Australian sport is at a crossroads. The next five to ten years are going to be very interesting, for not only those playing, but also those administering the sport.
There is no doubt that the Government’s funding model is going to have to change, and that change one feels is just around the corner. Too many sports are reliant on waiting for a handout from the government each year. Few have established their own revenue streams to edge closer to becoming independent and self-funding.
In addition to the Government having financial pressures to fund other areas of the community, those in power are beginning to realise that the monies given for junior development and other similar programs are not reaching those it is intended to reach. The money is being chewed up by the administrators in wages and office costs. How else can we explain the huge costs to parents to have their children participate in sport?
Whichever Government is in power wants children to play sport. It is vital to their physical development and well being. If more children can be encouraged to continue playing sport when they leave school we have a healthier society and the pressure on our health services becomes less.
There are numerous Health initiatives in the sports environment, and teams are given large chunks of money to promote that message but whether it is in fact getting through is another question.
For example, will the WA State Government be auditing how the $550,000 investment over two years “to promote a healthy and smoke-free lifestyle” will be spent by Football West?
The Press release from the Deputy Premier; Minister for Health; Mental Health Roger Cook MLA stated that their investment “will see the Smarter than Smoking message promoted to more than 240,000 people State-wide.” An interesting number, as Football West’s number of registered players has been sitting around 43-44,000 a year for the past ten years.
Although to be fair the Annual report for 2017 did in fact state “over 60,000 registered and affiliated players across the State and around 230 clubs and 20 associations.” Which is remarkable when you consider that the Annual Report for 2016 stated “with over 44,000 registered players and 1,700 teams in Western Australia.” A massive jump in twelve months! That is an increase of over 16,000 people playing the game.
Annual Reports are supposed to report like for like so that Members can have a true comparison as to how an organisation is travelling. These figures should be hard and fast facts. there should be no words such as “over” and “around.” One has to wonder what figures were given to the Government when applying for this funding.
As part of this funding agreement, according to the Media statement from Mr Cook’s Office it states “Football West to deliver community education program to 240 WA clubs.” That is quite a commitment. Who is going to deliver these programs? Have they been trained to carry out these sessions? How many will attend? When will they be held? Who are the targeting?
The release goes on to state “Educational sessions will be delivered to more than 9,000 Football West stakeholders, engaging about 240 local clubs across a mix of traditional football competitions and social football programs.” Once again how these sessions will be carried out is a key factor. Surely a banner and handing out some leaflets is not going to qualify for an “educational session.”
It continues by stating that “Clubs will be encouraged to provide fruit and vegetables rather than lollies at half time and after the game, and appoint club ambassadors to ensure grounds continue to be smoke-free.” This appears, on face-value, as if the Match day stewards are now going to be expected to stop people smoking while watching matches. If that is to be the case, then surely some of the money should be making its way to those clubs who are prepared to have their volunteers carry out such a task.
As for selling fruit instead of lollies, this is a pipe dream. Clubs are struggling to make money as it is. The canteen is one of the few places they can raise revenue. Swapping hot chips and lollies for fruit sadly does not work. One club tried it. They put a member of the committee in charge of the canteen. This individual was convinced that the modern day parent wanted their children to eat fruit and muesli bars. After the first month with fruit having been thrown out or given away, and the shelves full of muesli bars and profits down, it was time to revert to a sure-fire way to make money.
In this instant Football West cannot be blamed. They have applied for funding from the Government. They may have ‘massaged’ their participation figures in order to make the sponsorship more appealing, but surely the Government should be looking at the whole package more closely. For a start, are their expectations going to be met? Can the sporting body really deliver what they have promised, and are checks and balances in place to monitor the progress of the sponsorship and education programs? They need to be more prudent and more realistic.
On the flip side are the sports at the top end that have opted to bring in private investors to run the teams in their national competition. This model takes out a great deal of the running costs and risk away from the Governing body. That is if you can lock the owners in for a long period of time. Which may explain the rumour that the A-League club owners have been given a 15 year guarantee that they will be in the League.
Yet the public are far more cynical today than they were 20 years ago. The dawn of the internet and social media means that clubs and and fans are far more exposed to the goings on inside a club. People have access to a lot more information, whether it is right or wrong, sadly often matters little. An issue summed up well by American Author Gertrude Stein who wrote, “everybody gets so much information all day long that they lose their common sense.”
So, as covered in Will Bigger Mean Better, clubs must tap into the community they are supposed to represent. Regrettably many of the private owners fail to see the value in that investment. Then when fans fail to come they reluctantly try a marketing campaign that is doomed to fail before it has even been launched. Why? The reason is simple. Those that they are trying to attract already have no affiliation with the values of the club, or what it stands for; if it stands for anything at all.
For the A-League to survive as a successful competition into the next 10-20 years things have to change. One of the most obvious moves would be to have every A-League club make available a percentage of the club to be purchased by local fans and local clubs.
If the local clubs were allowed to invest in the A-League club, there are a number of benefits that could be negotiated as part of the investment package. One that would need to be looked at would be the A-League club buying players from that club and the Development fees owed. The A-League club should not stand in the way of a young player being signed by an overseas club purely for a percentage of a development fee. Many of the local clubs opt to waive such a fee as they do not want to hold the player back, and they need that money far more. If however a fee was forthcoming, the A-League club could re-invest that money into the local partner clubs who did the Lion’s share of development. Immediately a relationship would exist and one one that could be mutually beneficial.
Equally, if local clubs individually or as a whole were given the opportunity to invest in their A-League club there could be an arrangement as part of the shareholder agreement whereby that investment gives the club a set number of tickets for their junior players to attend games. A game at which the juniors are mascots or ball boys/girls etc.
Currently many of the A-League clubs give away free tickets to children. That is commendable, but the downside is if you continue to give tickets away for free they soon lack value. Which means that attending games also becomes something that is not treasured or earned.
Whereas if the tickets come because the club that you play for has an investment in the A-league club, then suddenly there is a tie, a link, and attachment. It becomes more ‘your club.’ Currently only those loyal fans that go week in week out feel that way. Those ad hoc fans that go for the football, a day out, but lack that passion for their local team, they have no affinity with the team as it doesn’t stand or represent anything that they can relate to.
Alternatively, these club’s investment could see a percentage of the monies received from the FFA each year as a result of the Television rights be passed down to the partnership clubs so that they can reduce the fees for junior participation. Of course the current owners would not be so keen on that!
The Football Federation of Australia has always been against such a buy-in from fans. That is why a buy-in from clubs may be a better alternative. However the terms and conditions would need some serious consideration. The suggestions raised here are just that, suggestions by way of a starting point in a debate on the issue.
Despite their objections the FFA must realise that something must change. Season after season these A-League club franchise owners are throwing good money after bad and making a loss. The league is now in its 14th season. The clubs have to start making money soon or no one will invest. They have to find a way to start bringing back the fans. Maybe, just maybe such an option can help achieve both goals.
The truth is though as the New Year is just around the corner and we enter the last year of the decade the way sport is funded in Australia has to change, as the current model is unsustainable, either for private investors or as a Government. Let us all hope that 2019 is the dawn of a new era and strong sensible leadership.
