Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Project Indian Football
Project Indian Football
Project Indian Football
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................2
HISTORY OF INDIAN FOOTBALL.......................................................3
PRESENT SCENARIO AND STRUCTURE...............................................5
INDIAN FOOTBALL ECOSYSTEM........................................................................5
INFRASTRUCTURE.......................................................................................... 6
UNSTABLE LEAGUE STRUCTURE.........................................................................7
STABILITY AT AIFF LEVEL...............................................................................7
BRANDING OF INDIAN FOOTBALL.......................................................................7
RESTRUCTURING OF THE FOOTBALL LEAGUE.........................................................8
FIFA MATCH DATES........................................................................................ 8
PLAYER SALARIES......................................................................................... 9
MERCHANDISING......................................................................................... 10
BROADCASTING OF I-LEAGUE MATCHES.............................................................10
COMPARISON OF REVENUE MODELS OF EUROPEAN LEAGUES AND INDIAN
LEAGUES..................................................................................11
ANALYSIS OF REVENUE MODELS IN EUROPEAN LEAGUES........................................11
REVENUE SOURCES FOR AN INDIAN CLUB...........................................................13
HOSTING A UNDER 17 WORLD CUP..................................................15
UNDER 17 WORLD CUP HISTORY.....................................................................16
BENEFIT OF HOSTING A WORLD CUP................................................................17
Change in perception................................................................................ 17
Improvement in infrastructure.....................................................................17
INDIA HOSTING UNDER-17 WORLD CUP.....................................19
THE ISSUES IN THE INDIAN FOOTBALL AND POSSIBLE IMPACT OF HOSTING THE WORLD
CUP IN ADDRESSING THESE ISSUES.................................................................19
UNDERSTANDING POPULARITY.......................................................................22
Classification of fans..........................................................................23
STRATEGY................................................................................................. 25
Creating a successful event...............................................................27
Pre-event Stage..................................................................................... 28
Launch Stage.......................................................................................... 29
SUCCESS STORIES: SPORTS REVOLUTIONS.......................................30
SUCCESS OF US SOCCER IN 1994.....................................................................30
JAPANESE BASEBALL IN 1896..........................................................................32
IRANIAN FOOTBALL IN THE 1970'S....................................................................33
JAPANESE FOOTBALL: TOP DOWN APPROACH.......................................................33
Measures............................................................................................... 33
Success Story.......................................................................................... 35
AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL IN 2005:FORMATION OF A LEAGUE....................................36
Introduction
FIFA while conducting the world cup follows a structured approach by selecting the
top teams from the 6 federations namely AFC(Asia), CAF (Africa), CONCACAF
(North, Central America and Caribbean), CONMEBOL (South America), OFC
(Oceania) and UEFA (Europe). All these federations organize their own respective
championships. When there is such a systematic approach towards the game, why
can't India not do it !! A country like Nigeria which has continuously suffered from
socio-economic and political factors in the last few decades performed extremely well
in the U17 world cups right from 1985 and eventually won it in 2013. Football is a
game which requires players to be fit physically and psychologically(if they have any
disease, it is worked upon through medical conditioning: Asthmatic players are given
acupunctures). It needs to be played tactfully. Youth talent needs to be nurtured by a
vibrant scouting system. AIFF needs to be aware of all this and ensure that systems
are in place which could work upon and develop youth players. U17 world cup is a
good platform which reflects the level of preparation and infrastructure that the sport
has in a country. The assumption is that the U17 players have gone through the best
coaching curriculums and would be able to perform well in the top flight of football.
As the U17 tournament is held every year, a team can assess the progress of its
players regularly. India has a great chance to make use of this platform by performing
well in the tournament so that it opens up the gate for international clubs to come and
scout from here along the lines of African nations. In Africa, people love playing the
game. Top European clubs come and scout players which seem talented to them. As a
result, some African players are playing well in the European leagues and their
national teams are performing well in world cups. This has led the African masses to
follow and play the game even more.
1800's
1900-1950
1950 world
cup
1950-1960:
Golden era
1960-1984:
Post Golden
era
1985-2000
In 1888, Durand cup was conceived. This is the oldest competition till
date. The matches are free of cost for spectators. Currently, the I
League clubs and government organization teams like Railways,
ONGC play the competition.
Calcutta, earlier being the capital became the hub for Indian football.
In 1889, the first club Mohun Bagan was formed. This led to the
formation of the Indian football association in 1893.
This period saw a lot of Indian clubs being formed, club competitions
happening and more Indian players, less British players being part of
the larger football culture. Indian team started touring Asian countries
to get an exposure of the game. All India Football federation was
formed in 1937. In 1911, Mohun Bagan defeated Yorkshire regiment
and thus the following for the game was created.
The team had the chance to play but refrained from participating owing
to the following reasons:
Cost of travel which FIFA agreed to bear partly
Lack of practice time and team selection issues
Olympics valued more than world cup
Clearly, AIFF was not able to perform its job. The national team from
1950 onwards has never really came close to qualifying for the world
cup.
Indian team won in national and international events. They won the
1951 Asian games, which they hosted, finished fourth in 1956
Olympics.
Indian lost its foothold due to poor team selections. During this time,
India won the cricket world cup in 1983 and hosted one in 1987. All
this made cricket the sport in the country as the Indian cricket team
never left the chance to play in a world cup unlike the football team.
Things certainly could have taken a different way had the Indian team
played in the 1950 world cup.
The major event that highlighted this period was the formation of the
National football league in 1996 by AIFF. This was the first proper
attempt to give structure to Indian football by creating a domestic
league.
2000-2010:
The
reemergence
of Indian
football
2011- Present
Indian team won silver in Afro Asian games and started to win
recognition in India and abroad. Bob Houghton came in 2006 and
restructured the Indian football system by laying emphasis on youth
development programs, programs for coaches to improve the Indian
game. As a result, the Indian team won its first Nehru cup by beating
Syria.
Club wise, the national football league folder for the better to give rise
to I-League in 2007. The Indian football was growing as Goa won the
first I league season, went to the semifinals of the AFC cup where it
lost.
In 2011 Asian cup, India lost all 3 matches. After the defeat in Asian
cup, team worked hard and qualified for 2012 AFC challenge cup. The
team has not done anything at the international level. Also, at the Asian
level, they are average and are behind Japan and Australia by a huge
margin.
Presently, the Indian youth loves watching EPL and other European
leagues having international stars, good quality play. Nobody watches
the I-league.
Current FIFA ranking of men's team is 150. The team won the Nehru cup in 2007 and
2009. Tata football academy, Sesa Goa's youth system coupled with those of Pune FC
and Mohan Bagan have showed a glimmer of hope in terms of youth development
programs/academies being developed. Still, AIFF has not taken a firm stance to make
youth academies for each club which could act as feeder clubs for the I-League teams.
Clubs can also bank upon the transfer fee gains by producing skilled young players
although the Indian transfer market is very dormant due to the inability of clubs to pay
exorbitant salaries to players.
Infrastructure
There are 6 stadiums pan India out of which only 2 are Astroturf. Teams from Goa
and Bengal have one stadium each.
The current business model of the I League is shown below
Future
prospects
Performanc
e
Investment
s
Crowd
support
Sponsorshi
ps
There are no club cafes along the lines of Manchester United Sports Bar. 80% of the I
league club revenues come from sponsorships.
To promote football, regional state leagues in Goa, Bengal, Maharashtra, Punjab do
happen. Then there are cup competitions like the Federation cup, Durand cup and IFA
shield.
In terms of club locations, Bengal, Goa seems to dominate the I-League. Meghalaya is
breaking the myth as 2 I league clubs have come in the first division. Maharashtra
with Mumbai FC and Pune FC has also arrived on the football scene. The rest of India
in particular the Northern region seems to be devoid of being under any influence of
the game as there is almost zero representation in terms of clubs in I league, the 2nd
division and the U19 teams.
In the 2nd division, north east represents a fair portion with 4 clubs. Delhi, Madhya
Pradesh and Garhwal (North West) have one club each representing in the league.
There is one club in Kerala, which has ties with Reading FC, a second division club in
English football. Reading FC has assured the Keralite club that if the clubs succeeds
in going into the I league, it will pump in more money in making the club financially
sustainable. Currently, Reading FC sends coaches and identifies players from the
Keralite club to be trained at Reading FC's stadium.
In the national team, almost all the players come from the clubs of Bengal, Goa and
Pune.
Looking at the dismal scenario wherein only few states have clubs in India football,
we can't envision a future where the people could accept football as a mass sport.
There are no clubs in Rajasthan, UP, AP, Bihar etc.
No home grown talent for forward/striker position and bulk of the scoring done in
I-League by foreign stars.
The basic assumption is that if football is imbibed at the grassroots, the central
government and private investors would start putting money in the sport. To attract
investments, Indians should come and watch the matches in stadia and on TV.
Almost all clubs are running in losses to the tune of 6-7 crores. Revenue from ticket
sales is meagre. Earlier, only 30% of the ticket sales went to the clubs, the rest to the
local organizing committee or state association that organized the matches. Now, the
onus to organize the game lies on the home team and the home team earns the entire
ticket sales revenue. The flip side is that a major chunk of the ticket revenue goes into
organizing the matches. So, its a vicious circle.
India also lacks in locking fan base by building fan development programs,
community based services that could build the brand image of I-League clubs. Club
websites are also a fan base tap-in which is lacking in India.
A startling fact: there was no trophy presentation in the 2010-11 I-League season.
Nobody knew how the I-League trophy looked like! Conducting a ceremony to
appreciate the I-League winning team won't cost fortunes for AIFF. It is not of much
surprise that the fan base is low! There should be a separate marketing arm which
could sell the I-league to potential investors.
Our league is structured in an abysmal manner. The Indian team is not able to play
international friendly matches (also known as friendlies) with European nations and
clubs because when European clubs have a window to host friendlies, our players are
pre-occupied with the I-League. Indian football is unable to develop its skills partly
because we are not exposed to the style of play of European clubs. Our league
schedule should be structured in a way so that our players can get an opportunity to
play friendlies with European clubs. Federation cup is similar to the FA cup in
England. Unlike the FA cup, which happens throughout the EPL season, the
Federation cup gets over in a month. Our league should be structured along the lines
of EPL i.e. start in September and end in May. The FA cup also happens
simultaneously with the EPL.
Player Salaries
The salaries of players in I-league are exorbitant. Out of the operating budget, 75-80%
is spent on player salaries whereas in European clubs, 65% is the ideal amount.
The graded salaries to football players in India
The high operating costs of players and the low ROI in Indian football has forced
owners of clubs to shut down the clubs. Below are the average yearly salaries of ALeague (Australia) and MLS (North America) players.
Merchandising
Since most of the money is spent on player payments, no money is left to spend on
community development programs, fan-base creation. Inactivity on this front has led
to lower gate collection and merchandising revenues as the club is not popular among
people or is not branded in any way.
For European clubs, they earn their major revenue from sponsorship deals. They get
huge sponsorships because of their display of high quality football and partly because
the kind of visibility and fan-base that they have created by leveraging their highquality football.
English league
revenue breakup
Commercial
Broadcasting
28%
35%
Matchday
37%
Italian league
revenue breakup
14%
25%
Broadcasting
Commercial
Matchday
61%
German league
revenue breakup
Commercial
25%
Broadcasting
53%
22%
Matchday
None of the Indian clubs own their stadium and cant gather sponsorship or rent the
stadium for revenue generation, as they dont own it. A major portion of the Gate
collection revenue goes in paying the stadium rent. Clubs get the following revenue
from AIFF.
Investments would reap in the long term. Expecting that Indian football would do
wonders in a short time is a big shot. Time is of the essence to realize the vision of
seeing Indian team qualify for the FIFA world cup.
Africa is the most successful continental zone with 6 tournament wins (4 for
Nigeria, 2 for Ghana) and 5 times as runner up. Notably the 1993 final was
contested by two African teams, the only occasion when the final has been
contested by two teams from the same confederation.
South America has 3 tournament wins and has been runner up three times.
Additionally Argentina has finished in third place on 3 occasions and Colombia
twice in fourth place, but they have never appeared in the final.
Europe has 3 tournaments wins (1 each for France, USSR and Switzerland) and
has been runner up 5 times. Spain has been runner up on 3 occasions. Additionally
Portugal and Netherlands have won third-place medals in 1989 and 2005
respectively.
The CONCACAF zone has 2 tournament wins (for Mexico in 2005 and 2011),
this confederation has reached the final three times (with Mexico).
Asia has 1 tournament win (for Saudi Arabia in 1989), the only time that a team
from this confederation has reached the final and the only time an Asian team won
a FIFA tournament in male category. (Australia was runner up in 1999 but at that
time was in the Oceania Football Confederation).
This tournament is peculiar in that the majority of titles have gone to teams from
outside the strongest regional confederations (CONMEBOL and UEFA). Out of
the fifteen editions held so far, nine (60 percent of the total) have been won by
teams from North and Central America, Africa and Asia.
U17 world cups have produced contemporary football stars more recently being
Neymar (2009), Tony Kroos(2007). There are others as well with the likes of
Figo(1989), Ronaldinho(1997) and a lot of others who shined at this event and were
subsequently worked upon to excel at the international level. This is ample evidence
that a nation's U17 football team is reflective of either the love for the game among
masses which makes them to play the game in numbers(which is the case for nations
like Nigeria, Cameroon in Africa, bottom up approach) or the football facilities in the
nation(USA, top down approach).
there was not enough space to build full fields and the cost of acquiring land was too
much to build a stadia. Below is the picture of a Cruyff court.
Cruyff Court
TV Viewership
Since international teams would be playing and their football followers would feel the
need to watch and support their team, TV viewership could go sky high. Sony Six, an
Indian company has bought the rights to telecast the game, which is an added
advantage.
Sponsorship
Like the U17 UAE world cup where Abu Dhabi tourism, EMAAR, Etisalat sponsored
the tournament to encourage the event, Indian tourism ministry with the corporate
houses can go along the same lines.
Youth development
Since India's team is participating in the tournament, efforts would be done to
improve the game at the grassroots. Tournaments could be conducted at school level
to scout talented players.
National pride
If India is able to successfully deliver the tournament to its completion, it would
surely be recognized at a global level in the sports community. Investors could start
investing in the game. Foreign coaches( from European, MLS, A League, J League)
after getting a glance that there is a potential market for the game in this country, they
would come here, conduct training camps and probably scout talent to their clubs.
Opportunities are galore if the event is a success.
Knowledge transfer
Hosting an event of this magnitude helps the nation to know the nitty-gritty of
conducting a global event. The event management company would get to know the
protocol to adhere to while conducting a FIFA event which would increase the
knowledge about what FIFA wants from India right from the organizational basics to
the infrastructure requirements(of football stadiums). To make football a success in
India, we need to be first cognizant of the problems.
Segment of the
ecosystem
Issue
Overall
Limited funding avenues in
football
Sports
governance
Talent scouting
and training of
players and
trainers
Lack of transparency
Limited community-level
engagement in football despite the
Panchayat Yuva Krida Aur Khel
Abhiyan (PYKKA)
Limited commercial focus of
AIFF
Lack of coordination among the
concerned bodies affecting
professional uptake of football
Lack of coaches and technical
know-how on football in India
Infrastructure
No
No
Yes
Yes. Can be non-direct
impact
No
Yes. The popularity and
increased participation can
trigger new business
avenues for private players
No
No
No
No
Yes. The perception of
franchises for more
participation of local
community can change with
increased popularity
Yes. To an extent, this event
can help in popularizing the
sport in India
Yes
Yes. With an increased
popularity of the game,
mass marketing of events is
bound to increase
Fans
Media
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
Players
Clubs and
Franchises
Yes
Yes. The media aspect is
deeply linked with the
popularity of the game.
Yes. Can be non-direct
impact
Yes. To an extent
No
Yes. The popularity would
result in formation of better
platforms in terms of
Limited platforms for participation
number of tournaments and
leagues are bound to
increase
Limited monetary value in
running a club
No
Yes. The popularity will
Low level of recognition unlike
lead to more awareness
cricket
among the masses
Lack of sponsors
Yes
Low spending on training and
medical facilities
Limited role of clubs in engaging
with local communities
Broadcasters
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Sponsors
Yes
Yes
This analysis of the issues of the Indian football helped in understanding the fact that
most of the issues concerning various segments of the ecosystem can be solved if the
game gains popularity among the masses in India.
The main objective of hosting this event is popularizing football in India. To do this,
identifying the target segment for creating awareness and fan base; and increasing
participation becomes immensely important.
Understanding Popularity
Popularity is the state or condition of being liked, admired, or supported by many
people. In sports, the popularity can be measured in terms of awareness among the
masses, participation and number of fans created. It is immensely important to
understand the kind of fan base can hosting this major tournament can create.
Accordingly, a strategy can be laid out to increase the impact of hosting this event and
making the sport popular in India.
Who is a sports fan?
A fan is someone who can relate himself/herself to a particular sport, alternatively, an
enthusiastic devotee. More specifically, a fan devotes himself/herself to some
particular sports consumptive object. The sports consumptive object can be a range of
things that a fan feels attached to. It can be a sport, in general, or a particular
tournament or league, or a team. This can also refer to certain personalities too, like a
famous player, a coach, a celebrity who has strong affiliation with the sport or a team.
There is an interesting theory called halo process that explains the reasons of a person
developing into a fan. According to the halo process, a reservoir of memories feeds
fans' enthusiasm and passion for sports and links them to the sports institution,
interpersonal relationships, and experiences. This reservoir of information is termed a
schema, and it contains expectations, beliefs, and perceptions associated with the
schema target (Hunt and Bashaw, 1999b; Keaveney and Hunt, 1992; Fiske and Taylor,
1984). The target of the schema is the sports consumptive object.
According to their findings, when a fan identifies himself/herself to a player or a
sport, it subsequently leads to identification with the team. Stadium attendance, game
behavior and purchase of team products are a result of this identification. Hence, halo
process defines the path of becoming a fan as a sequential one, though it can vary
from person to person what leads to what. One might become a fan of a player first,
then a team, and then with sport or vice versa for any other person. All the possible
permutations are possible in this sequencing. The pieces of information that makes
this schema, or more specifically, the factors that are responsible for making a fan can
include the following, but not limiting to
Friends preference
Classification of fans
Depending on the sources of motivation and behavior exhibited, the fans can be
classified into five major types, namely, Deep, Temporary, Local, Fanatical and
Dysfunctional. The following table describes the characteristics of each of these types.
It also provides the relevance and prevalence of these types of fans in Indian scenario
and determines the kind of fan base can be created/increased using the FIFA under-17
World Cup as an instrument.
Fan Type
Characteristics
Relevant to
present
scenario of
Indian
Football
Temporary fan
Yes. This is
due to the fact
that most
Indian viewers,
mostly
Likelihood to
create/increase
this kind of fans
using Under-17
World Cup as an
instrument
This is one of the
most important fan
bases that a
tournament like
under-17 World
Local fan
the phenomenon of
interest is over. The
phenomenon of interest
can be a favorite
tournament/league, or
form of a favorite
player, or
competitiveness of the
matches, or volume of
matches.
The interest of this kind
of fan is geographically
constrained.
The identification with a
geographic area.
The local fan operates
under a constraint: if a
local fan moves away
from the city where the
schema target is located,
the devotion of the fan
diminishes.
Devoted fan
European
cup can create and
league viewers, enhance for Indian
have shown
football.
interests of a
temporary fan
over the years.
Yes. Football
would be a
popular sport
in India if the
number of
devoted fans
were increased
substantially as
they not only
contribute to
business
ecosystem of
the sport but
also enthuse
their passion to
others.
geographical location.
Fanatical fan
Dysfunctional
fan
(Hooligans)
There are
always a few
dysfunctional
fans. In Indian
context, they
are very few in
number.
No.
The primary target for this event is to create new temporary fans. This would not only
help in creating interest among the masses but will also help in transferring this
success to other leagues in the country.
Strategy
The following figure demonstrates the target segment for the event.
Adult
football
participant
s
(players/fa
ns/officials)
Schools in
the
organizing
cities
Competing
teams
Core
Target
Segment
(Age
group 916)
Parents of
kids aged
9-16 years
General
sports fans
The aspects that will make this event a stepping-stone to popularizing at mass level. It
has two following parts1. Making the event a success at Generating mass interest level
Viewers participation level
Administration level
2. Sustaining the hype Translating this hype to promote other tournaments and leagues both at
participation and viewership levels.
Transferring this temporary fan base to Indian football events a move
towards creating local fans with leagues
Efficient use of infrastructure developed during the event
Making
the
event a
grand
success
Success in
popularizin
g football
in India
Sustainin
g the
hype
after the
event
During
the
launch
stage
Successf
ul world
cup
Preevent
stage
Pre-event Stage
During
the
event
stage
Launch Stage
Grand Opening Ceremony like the IPL
Associate with the leading music and dance reality shows to feature the
winners of those shows along with the celebrities in a performance each
during the opening ceremony
Also, by hosting the world cup, the national team would also come into significance
as it would get a direct entry in a global competition. FIFA had an apprehension that
looking by the state of outdoor football in US, the hosting of world cup would likely
pan out to be a failure. However, the US Soccer Federation(USSF) president gave the
assurance that a superior and fully functional first division outdoor soccer league
would be there by the start of 1994 world cup. US got the approval from FIFA as there
was a potential fan base in the country and a superior infrastructure in terms of
football stadiums.
But, a lot of measures needed to be taken so that US players could compete in the
world cup. They were as follows
Most of the players were on the bench as international stars flooded the team.
In order to reverse this, USSF developed a national team training program
where all players in different leagues were contracted full time to the national
team as salaried members. This way, the players could get an year long
exposure that too at a competitive level.
Salaries were slashed so that the leagues could be financially stable.
Scheduling of outdoor and indoor league was done so that there was no
conflict and players could get more games to hone their skills.
By 1992, there were a lot of regional leagues happening like in the east, west and
south coasts. So, football was growing at the grassroots level but some soccer officials
felt that there was a growing need of a proper first division league as the bottom-up
approach would take too long.
Surprisingly, from 1992 onwards till the world cup in 1994, the US national team
started winning friendlies with competitive football playing nations. Outdoor soccer
was rising. At the same time, there was increasing rivalry between 3 factions of US
soccer officials: one wanting a top-down commercial league, the other a bottom-up
grassroots approach and the third of having an indoor league. Finally, it was decided
that the top down approach would be the best and MLS(Major League Soccer) was
christened. Claims of investor capital were made.
Meanwhile, the indoor league teams owing to the huge number of international stars
were going into bankruptcy due to burgeoning player salaries. The league finally
folded in 1992.
Success story
The national team went beyond the first round since 1930 which catapulted the
acceptance of soccer in US.
Post world cup
With the improved success of the US national team in the 94 world cup, a proper
league structure was formed. MLS(Major League soccer) was the first division
league, APSL(American Professional Soccer League) being the 2nd division league
and the USISL(US Inter Regional Soccer League) being the third division league.
USISL had 4 subparts being the North, South, East and West conference much like the
Basketball structure. The leagues were not fighting with each other. USISL was
involved in the grassroots development with 85 teams being part of it divided into
professional and amateur divisions. Soccer at college started to grow as women's
college soccer started to spread. MLS was a separate legal entity with all player
signings and allocations done by it. Salary caps per team of $12,50,000 ensured that
teams would be constrained in signing a lot of star players and that American players
would get ample playing time(this was done to combat the failure of NASL).
Some of the US National team players owing to their good performances in the 94
world cup landed European spots.
In the end, the top down approach trickled the acceptance of football at the grassroots
level as the masses loved watching and playing the game.
Foreign
Other
40
Total
Sub-Total
65
J1
466
531
J2
563
32
31
63
626
Total
1,029
57
71
128
1,157
As we can see, majorly Latin American players and AFC players participate in the J
League.
Success Story
The criteria for becoming a J2 club was not strict in contrast to a J1 club. This meant
that J2 clubs could be successfully maintained without investing in them as
exorbitantly as in J1 clubs. An example of a club is Mito HollyHock which attracts an
average audience of 3000 a game with minimal sponsorship and still continues to play
competitively in the J2 league.
Clubs in J2 aim to get promoted in J1. At the same time, they need to develop their
youth programs, home stadium, financial viability and relationship with local
community. Clubs like Oita Trinita, Kawasaki Fronttale managed to do this
successfully and got promoted to J1. These 2 clubs have managed to increase the
average turnout per game to be around 10,000.
Second-tier football is improving as clubs are competing at the professional level with
low budgets. This attracted many amateur clubs across the nation. A survey done by
the league showed results that most of the non-league clubs were interested in joining
the professional league, that too in the next 30 years. This reflects a positive direction
for the J. League 'Hundred Year Vision' plan.
enforced which relegated the ethnic based clubs to the respective state leagues in
Australia. A 5-year city exclusivity deal was ensured to each club as part of the "onecity, one-team" philosophy to allow clubs to grow and develop an identity in their
respective region without local competition.
To take care of regional leagues as well, FFA has 9 state federations working under its
regime which take care of organizing the matches in regional leagues.
Success story
Because of the above restructuring done by the FFA(Football federation of Australia),
the A league turned out to be a huge success as attendances in games increased in
contrast to the dwindling numbers in NSL. The trio of the success of the A League ,
World Cup qualification(2006,2010) and shift to Asia(participation in Asian
competitions like AFC C League) garnered commercial interest in Australian football
from corporate houses. This was visible when Football federation of Australia struck a
$120 million dollar deal with Fox Sports. Part of this deal included the broadcasting
of matches held at Asian level. Australian football flourished because of a systematic
top down approach taken by the FFA.