that" hunger is what used to drive the kids with the ball and jumpers as goalposts..... Now those kids have all got one of the many CR7 club shirts (their poor parents have to fork out another $200 whenever the shampoo model changes clubs) and   $300 boots and they all do a special dance when they score .........  Money calls the tune mate, I just don't feel like dancing to it anymore :)

Nice, well done, must have been a cracker to make Terry say that....

I don't disagree with much of that at all, and as a close follower of mototr sport in Australia since the 70's all your observations resonate with mine. My only point of difference is to say that differing motivations are fine as long as incentives are aligned. Let me put it this way. I suspect the APL want to make money too. 

You got that one right, but I'm an old fool too.

But I'm smart enough to realise what another old fool sung 50 years ago

Your old road is rapidly agin'
Please get out of the new one
If you can't lend your hand
For the times they are a-changin'

To be fair, the A-League has now being going longer than we probably realise.

15 odd years of following an A-League team has given all of us those feelings even if 20 years ago we followed, half followed or didn't follow another team. 

None of those feelings or emotions are different because my team's owners have changed or the league structure isn't exactly how some people do or don't prefer etc etc etc

Funny thing is when Adelaide City collapsed and United was formed I don't remember any of these arguments.

To be fair I was pretty out of the loop so maybe South fans were giving it to United fans for being plastic but the crowd in that first United season was full of Adelaide City fans and it was accepted that people would watch the local team that was in the top flight. 

I guess back then there wasn't social media  to stir up divides between everyone in society aha 

But 15 years without ever experiencing
a relegation battle,
relegation itself or
The following Promotion tilt or
Promotion itself

Or even better, experiencing Victory getting relegated

Bang on, as I said above:
"Mate, no beef whatsoever with the supporters of these clubs - especially the ones who have jumped on board with the surge of the sports popularity over the last 15 years... Anyone under the age of 30 or so who is an Aleague supporter, or even the new ones over that age that didnt follow the sport in this country before are well regarded in my books"
Whatever your reasons for being "rusted on" all of them are valid, even the ones like you say that left their NSL clubs to follow the shiny new toy (as much as I personally dont understand them I dont think they are less passionate about their club than I am mine.)
My point is that being rusted on should mean that you see the club as more than just a provider of "content". What the lads or lasses play out on the pitch is the embodiment of our passion as fans NOT a sitcom or a reality show for Investors to monetize.... Club passion (and I agree with you, in 15-20 years time these ALeague clubs will be just like normal ones to their fans) is something that I believe is lacking in our sport here in Australia and what is needed as a driver to increase its growth and popularity .... leading to a better outcome as a nation in football. Artificial rivalries, slick social media marketing and being locked away in a super league, closed off, plastic (for lack of a better word) league will not achieve those goals ... in my eyes anyway.

But the ones that talk about content are the suits in the offices. Who cares?

Coaches, players and fans don't call it content.

I bet you anything the nsl suits talked in similar terms when they were trying to get tv deals etc
We just hear more from the executives now because we sometimes make the papers or there are online publications unlike 20 years ago.

Don't know if its an Adelaide different to Melbourne thing but there where hundreds if not thousands of Hellas fans that abandoned ship two years later to jump on the McVictory bandwagon.
What is really disgusting, in my opinion, is that these very same apostates are the most rabid anti South Melbourne people out there. Every time the club tries to "lift it's head" in any meaningful way, they are the first to shout it down with cries of "monoethnic this" "your living in the past  that" and "evil ethnic hooliganism the other" 
Having the club I have followed since the cradle hated by fans around Australia is totally irrelevant to me and many others, even the new dawners who hate us even though they are not sure why. Its this self-loathing hate/guilt by former Hellas supporters that is the most disappointing and something created by one shopping centre owner's bitterness and greed ... no other reason.

You really do have a beef with me huh, old timer? 

I prefer:

"Clowns to the left of me,
Jokers to the right,
here I am stuck in the middle with you"

BTW, did you see the shampoo model kick a poor kid lying on the ground on Monday morning? What a grub huh Robert?

Over the years on 442 I've come to realise I don't care about the machinations of football behind the scenes as much as others. I think the only people left on this forum are the ones who care too much about this stuff.

I'm not sure I have heard a single conversation about this stuff in the stands at Hindmarsh in 17 years.

I have watched and played the sport my whole life. Literally kicked a ball from when I could stand and I absolutely love going to a game, having a few beers, firing up and walking out laughing or swearing.

The rest is all bullshit and if it wasn't for the internet we'd all just be the one cranky bastard at every club who wants to chew your ear off once a fortnight at home games and puts his arm on you when he's doing it so you can't walk away aha

Thats fair I guess. Maybe if Hellas was still in the top flight it wouldn't bug me as much, Im willing to concede that. 
In my hazy, at best, memory it seemed like the importance was on making the clubs themselves more "mainstream" friendly and all marketing efforts (along with the "White Australia policy" like whitewashing of the club's identities) were aimed at making it more inclusive, NOT less so. 
Anyway, its done now, APL has sold off the top league to these instagram social media influencers. Good luck with them uniting all of the football fans in Australia.....