Definitely true, but the biggest equivalent football has to this is when touring teams travel here for their pre season and the games sell out midweek or not. Australian fans seem to like these gimmicky events.

If you factor in most of the matches are on weeknights and finish at 10.30-11 its still pretty good.

To be fair, Melbourne, Brisbane and Adelaide still seemed to be pretty nuts about BBL.

Interest seems to be waning in Sydney, Perth and Hobart. An increase in ticket prices would have a pretty big impact in those markets I think.

I wonder how the attendances would look if it was more than a 1-2 month short tournament with a handful of home games. You double the length of the season or even triple it and those average attendances would plummet. It'd increase the amount of filler games and people will get worn out watching it.

But in the current state it manages to create these attendances because it is for lack of a better term an event. Something which is only their for a short time each year with a handful of games you can actually go see which will drive up demand. So all the cricket fans will watch all the cricket they can before the summer ends knowing they won't be seeing anymore of it for a long while.

It's a positive that the dickheads at FFA are now considering both loans and breaks which should be fucking obvious to anyone with half a brain. 
As for working on a idea, how about keeping it single ffs. It's an international break, no football that weekend, very fucking simple, and as for content show replays in the same time slots of previous seasons best games. 
It really is that fucking simple. 

They played one home game in cairns last week which looked like a park

Averaged 41 275 in16/17 and 33951 this season.

Just had a look, definately hobart, melbourne stars are down (worst team) and sydney thunder. The average is still huge though. I know adelaide had 40,000 last night so if theyre down they must have been getting 50k last yr.

Every team is down except for Perth. 

Yep Hobarts down from about 18,000 last year to 13,000 this year.

Hobart is down I believe a few Sydney and Melbourne matches are down as well. This was on Twitter and I should have saved it. 

They're down on last year but mainly because numerous matches have been moved to regional areas that have smaller capacities.

It's only the Clubs that would have been disadvantaged that have stopped this happening mid-season

Dec 11th 2017



Pretty obvious to even blind Betty that you can't have a proper competition and change the rules midway

It's either they're desperately trying to think of something to do, anything,  to look vaguely useful

Or, they're really stupid

I'm not trying to sounds like I'm defending the FFA here, but the article specifically states that they didn't want to change anything mid-season.
O’Rourke revealed that a loan system had widespread support, but they stopped short of installing it in this January transfer window because clubs had not factored that in when recruiting in pre-season.

Of course, that may just be more of their usual "Yeah, we'll do it later" rhetoric.

???
Average crowds for the BBL have been climbing for the last 4 years...

Speaks Volumes about the FFA that they consider the HAL a toy that can be fiddled with mid-season. 

Dear Everyone

Look at me, I'm doing something

Love
Greg

Because FFA. No other justifiable reason.

Why aren't transfers and loans allowed?

This is a massive problem. Cricket has tried it and it's failing. The big bash has lost fans in the tens of thousands. 

It’s more evidence that the Entertainment Franchise mentality is losing out to the Football Mentality. We need FIFA to help end the autocratic control of football and then let football people into key positions at the ffa

Only these non football fuckwits would need a workshop to consider for these things whilst the rest of the world considers them non negotiable

FFA revolutionising the game.

I think it's only different this time from other eras like when Arnie and Muscat were complaining about the lack of International breaks, because it's in the FFA's interests these days given all the pressures from constituents from all corners, to the extent of threatening their very existence. I think it was the PFA/Didulica who even suggested that introducing breaks may help to alleviate the tension with clubs. Alot's been happening recently and with the agitating for the congress, expansion etc the order, ground underneath has shifted alot from the same old a year or two ago. Given what's happening now, anything could be possible - especially once that Congress scenario sorted. FIFA are due back here next month. FFA can use this as a bargaining chip too, like an offer to the A-League clubs that they're willing to bend here.

If it's not in the FFAs interest they don't care. They only care about profit and atm they can't manage that. How many times have they talked expansion, pro rel, transfer fees etc. 

Good point, though perhaps by the 2019/20 season, they will be near four years into the six year deal, so perhaps being more further into the deal more room to negotiate some tweaks? Especially if two new teams are coming in that period aswell, there will naturally be fixture changes, some adjustment with that including the possibility of some more mid-week fixtures returning. With more teams, so more fixtures to air, that may give FFA more room to negotiate? It will make for a longer A-League window too and possibly the A-League starting a bit sooner again. Like the PFA said, the days of worrying about other codes and divvying up the seasons over, with all codes seeking to be covered all year-round now.

I'll believe when I see it. 

They signed a contract with Foxtel. Foxtel is under no obligation to change it. Lets wait and see if they angle all this as Foxtels fault. 

Yeah might be getting hopes up again, but we haven't seen the FFA give this idea proper consideration before, despite it being brought up before and during every season, for years now. Graham Arnold has even given up contributing to the debate these days. And with the trend of things, wider pressure on them with the clubs, PFA and the results of the national teams - at this rate even Fox may have to give in and if there's National Teams football to fill the Telecast void during the breaks, then everybody wins.

Based on the youth teams especially for the u23s, surely if they serious this is a must now no ifs or buts. 

Imagine congratulating someone who hasn't done anything. Not even the bare minimum. 

Just imagine that. What an league.