Code Battle Analysis
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Battle of the Football Codes Introduction Most countries have one major football code. Usually it is soccer with rugby union running a distant second. In Australia, there are four major codes: Australian football, rugby union, rugby union and soccer. Although Australia has four codes as nation, within individual cities the global template of a dominant football code rang true until the 1980s. Furthermore, there are only two significant domestic home and away leagues and these mostly operate in different states. In that regard, Australia has not been that much different from the rest of the world. The existence of four codes is a direct consequence of Australia's tyranny of distance preventing the formation of a national football competition until commercial flight became economically viable. Now that all four codes are competing in the one market, it is only a matter of time before the same pattern that is replicated in every other country around the world, and within individual Australian cities, is replicated across the nation. There simply aren't enough sports fans to support four games of football being shown on television on a Friday night. The strongest code will always take prime time, thereby strengthening its position. Only one code can fill the back page on a newspaper. This position will always go to the strongest code, and so further strengthen its dominant position. Aside from benefiting from media promotion, the dominant code also benefits from being the code of choice for people who want to have a conversation. Football can't serve its role as a conversation starter if every individual follows a different code. To be involved in the conversation, individuals will have to take an interest in the dominant code, thereby strengthening it again. Nor can a football code act as a social glue to bring a community together if everyone in the community follows a different code. Finally, whichever code raises the most money, will susequently have the most money to reinvest in promotion and development- thereby increasing its dominant position. Wars are often won with minor battles, and for Australia, the key battleground is Sydney. The strategic importance of Sydney first came to attention in the mid 90s when New Ltd tried to take over rugby league. The media giant signed up all the international boards and all the one-city clubs across Australia. This gave it a far larger target market and broader media appeal than the rival ARL. But despite its financial advantage and media clout, News Ltd lost the war. The chief reason for the loss was that News Ltd failed to win the hearts and minds of Sydneysiders. Because it lacked the symbolic image that Australia's first city could provide, News Ltd's league flopped Australia wide once it became obvious that it had flopped in Sydney. In Sydney itself, the key battle is for the working-classes. It is no coincidence that Manchester United, the most popular soccer club on earth, is built upon a working-class image. Although the working-classes may not appeal to the marketing executives who make sponsorship decisions, their image attracts people to football. The working-classes are the die hard fans that make the club seem like it has a passionate following. Although yuppies may have a brief infatuation with a club, and have money to spend on expensive tickets, they desert the club when something else comes along. Stadiums that are full one day but empty the next are terrible promotions for any sport. In Sydney, Australian football learnt this lesson the hard way with the Sydney Swans while soccer learnt the hard way with the Northern Spirit. In the last two decades, there have been many false dawns about a victory being at hand. The Australian Football League believed in the mid-80s and the mid 90s that Sydney had been won. However in 2005, cooking shows on SBS continued to out-rate its blockbuster matches in Sydney. Rugby league felt the conquest of Melbourne was almost complete in 1994, when it attracted a then record league crowd of 87161 to a State of Origin match in Melbourne. However in 2006, Melbourne’s local rugby league club struggled to pull 8,000 people through the gates. Rugby union felt its time at come when a decade of sustained growth culminated in 2003 World Cup final, which attracted a national audience of 4.01million. Yet two years on, the growth has plateaued. On the back of a successful World Cup campaign, soccer is the latest code to trumpet about its imminent supremacy. In 2006, it attracted 53,000 people to a home and away game in between Melbourne and Sydney. Current trends seem to be indicating that all four codes are experiencing growth as football fans who traditionally followed one sport, are trying out new entrants to the market. Although it may be a trend now, the phenomenon of following multiple codes is likely to be temporary. Long term, fans will eventually decide on their favourite. Passionate fans just don’t have the time, money or emotional energy to support four codes of football in one weekend. The only fans who can are the fair-weather variety who have little commercial value to the code. Australian Football League (AFL)- History and analysis National Rugby League (NRL) - History and analysis Rugby - History and analysis Soccer - History and analysis Analysis
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