Way too much negativity about the two conference system.

In the long run I'm not a supporter of conferenced leagues but in the short term this is the best possible model! It reduces travel costs and the proposal allows for more teams to enter the second division than any single national systems I've seen proposed. By the start of the next TV deal we'll have a clear idea of which markets and clubs are capable of sustaining a truly national second division or even the A-League!

Put yourself in the clubs shoes. Many operate on budgets around $500,000 a year. Would you rather:
- Enter a league based on the PFA's model requiring turnover of $5,500,000!?
- Enter a league based on the AAFC model requiring turnover of $2,000,000?

This is the most sustainable, reasonable first step in bridging the gap. We will get to the point where we have a proper national second division but a conference system now would be perfect!

git on wif it

I think there would be a risk that teams that helped build the 2nd division would be dumped. 

2nd division clubs may be just as keen to keep a closed shop and not want to be relegated. Some will want a full pyramid others wont. 

If we have 2 conferences the only place to go from there is to turn it into 2 divisions. So why not just make the 2 conferences divisions to start with? 

If the major issue is cost than imo it would be much better to start off with a lean division and build it up over time. Eg 4 Syd 4 Mel 1 Bri and 1 Cairns/GC. Personally I would want 1 big 20 team divison. When it starts off it may only be that you play and opponent once during the season. You could then have a finals system or one off final between 1 and 2 on the condition as I stated before, that the team that had the home game during the season has to play away in the final/s. The scores and result is carried to an aggregate where away goals dont have any extra value. 

That is only 9-10 away trips per team. Not a perfect system but could be a start. If one team from Perth or Cairns or Townsville play in a conference system that had 10 teams in each they would all have 9 away games anyway. 

Alright, spoke to the head of the AAFC today. Genuinely top bloke, extremely optimistic about footballs future.

He is interested in the viewership number and wants me to send all the data on the trending thread on a spreadsheet. I also mentioned aussiehorters model. He will present that to the committee meeting at the end of the year. This two conferenced second tier is about a 50.50 chance of being the preferred model at this stage due to high number of applications (I believe at least).

Also said that in order to get this to work they need to get FFA and FIFA on board. Likely to happen after the meeting at the end of the year again. I'm excited but frustrated for it seems like it will take 5eva.

so what do they need from ffa and fifa? Permission or more than that?

I don't care about 1 or 2 conferences as long as the starting 11 and coach are training full time

Sounds interesting.

It would be very important that it is validated by the FFA. He is interested to hear about online streaming?

FB pages-
Caltex Socceroos 607k
Westfiled FFA Cup 73k
Hyundai A-League 398k
Fox Sports Football 1691k
SBS The World Game 598k

It would seem possible to stream on C S and H A-L fb pages with the FFAs support. It may be a clash however with any 2nd division league sponsor. It would be great if Foxtel were interested as they have almost 1.7 million followers but may be hard if they are not incontrol of the content. I guess they trick is finding ways to help everyone succeed. 

Here is what the USL is doing. 

A few weeks into the first season of the USL's second era as a second-division league, I had a good chat with league president Jake Edwards about his competition's present and future. We talked about attendance, recently announced plans for a new third division, and a major investment in broadcast technology that you'll see as you watch games this year.

The USL recently signed new broadcast deals with ESPN and SiriusXM that will put more televised games on ESPNU, and a game of the week and a weekly features show on satellite radio. How important are those new deals?

Tremendously significant for us. I think one of the biggest initiatives we are going to be embarking upon over the next two years is this new broadcast initiative, USL Productions.

The investment we've made into that in partnership with Vista WorldLink, to broadcast all of the games, and using a remote technology to do so - this will be a game-changer for the quality of the production and the ability for us to deliver quality content live. Over one thousand hours of it, a little over 500 live games, anywhere in the U.S. and around the world.

And to do that now in partnership with quality organizations like ESPN, it's going to be tremendous for our league and the exposure it's going to continue to give us. We build upon the partnership with ESPN from last year. We had a run of games where we tested this remote broadcast model with them on ESPN3, and we were sufficiently happy with the delivery and the quality and the consistency that we're now starting to talk with them about a much wider package.

We can build upon it in '17 and also into '18 as we focus on a national linear [TV] opportunity, as well as digital distribution. The good news as well is we're also seeing some tremendous results based on the quality of this infrastructure for our teams in their local deals. We've got 16 clubs now that have been able to sign local TV deals and regional sports network deals. That's going to really help push the exposure of the clubs locally.

SiriusXM is going to be a tremendous partnership. We're going to have an hour show weekly. We're going to have a game of the week with those guys. We kicked that off on Monday night [the weekly show].

[The weekly show airs Mondays at 9 p.m. Eastern on SiriusXM FC.]

The production of games will be done from a remote facility. Will the commentators be on site?

In some instances. We've built a model that's quite flexible. We've built a model that would standardize quality, and we wanted to standardize quality so that a) we can deliver this to a national broadcast partner, but b) our teams could do local TV deals and be able to receive away feeds, and know that their partners in the league are also broadcasting at sufficient quality that they would now be able to put all 32 games, home and away, on local TV. In years gone by, we couldn't have done that. Now we can.

We do everything off-site in a facility in south Florida. We have six production pods that we've built specifically within this Vista complex. We have 20 staff down there working on the broadcasts throughout the week and over the weekend. We have a production studio there where we film halftime content and other shows that we're going to be putting together. We have a full-time commentary team that's based down there, doing both English and Spanish.

We've built a flexible model where we can run everything from top to bottom, and the only thing we need [in the stadium] is the cameras in the building. The production manager is down there [at the remote facility], he's doing all the switching, he's deciding which cameras to go to. We're doing the replays, the graphics, the commercial spots - everything is done off-site. And we're doing that through IP [internet protocol transmissions] and fiber [optic transmission lines]. We don't need to roll trucks up; we're not using satellite trucks, anything like that. So you can consistently keep the quality high, and keep the costs way down.

We've built a model that's flexible. So in the case of Sacramento, for example, they're doing an eight-camera shoot and they've got a great commentary team. We can use their commentary team on site. All of the stadiums are inter-connected, so we can deliver content instantaneously throughout the network of stadiums.

If a team wants its commentary to be on-site, that can happen, but if a team doesn't have a commentary team, it can just take a feed from the crew that's in Florida.

Yeah. We'll run the commentary for the national games, the ESPN games. Then, if they don't have a commentary team for a local [broadcast of a] league game, we can also do that.

But we also want to set standards for the commentary teams as well. So we run training, we will give them all the information during the week about goings-on around the league, and we monitor every broadcast. Not just the production quality, but everything, including the announcers. If we feel the announcers are doing a great job, fantastic. If they're falling short, we'll work with them, or we'll replace them.


http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/thegoalkeeper/USL-soccer-Jake-Edwards-MLS-NASL-ESPN-promotion-relegation.html

the worry about usl is that mls is really struggling of late to produce talent for the national team so the 2nd division doesn't look like it has helped much

Its only the first year it is division 2. Last year it was division 3. 

oh so the usa only just have formed a professional 2nd division?

No NASL was division 2 last year and USL was division 3. Now they are both classed as division 2. Like all state NPLs are classed as division 2. 

i see so they will be a good test case for how much difference it makes over the next few years

Perhaps. The US system is so haphazard though. 

Here is their production side anyway
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBhFPYpX9WBxYRMGzqLjoMA

The league needs to be sanctioned by FIFA, otherwise it's a competitor league and that's a no no.

Lions are back in and start in the top division. At the presser the Lions boss was asked to address the audience. He said the usual "we aim to compete in the highest league we can" but also specifically said the club has no ambition to join the HAL.

That blows up Wazs theory about their ambition and aligns more with mine that they may intend to take over Roar.

Push for A-League second division from NPL clubs gathers pace

 

• Michael Lynch

   
  • CONTACT VIA EMAIL
   
  • FOLLOW ON TWITTER

• FACEBOOKSHARE
 
• TWITTERTWEET
 
• EMAIL
 
 
 
• MORE

Hmm not a lot in that article

I hope the 2nd division isn't contingent on too much ffa funding because we really need it at the moment and the ffa won't fund it

Most likely sponsors.

I assume they also will want to stop paying FFA and the states fees to cut thier own costs. 

sponsors are unlikely to be a problem

cutting state fees would be a miracle

how much are they?

It would be different state to state

Several clubs are increasingly determined to be part of the national framework and, in a sign of their frustration, have not ruled out forming a rebel national league should FFA reject their proposal. While not their priority, it remains a possibility for clubs unhappy with conditions in the NSW state-run league, including annual participation fees of about $100,000, the restructure of youth development systems and restrictions of player sale prices to A-League clubs.

"It's a necessary evil to engage the disengaged," Sydney United president Sam Krslovic said. "We're hopeful that it won't be a rebel league. We're hoping that everyone will come on board and realise we're part of the family, but if the FFA won't help or endorse it, then what's the alternative? Let's not forget the EPL started as a breakaway league."
http://www.smh.com.au/sport/soccer/ffa-under-pressure-from-npl-clubs-as-fifa-backs-plans-for-national-second-division-20170315-guyudr.html

any idea when they are aiming to kick off the 2nd league 

Im pretty sure next year.
http://www.australianfootballclubs.org.au/our-objectives.html


2. Develop a model for a Second Division to be implemented by the earliest in the 2018-2019 season, with a timeline and plan for its full integration with the A-League including eventual promotion and relegation;

fingers crossed it happens

football could see too substantial boosts to its quality in the next few years with SAP graduates reaching adulthood and the 2nd division (hopefully) kicking off

I still think until there is P/R the 2nd division should run over the Australian winter. So the 2nd and A-League overlap and there are games 52 weeks (or pretty much) per year. That would mean a league would have to be set up by the start of next year. Who knows? but it feels tight. Otherwise they can play NPL next year and start after which isnt that optimal atm either. It does say "earliest" and not "latest". 

These soccer wogs always infighting and shooting themselves in the foot, good thing they'll never organise themselves.

symmetry