The next phase of the A-League revolution will not be televised.
It will not be televised on FoxSports, it will not be televised on digital free-to-air and it certainly will not be televised on your local community Channel 31 where it will thankfully not be sponsored by Vinnie's Factory Seconds Yoghurt Shack.
You see, I've been following the debate that's been brewing over the past few weeks regarding television broadcast rights; whether it is the AFL's billion dollar payday, Socceroos matches on the anti-siphoning list, FoxSports' none-too-subtle attempt to devalue the A-League rights, or Ben Buckley's blind optimism that everything will be just peachy when the bidding process begins.
Yet amongst the suggestions, the finger-pointing and the hyperbole that have littered the readers comments I am yet to find anyone bring the conversation back to the base level and ask the most pertinent of questions - does the A-League really need television at all?
The answer, at least in this blogger's humble opinion, is that no, we do not.
Now before you jump to conclusions I want to assure you all that I am thinking clearly. That despite this blog's opening homage to the poetry of Gil Scott-Heron I have not been smoking jazz cigarettes, reading anarchist literature or hanging out in drum circles with counterculture radicals.
I simply believe that it is about time we take a holistic view of the marketplace and acknowledge the A-League does not operate in a vacuum (although there was a fair amount of outer space in the stands at times last season.)
The way media content is delivered is undergoing a transformation. The old methods are being superseded by new technologies and soon a tipping point will be reached.
Don't believe me? Well consider the following: the recorded music industry has been changed irrevocably by the continuing rise of legal and illegal downloads over the past decade; über bookstore chains are closing outlets and even going out of business entirely as they continue to lose the battle against online retailers and the growing popularity of e-reading devices; traditional newspaper revenues are down as readers and consequently advertisers abandon the paper and ink form in favour of online news services.
Heck, even so-called gentlemen's publications that were once sold in brown paper bags are increasingly available in tablet editions as is your monthly copy of Australian FourFourTwo.
And while I acknowledge each of the above examples have market specific factors influencing their transformations the general trend is still undeniable - direct digital delivery of content is the way of the future.
So why can't the A-League ride the same technological zeitgeist to meet the needs of it customer base?
Yes, what I am proposing is that the league considers foregoing a traditional television broadcast deal and instead investigates the options available for providing their match-day coverage online, both streamed and on demand, through a subscription based service.
Of course, I am not going to pretend this idea is something new. Some of you may already subscribe to similar services to follow your favourite sports teams in far flung corners of the globe.
And while you may well point out that many of these packages benefit extensively from repackaging their home market television coverage (and that we in turn cannot ditch television completely just yet), just as many of these services are being hampered by their reliance on this very same television coverage.
As a fan of Major League Soccer - go Rapids! - I have experienced some of these problems first hand. Since I do not reside in either Canada or the United States I'm unable to subscribe to MLS MatchDayLive (a service similar to what I am proposing for the A-League) nor can I watch the league on pay television as international right's holder ESPN consistently finds only limited places for live matches in their local schedule.
But the service isn't all hunky-dory in North America either where I've been informed the service is "blacked-out" if a match is being broadcast on local rights holder Fox Soccer Channel.
This exposes a self-evident truth that I believe bears repeating - no matter what they say in their masturbatory promotions television broadcasters are only there to help themselves and they simply do not care about the sport as much as they do about their bottom line.
Those of us old enough to remember the debacle that was Channel 7's non-coverage of the National Soccer League will attest to that.
Which brings me to the greatest single advantage the A-League gains from bypassing the traditional television broadcasting model - the A-League itself retains control of their product.
Rather than relying on FoxSports' current one-size-fits-all sales approach the league can sell its subscription packages anyway it wants. They could be offered as trial subscriptions, gift subscriptions, finals-only subscriptions, single club subscriptions, or even as a super-premium-mega-tycoon-deluxe subscription that provides viewers with access to every A-League match.
An away match subscription can even be bundled in with club membership packages or, vice versa, the occasional match-day ticket can be included as part of certain subscription offers. The service could even be extended to include high-profile pre-season fixtures that are not currently guaranteed coverage.
The platform itself also allows for more potential viewers too as latest figures show 62 per cent of households have access to broadband internet compared to 34 per cent for Foxtel (which does not necessarily include the FoxSports package, mind you).
It should also be kept in mind that each Foxtel box can only watch one channel at a time (although other channels can be recorded), while multiple devices can access a household's broadband connection simultaneously thereby allowing the one or two A-League fans in a larger household access to games that they might otherwise not have.
Additionally, the data collected via the subscription process can then be collated and analysed to provide greater value to sponsors and advertisers and in turn increased revenue for the league.
By allowing advertising on the service that targets specific market segments as defined by geography, demography, psychography or all three, the A-League can become a far more attractive vehicle for advertisers that currently see little value in traditional football advertising mediums such as kits, ground signage, match-day programmes or thirty-second commercials during the broadcast.
Granted, the idea of more advertising is about as likely to excite fans as an announcement that your club's new million dollar marquee is Paul Gascoigne but there are other benefits from the A-League controlling match-day coverage.
The most obvious is that kick-off times need no longer be dictated by the television broadcaster's schedule - a ridiculous imposition when the league operates across five time zones. By consulting with club's individually match-days and kick-offs can be made consistent, ensuring the maximum number of fans can include the match, be it live at the stadium or through the new subscription service, in to their weekly schedule.
In fact, the league could implement a raft of measures that would not suit the purposes of a television broadcaster - after all what broadcaster actually wants people to attend matches rather than watch them on television? - but instead help support the clubs and in turn the league as a whole.
For example the move to boutique stadiums could be fast tracked as the broadcast standards for the new service could be made more adaptive compared to the current situation that saw FoxSports effectively veto Brisbane Roar's proposed one-off fixture at Ballymore last season.
I'm sure the loyal and handsome readers of this blog could suggest further measures that I'm simply not clever enough to think of myself.
But of course, I've left the elephant in the room ‘til last - how does the A-League afford to do this? Well, like any investment designed to grow a new part of a business it either reallocates existing resources or, failing that, it takes out a loan. It's that simple.
I honestly believe if the transition is managed correctly - thoroughly modelling the new revenue streams, budgeting an appropriate amount for promotion, allowing time for customers to adapt to the new delivery platform, making allowances for teething problems - then the return on investment will come and the A-League will have the advantageous position of being the first Australian mover in to this online market.
Undoubtedly, many of you will still think I'm insane and that's fair enough - it is a rather radical idea that challenges the accepted wisdom on sports broadcasting.
But I ask you what is more insane than doing the same thing over and over again and yet expecting different results? Because that's what the league is currently doing by trying to deal with the free-to-air and pay-television networks that know they have the upper hand in negotiations.
To my mind, thinking outside the idiot box is the next logical step in continuing the A-League revolution in a brave new media world.
