Nick Bendel
Questions that need asking
September 11th 2010 07:08
Nothing better captures the A-League’s problem – and its solution – than that sign, famously displayed at a Gold Coast home match last year in response to owner Clive Palmer’s crowd cap.
The A-League’s problem is that not enough people give a damn.
The solution is to make all fans and prospective fans feel valued.
The most obvious way to make people feel valued is – as the sign suggested – by asking them what they want.
Tellingly, the sign was brandished not by a casual fan, but by a member of The Beach, the Gold Coast’s fanatical supporters group.
When it comes to working out what fans want, supporters groups are obvious places to start. After all, they are both knowledgeable and committed, making their opinions valuable. So it was extremely foolish of the club to have felt that it could win the hearts and minds of the Gold Coast without seeking their input.
Having consulted the diehard fans, the casual followers need to be engaged with. These are people who will attend a few games, but avoid most. Two obvious questions need to be asked of them. What makes them attend those few games? And what makes them avoid all the rest?
Clearly, the Brisbane Roar failed to consult its casual followers before the start of last season, when it introduced steep price rises. The result was a torrent of bad publicity. While the club backed down once it realised how unpopular the move was, it was not before a lot of unnecessary damage had been done to its image.
An obvious question needs to be asked of those officials responsible: with Suncorp Stadium 80 per cent empty and crowds declining, what made them think that steep price rises were going to reverse that trend?
However, it is not enough just to consult with the fans. Clubs also need to engage with the non-fans – or, to use marketing-speak, people who will one day become fans but don’t yet know it.
The non-fans outnumber the fans, which makes them crucial to the A-League’s survival.
To describe them thus is not hyperbole. In the A-League’s history, only Melbourne Victory and Central Coast Mariners have managed to enjoy profit-making seasons. Clubs can only sustain losses for so long. Clubs that fail to seduce their non-fans must inevitably go broke.
The Newcastle Jets are currently experiencing financial difficulties – despite being owned by multi-millionaire Con Constantine. Palmer was so worried about the red ink at Gold Coast that he seriously considered handing back his license after just one season – despite being a billionaire. North Queensland came close to folding after one season, Adelaide are currently under the stewardship of the FFA, Perth have already experienced that sorry fate, while the New Zealand Knights were put out of their misery after two seasons.
Non-fans will only start to care about clubs when clubs start to care about them. The clubs need to send a message – loudly and repeatedly – that they are an integral part of the communities they represent.
Some 4.5 million people live in Sydney, yet Sydney FC struggles to get only 10,000 people to its games. How many of those other 4.49 million believe that Nicky Carle and Alex Brosque represent them? How many of those other 4.49 million know who Carle and Brosque are?
Sydney FC – like its 10 rivals – needs to keep working until it is considered an integral part of its community. It then needs to continue working to ensure that those gains aren’t lost.
Visit schools; run competitions; appear at festivals; liaise with suburban clubs; work with troubled youth – do all those things and more, and then keep doing them, until even the non-fans are forced to start paying attention.
Above all, talk to people. The intelligence revealed by principals during school visits or parents during shopping centre appearances will be more authentic than that provided by paid participants at sterile focus groups.
What do they know about the club? What do they think about the club? Can they name any of the players? Why haven’t they been to a game lately? Why don’t their children want to go to games?
A-League clubs: do you want fans? If so, it’s time to start asking how.
| 213 |
| Vote |
subscribe to this blog