Jump to content
Melbourne Football

League re-start (pseudo pre season)


Shahanga
 Share

Recommended Posts

2 hours ago, haz said:

Don't know about you guys but I'm not too keen winning our first championship in the current conditions.

Someone hear obviously has a monkey paw.

Assuming we do of course. I'm betwixt and between on it - IMO it will always be a bit of a hollow victory if it happens. I'd feel a lot better about it if we hadn't lost that last match against Newcastle and our record against the bottom sides wasn't so poor.

I also think that the assumption that the ACL will go ahead in the future is premature.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, jw1739 said:

Assuming we do of course. I'm betwixt and between on it - IMO it will always be a bit of a hollow victory if it happens. I'd feel a lot better about it if we hadn't lost that last match against Newcastle and our record against the bottom sides wasn't so poor.

I also think that the assumption that the ACL will go ahead in the future is premature.

I'll tek it. If the oppo are too buggered to show I don't give a stuff. Football. Winning. Love it. 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 hours ago, citymad said:

2 weeks until training starts, so at least thats something. my calculation we have WU, ADEL and SYD to finish so of course must win all. WU game played in victoria so the least hassle to pleyers to finish. then to 'The Hub' in Sydney.  

Interested to see where the WU match will be played. Was originally scheduled for Good Friday in Ballarat, but I'd imagine it won't be there now. AAMI? 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Shahanga said:

From a purely football perspective the best thing to do now would be to call the season over and give Sydney the trophy. 
unfortunately it seems the financial imperatives won’t let that happen.

From what I've read it seems as though FOX are yet to agree with FFA's proposals and that a re-start is not locked-in yet.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Its a mess

Fox and FFA have a 57m 6 year deal and contarcted agreememnt

FFA are required to provided content - fox broadcast that content

FFA not currently providing content and are technically in breach

FFA advise fox they will restart the agreement by providing content from mid july  - fox yet to agree but have decided that they want to re negotiatethe agrement. 

FFA not permitted to reject the a renegotiated lower deal with fox and simply play out the season under a new broadcaster. 

If FFA reject any fox proposal they are in breach but Fox not in breach by refusing to pay the 57m originally agreed to? 

Fox tying FFA to an altered agreement at 10m per year and FFA not prepared to say "No" 

Fox will threaten dragging through the courts holding up any A league return  until court case settled. 

or

FFA take the deal that Fox offer and complete the season. plus operate on a hugely reduced budget with Fox offering lower grade reduced braodcast in number of games, and quality of product. 

This is total bullshit blackmail. 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, citymad said:

Its a mess

Fox and FFA have a 57m 6 year deal and contarcted agreememnt

FFA are required to provided content - fox broadcast that content

FFA not currently providing content and are technically in breach

FFA advise fox they will restart the agreement by providing content from mid july  - fox yet to agree but have decided that they want to re negotiatethe agrement. 

FFA not permitted to reject the a renegotiated lower deal with fox and simply play out the season under a new broadcaster. 

If FFA reject any fox proposal they are in breach but Fox not in breach by refusing to pay the 57m originally agreed to? 

Fox tying FFA to an altered agreement at 10m per year and FFA not prepared to say "No" 

Fox will threaten dragging through the courts holding up any A league return  until court case settled. 

or

FFA take the deal that Fox offer and complete the season. plus operate on a hugely reduced budget with Fox offering lower grade reduced braodcast in number of games, and quality of product. 

This is total bullshit blackmail. 

 

Standard posturing when parties subject to a contract are in dispute. Don't forget that the broadcast agreements were signed off by the Lowys who write commercial contracts all over the world and are quite savvy at doing these things; and Clive Palmer threatened to sue the FFA because he had never lost a court battle yet he never dared to sue the FFA.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Squads have changed, at least two coaches have gone, probably back-room staff have changed as well, and fitness levels are all over the place. IMO we should declare Sydney as Premiers, and any restart should be some form of round-robin tournament to determine a "Champion" for the purpose of the Champions League - that's if it takes place.

IMO next season is no certainty either. Apparently Macarthur have not yet paid their licence fee, so who knows what will happen. Even without COV-19 the league was struggling.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

training starts in about a week so we need a resolution to all the fox bullcrap and get back on the park. 

i have some real resevations though on the ability of our game to rebuild significantly.

i think that cfg oil money might and influence might be needed to encourage investment. 

any body else agree

or will city simply see Melbourne as a failed investment, cut their losses and run. 

Pleyers could be pawned out to other CFG locations. 

 

Edited by citymad
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, citymad said:

training starts in about a week so we need a resolution to all the fox bullcrap and get back on the park. 

i have some real resevations though on the ability of our game to rebuild significantly.

i think that cfg oil money might and influence might be needed to encourage investment. 

any body else agree

or will city simply see Melbourne as a failed investment, cut their losses and run. 

Pleyers could be pawned out to other CFG locations. 

 

We will be here after the pandemic, they won’t walk away. Just less money available for players and resources, we might not even notice a big difference as we don’t do marquee players anyway. I believe a player like Leckie will be out of our means (he isn’t a Jmac who returned after a failed EU adventure).

Edited by Mr MO
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 minutes ago, Mr MO said:

We will be here after the pandemic, they won’t walk away. Just less money available for players and resources, we might not even notice a big difference as we don’t do marquee players anyway. I believe a like Leckie will be out of our means (he isn’t a Jmac who returned after a failed EU adventure).

Agree.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This doesnt sound good - my guess is the cellar dwellers are the clubs holding out to commit to the re- start. 11 million a season wouldnt even scartch the surface of the costs and any product fox delivered would be low low budget comaperd to the other codes. 

 

The offer put forward by Foxtel is alleged to be to the tune of $11 million per year which would also include production costs and is a substantial reduction from the previous $57 million a year arrangement in place until 2023.   

FFA did not respond at the time of publication when asked for comment. It is Foxtel's policy not to comment on matters to do with commercial relationships.

It is however understood that those involved in the discussions are privately remaining cautiously optimistic a resolution will be reached, there is still a chance it could all blow-up in the coming weeks. 

If accurate, it’s a hugely insulting offer, when you consider that Rugby League recently struck a deal with Channel Nine and Fox Sports worth a reported $2 billion. 

Worse still, a struggling Rugby Australia also confirmed this month that they had reached a broadcast agreement with Fox Sports for a “revamped domestic competition”.  

“Broadcast dollars will begin flowing again as of early July, which is a welcome relief for Super Rugby franchises struggling financially,” reported The Sydney Morning Herald. 

“RA would not divulge the value of the revised broadcast deal with Fox but it is understood to be a commercially viable competition.” 

It is understood that Foxtel are well within their rights to walk away from the existing deal because the broadcaster has not been provided with content for over 20 days which has allegedly triggered a clause in the contract. 

To make matters worse, a source confirmed that FFA cannot approach other broadcasters during this period of uncertainty because they would be in breach of contract and could be liable for damages. 

In spite of this escalating saga, I am told that Head of Leagues Greg O’Rourke has been working tirelessly to get the competition back up and running by the agreed resumption date of 16 July and is effectively “ready to go” but is waiting on “the deal to be done”. 

A-League players are due in training next week and have already begun swab testing for COVID-19 with the Melbourne City cohort returning negative results and Melbourne Victory players due to be tested in the coming days. 

Further still, stadiums and hotels have reportedly been booked, all 11 clubs have received their schedules and FFA confirmed that they have spoken to Australian Border Force and received exemptions while the quarantine hub is close to being finalised. 

It’s also believed that player contract renegotiations for the period of June are on the cusp of being completed with Professional Footballers Australia and FFA reaching an agreement.  

However, rumours continue to swirl that there are a handful of clubs that don’t want the competition to resume in a bid to stem the financial bloodletting, adding further fuel to the fire. 

Whatever the case, FFA are preparing as though the competition will return with the hope that an acceptable deal will be struck in the meantime.  

It doesn’t exactly instill the football community at large with the greatest of confidences given that it appears Foxtel are largely in the driver’s seat.  

Since the A-League was postponed indefinitely, I have defended Fox Sports and applauded their investment in a competition that has been woefully mismanaged in recent years but this alleged offer of $11 million a season is simply one the sport cannot afford to accept.  

The message it sends to the remaining broadcasters once Fox Sports eventually do walk away is a dangerous one and could catapult football back into the dark ages.  

Time and time again we have said that FFA CEO James Johnson is in an unenviable position after inheriting crimes that the previous regime are guilty of committing. 

But for now, he is staring down the barrel of a legitimate crisis that both he and the board are responsible for and the biggest question they must face is: what is our game worth to them?    

SOURCE SBS THE WORLD GAME
Link to comment
Share on other sites

12 hours ago, NuggetsMcGreggor said:

It’s fucked

Not looking great is it.
I’m thinking there is a lot of commercial arggy barggy going on though. The rumoured 11 million is a stupid offer that would be bad for both parties (destroying the A League doesn’t help Foxtel, they need content). Starting unofficial pre-negotiations  with free to air would seem to make sense now and possibly phone or similar. Maybe this is the right time to move away from Cable which is more and more looking like an old platform.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

17 hours ago, citymad said:

Further still, stadiums and hotels have reportedly been booked, all 11 clubs have received their schedules and FFA confirmed that they have spoken to Australian Border Force and received exemptions while the quarantine hub is close to being finalised. 

SOURCE SBS THE WORLD GAME

I would have thought that the ABF would be involved with Phoenix entering Australia only - to my knowledge it does not have any jurisdiction over inter-state borders. Sloppy journalism to say the least.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

22 hours ago, citymad said:

This doesnt sound good - my guess is the cellar dwellers are the clubs holding out to commit to the re- start. 11 million a season wouldnt even scartch the surface of the costs and any product fox delivered would be low low budget comaperd to the other codes. 

 

The offer put forward by Foxtel is alleged to be to the tune of $11 million per year which would also include production costs and is a substantial reduction from the previous $57 million a year arrangement in place until 2023.   

FFA did not respond at the time of publication when asked for comment. It is Foxtel's policy not to comment on matters to do with commercial relationships.

It is however understood that those involved in the discussions are privately remaining cautiously optimistic a resolution will be reached, there is still a chance it could all blow-up in the coming weeks. 

If accurate, it’s a hugely insulting offer, when you consider that Rugby League recently struck a deal with Channel Nine and Fox Sports worth a reported $2 billion. 

Worse still, a struggling Rugby Australia also confirmed this month that they had reached a broadcast agreement with Fox Sports for a “revamped domestic competition”.  

“Broadcast dollars will begin flowing again as of early July, which is a welcome relief for Super Rugby franchises struggling financially,” reported The Sydney Morning Herald. 

“RA would not divulge the value of the revised broadcast deal with Fox but it is understood to be a commercially viable competition.” 

It is understood that Foxtel are well within their rights to walk away from the existing deal because the broadcaster has not been provided with content for over 20 days which has allegedly triggered a clause in the contract. 

To make matters worse, a source confirmed that FFA cannot approach other broadcasters during this period of uncertainty because they would be in breach of contract and could be liable for damages. 

In spite of this escalating saga, I am told that Head of Leagues Greg O’Rourke has been working tirelessly to get the competition back up and running by the agreed resumption date of 16 July and is effectively “ready to go” but is waiting on “the deal to be done”. 

A-League players are due in training next week and have already begun swab testing for COVID-19 with the Melbourne City cohort returning negative results and Melbourne Victory players due to be tested in the coming days. 

Further still, stadiums and hotels have reportedly been booked, all 11 clubs have received their schedules and FFA confirmed that they have spoken to Australian Border Force and received exemptions while the quarantine hub is close to being finalised. 

It’s also believed that player contract renegotiations for the period of June are on the cusp of being completed with Professional Footballers Australia and FFA reaching an agreement.  

However, rumours continue to swirl that there are a handful of clubs that don’t want the competition to resume in a bid to stem the financial bloodletting, adding further fuel to the fire. 

Whatever the case, FFA are preparing as though the competition will return with the hope that an acceptable deal will be struck in the meantime.  

It doesn’t exactly instill the football community at large with the greatest of confidences given that it appears Foxtel are largely in the driver’s seat.  

Since the A-League was postponed indefinitely, I have defended Fox Sports and applauded their investment in a competition that has been woefully mismanaged in recent years but this alleged offer of $11 million a season is simply one the sport cannot afford to accept.  

The message it sends to the remaining broadcasters once Fox Sports eventually do walk away is a dangerous one and could catapult football back into the dark ages.  

Time and time again we have said that FFA CEO James Johnson is in an unenviable position after inheriting crimes that the previous regime are guilty of committing. 

But for now, he is staring down the barrel of a legitimate crisis that both he and the board are responsible for and the biggest question they must face is: what is our game worth to them?    

SOURCE SBS THE WORLD GAME

I'm not so despondent as you are. IMO it's better that this be sorted out now rather than later. The season is already a mess with the suspension of matches after we played away at Newcastle; this came on top of several seasons of what many saw as a declining standard of play and an absence of "star" marquee players, and uncertainty over who was actually going to be in charge of the league in the remaining years of the Fox contract anyway. So I think it's better to have the blood-letting now so that we can regroup afterwards and move forward with a refreshed league rather than see this drag on under the present set-up.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, belaguttman said:

The quicker the competition can set itself up independantly from Foxtel, the better. If the matches are streamed online, access can be included with the season ticket package.

@belaguttman Bela, you mustn't have these innovative ideas. They're not allowed by FFA.

  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, belaguttman said:

The quicker the competition can set itself up independantly from Foxtel, the better. If the matches are streamed online, access can be included with the season ticket package.

Would that be smart? You want people to come to the stadium right and not be a member from home?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

15 hours ago, Mr MO said:

Would that be smart? You want people to come to the stadium right and not be a member from home?

What you want is revenue, if more people can buy season tickets, even if they can't travel to games, the better for the franchises. What brings people to games is the stadium experience, the more attractive it is, the more people will want to attend in person

Link to comment
Share on other sites

An independent streaming option would be futile. Bring in very little $$$ and the costs to create would be too high.

What people forget is why these leagues need someone like foxtel, not only do foxtel throw the millions per year, they also create and fund the production, and associated shows/cross promotions etc. You need to massive, ie AFL to even try this and they obviously wont. Look at the NBL, without TV you are nothing. 

Fact is,  TV is doing it tough and unless you are the AFL, Cricket or the NRL foxtel is going to treat you with contempt. Yes, they need content but they need profitable content. Subcribers need to justify the cost. Losing the EPL probably did the A-league few favors as well.

It is a mess, and the product has been ordinary for a while. I have been saying for years on this forum a major issue for the league is the look on TV. No crows, very amateurish and no atmosphere for 90% of games.

The grounds are simply too big, and no fit for purpose. Goes without saying Aami  isnt right for us. Everyone needs to find a 10-12K or so option for everyday games, with the bigger venues for the derbys etc. It would look great on TV, atmosphere would be huge and would create buzz with hard to get tickets etc.

Decisions have to be be smarter. How Werribee could possibly be entertained as a new club before the SE suburbs is just crazy. Makes no sense. Melbourne United should nearly be turfed already, a failure which wont work for a long, long time. They offer nothing. Not sure the league has the time or resources to sit through their growth.

CCM and Newcastle - either they merge or fold em both and start again. Again horrible decision from the start they are a million years a way from averaging 20K etc. No future there as it stands. I feel the league needs NZ, but perhaps not as it stands. Could a north island/south island team work? would sky TV NZ support it? Can the find a better stadium that that abomination called the cake tun? 

Time to make REAL decisions, not pie in the sky stuff. 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

22 hours ago, CityHeart said:

An independent streaming option would be futile. Bring in very little $$$ and the costs to create would be too high.

What people forget is why these leagues need someone like foxtel, not only do foxtel throw the millions per year, they also create and fund the production, and associated shows/cross promotions etc. You need to massive, ie AFL to even try this and they obviously wont. Look at the NBL, without TV you are nothing. 

Fact is,  TV is doing it tough and unless you are the AFL, Cricket or the NRL foxtel is going to treat you with contempt. Yes, they need content but they need profitable content. Subcribers need to justify the cost. Losing the EPL probably did the A-league few favors as well.

It is a mess, and the product has been ordinary for a while. I have been saying for years on this forum a major issue for the league is the look on TV. No crows, very amateurish and no atmosphere for 90% of games.

The grounds are simply too big, and no fit for purpose. Goes without saying Aami  isnt right for us. Everyone needs to find a 10-12K or so option for everyday games, with the bigger venues for the derbys etc. It would look great on TV, atmosphere would be huge and would create buzz with hard to get tickets etc.

Decisions have to be be smarter. How Werribee could possibly be entertained as a new club before the SE suburbs is just crazy. Makes no sense. Melbourne United should nearly be turfed already, a failure which wont work for a long, long time. They offer nothing. Not sure the league has the time or resources to sit through their growth.

CCM and Newcastle - either they merge or fold em both and start again. Again horrible decision from the start they are a million years a way from averaging 20K etc. No future there as it stands. I feel the league needs NZ, but perhaps not as it stands. Could a north island/south island team work? would sky TV NZ support it? Can the find a better stadium that that abomination called the cake tun? 

Time to make REAL decisions, not pie in the sky stuff. 

Disagree with it being futile. It’s actually the future of live sport and we have a great chance now to do this. The revised Fox offer changes the equation. It won’t be easy but it can be done.

What’s crucial is cutting production costs down from the $50-75K a game that Foxtel currently pays. Fox put together content that is very high quality. If FFA produce their own content and build their own platform, those costs would need to come down significantly. But it probably could still be done pretty well. This bloke goes into more detail here:

https://theworldgame.sbs.com.au/netflix-style-ffa-tv-streaming-platform-is-the-future-says-sports-technology-expert

Also, folding clubs like Newcastle and CCM is a bad idea, especially when both have good stadia and have proven they can average around 10K. We need to expand the league, not shrink it, and we also need to be comfortable with the notion of smaller clubs, which exist in every league around the world. They don’t need to average 20K, they just need to be sustainable. But other changes can be made to help them achieve that. Transfers and loans would be helpful because that’s the way these smaller clubs can make money.

Agree with stadia being very important. But I don’t know why you’d say that on the one hand and then on the other want to get rid of one or two clubs that have good stadia already. 

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The mistake the league made was going for the communist approach of dragging everyone down to a common level, rather than encouraging quality. Salary cap needed binning years ago. The league rejecting Diamanti when the tards wanted him because he didn’t fit the marquee template was particularly stupid. Players like him then would have lifted the quality of the league, which brings in the audience. This is what those running the game overlooked and that and other mistakes have damaged things to the point that the professional game’s survival is in question.

i wish I could get paid over a million dollars a year to stuff up an organisation.

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Shahanga said:

The mistake the league made was going for the communist approach of dragging everyone down to a common level, rather than encouraging quality. Salary cap needed binning years ago. The league rejecting Diamanti when the tards wanted him because he didn’t fit the marquee template was particularly stupid. Players like him then would have lifted the quality of the league, which brings in the audience. This is what those running the game overlooked and that and other mistakes have damaged things to the point that the professional game’s survival is in question.

i wish I could get paid over a million dollars a year to stuff up an organisation.

Personally i think the main place that FFA cooked it was in how they managed the active areas. It became a lazy, blanket approach rather than tailored to each individual club, and in particular the other 8 clubs were made to wear the consequences of the RBB and NT continually fucking up. Even where there weren't bans there was a lot more red-tape and running things by the clubs which just made it too much hard work for the volunteers running the terraces.
IMO it had a two fold effect : the terraces grew frustrated and lost interest because of what they felt to be at times unfair restrictions, and the game lost its biggest selling point to theatre going public : the atmosphere. Back around S4/S5 of City/Heart the A League was at its peak in terms of off-field product and crowds were high because people wanted to see the fuss. I regularly had mates say theyd like to come down cos they'd heard how good the atmosphere was. That's been a rarity in recent seasons.


Now obv the league couldnt just let the assaults and flares go, but imo punishment needed to be dealt to each terrace as it happened rather than blanket rules being enforced ie no more pullovers etc. I appreciate that there may well have been external pressure from VicPol in particular tying the clubs and FFA's hands but nevertheless i think thats effectively where they sent the league into a lull and its just stagnated from there.

I think personally i dont think on-field has had much to do with it. IMO the league has pretty well gotten better standard wise season on season, certainly if you base it on the quality of the foreign recruits brought in. Obv the Diamante thing would have been an improvement overall, but i'm not sure the non-football people care that much unless its a name they've heard of, of which we'll never get come here given the $$$ on offer elsewhere.

Edited by bt50
  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, bt50 said:

Personally i think the main place that FFA cooked it was in how they managed the active areas. It became a lazy, blanket approach rather than tailored to each individual club, and in particular the other 8 clubs were made to wear the consequences of the RBB and NT continually fucking up. Even where there weren't bans there was a lot more red-tape and running things by the clubs which just made it too much hard work for the volunteers running the terraces.
IMO it had a two fold effect : the terraces grew frustrated and lost interest because of what they felt to be at times unfair restrictions, and the game lost its biggest selling point to theatre going public : the atmosphere. Back around S4/S5 of City/Heart the A League was at its peak in terms of off-field product and crowds were high because people wanted to see the fuss. I regularly had mates say theyd like to come down cos they'd heard how good the atmosphere was. That's been a rarity in recent seasons.

 

Agree, it's killed the passion and atmosphere by all but destroying active support. Atmosphere and excitement has diminished,  not just within the grounds, but also watching games on TV. I also think that the standard has improved on the pitch. Of course, we'll always suffer in comparison to a TV diet of EPL, Bundesliga and La Liga.

My daughter and all her friends, actively involved with an unmentionable team, have all stopped going, dropped their season tickets, and have no interest in returning. This was a kid that asked for a football tour of Europe and had grown up with a yearly season ticket.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, Shahanga said:

The league rejecting Diamanti when the tards wanted him because he didn’t fit the marquee template was particularly stupid. Players like him then would have lifted the quality of the league, which brings in the audience. This is what those running the game overlooked and that and other mistakes have damaged things to the point that the professional game’s survival is in question.

Sad thing was it wasn't only him also had Eduardo rejected for WSW,  I'd be surprised if ffa/aleague would have any feet left after how many times they've shot themselves in the foot

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Man there a hundreds of fucked up moments by the FFA, But the clubs are as much too blame, but really pointing the finger really won't change shit, its the next upcoming 10 decisions will decide the fate of the game in this country and from what I've seen so far the game is in for more pain.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

17 hours ago, Jovan said:

Man there a hundreds of fucked up moments by the FFA, But the clubs are as much too blame, but really pointing the finger really won't change shit, its the next upcoming 10 decisions will decide the fate of the game in this country and from what I've seen so far the game is in for more pain.

I was going to say pretty much the same - find me a decision that FFA got right.

But as @Jovan says - all water under the bridge now.; it's the next decisions that it is critical to get right.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...