APL CEO Danny Townsend on why A-Leagues All Access is giving football an edge

Yengi

In a season built around rejuvenation, the in-house produced A-Leagues All Access has led the way for the Australian Professional Leagues (APL) in 2022-23.

A-Leagues All Access – a key part of the APL’s strategy to start to win back the disenchanted many left alienated by the previous administration – was set to debut as a flagship offering under the APL’s first full season in charge of the A-Leagues (2021-22). However, as has been the case since 2019-20, COVID-19 delivered disruption in spades, and the APL were forced to shelve the project until now.

The series is presented week-to-week in a fly-on-the-wall manner akin to Amazon’s ‘All Or Nothing’ show, except in comparison A-Leagues All Access delves into the experiences of one individual’s actions on matchday and the broader impact of their influence on the team. So far, the series has given fans insight into Central Coast Mariners starlet Garang Kuol, Sydney FC detractor Milos Ninkovic, and Chloe Logarzo’s role at the heart of the debut Liberty A-League campaign for Western United women’s.

Accumulating more than 2.2 million video views and over 4.6 million social media impressions (as of November 23), the success of A-Leagues All Access thus far is reflected in the correlation between the aforementioned video views and social media impressions and transition of interest onto free-to-air (FTA) broadcasts of the A-League Men, with the APL confirming a 33% growth in FTA viewership between episodes 1 and 4 of A-Leagues All Access.

The reception alone is an indicator of eyes and ears being pulled towards the sport, as well as the hearts and minds being won back by the APL.

Speaking with Soccerscene ahead of the restart of the A-League Men’s season, APL CEO Danny Townsend explored why exactly A-Leagues All Access is resonating with fans, the motivations behind the series, and how the series provides football with an edge over the rest of Australia’s competitive sporting landscape.

Luis Nani

Why do you feel that A-Leagues All Access has resonated with Australian football fans?

Danny Townsend: Well, I think at the end of the day football fans want to look under the hood and see what goes on. Watching 90 minutes of football can be compelling but really getting to understand the behind-the-scenes ongoings they’re not accustomed to seeing is something that I’m sure has driven a huge amount of the interest in A-Leagues All Access.

When you’re close to the action as someone who works in the game you take it for granted, but when you’re a fan on the outside and you’re not accustomed to seeing it, it really brings to life that experience of being inside of a dressing room or board room, or at a training ground. But more importantly when you’re watching the game unfold over 90 minutes you can connect those things together and get a full experience.

It feels like A-Leagues All Access is connecting fans to the leagues in a way they’ve always craved for. How significantly did re-engaging disenchanted fans play into the motivations behind A-Leagues All Access?

Danny Townsend: The APL has an overarching strategy that has three key pillars to it – one being how do we re-engage our core fans who’ve drifted particularly with COVID making it so difficult to give them certainty around when matches are played; that really affects your core more than anything else.

Our second pillar is looking at how we grow new audiences and the All Access program serves both. It serves to re-engage our core and gives them another reason to reignite their interest in their clubs or their players, and for new fans who haven’t watched the A-Leagues before, it maybe exposes them to some interesting content that draws them into it.

Finally, our third pillar is to grow the capabilities of our clubs and equally a lot of the content we’re creating through the capturing of All Access is finding its way to club socials, which is driving a lot of engagement there. So, it’s really designed to serve all three pillars of the APL’s strategy.

Obviously, A-Leagues All Access captures the unpredictable nature of football and more broadly, live sport. Why do you feel the series gives an edge to football over the other codes?

Danny Townsend: We’re not a sport that has 60 scoring opportunities in the actual match itself. The euphoria around goals being scored is limited in our game but when they are scored, they’re celebrated, but there is so much more to it. It drives excitement as you see the coach and how they’re engaging with their players, it shows how players are reacting to certain circumstances in the dressing room – those things are all heightening the experience for a fan. And if we can bring fans as close to live as we can that’s only going to bring them closer to our game.

If you look at other fly-on-the-wall documentary series’ like ‘The Test’ for cricket, it was launched over a year after the period it documented. Formula One ‘Drive to Survive’ is a retrospective look at the season that’s already gone and everyone that’s watching knows what’s already happened on the grid. Whereas with what we’re embarking on with A-Leagues All Access it’s live; it’s in the now; it’s basically bringing to life the match on that weekend and driving interest into next weekend’s match.

Western United

How is the series coordinated? Is the whole season mapped out or is it organised on a week-to-week basis?

Danny Townsend: We looked at the first six weeks to start with because we had some fairly predictable stories that would surface such as the Ninkovic example which was always going to be one that the fans would want to get in behind. Nani’s first game was an obvious one at the new stadium in Sydney that we wanted to follow. And Chloe Logarzo’s was her first game returning from injury at a new club in pursuit of being a part of the Matildas at next year’s World Cup.

So, there are certain ones we’ve identified throughout the 30 weeks that we’ll be going after and there’s ones we’ve left open. As stories evolve throughout the season based on the ebbs and flows of competitive sport there’ll be stories that unfold that we don’t know of yet that will be part of the 30 episodes.

Will the A-Leagues All Access series be looking to expand beyond players and coaches to potentially highlight fan groups such as the team at RBTV or any of the active support groups?

Danny Townsend: Absolutely! There’s only so many dressing room sprays that you want to put on air before they get boring.

But on a serious note, we’ve got so many colourful stories in our league from the fans to even the administrators and how decisions are made around clubs. There’s just so many different components of the A-Leagues that we want to bring to life. Obviously, you start with players because they’re the stars of the show and coaches are major contributors to the game. But as you move through those stakeholder groups, there’s certainly interesting stories in there and fans are certainly going to be a focus in upcoming episodes.

Has there been an onward effect in terms of viewership of and engagement with TV and Paramount+ viewership since the series started?

Danny Townsend: Absolutely. We’ve looked at it through two lenses: how do we drive full episode viewing on any of the platforms it’s on (KEEPUP, Paramount+, 10Play, YouTube) but also just as important is the social reach that we’re generating from it. The clips and the cut-up short-form content that we’re distributing has been enormous and has so far accumulated over three million views, which for Australia and our game is enormous. That’s building every week as it becomes more appointment viewing for people waiting for Thursday night for the next episode to drop and that’s something we expect to continue.

For mine, A-Leagues All Access is only one part of a broader content strategy for KEEPUP Studios. We’ve launched All Access with KEEPUP Studios but you’ll start to see a lot more content alongside our podcast series’ that have been coming out – I think our current podcast is the number one in football at the moment and that’s going to continue to build. And from a video standpoint you’ll be seeing more original content being developed by the APL and KEEPUP Studios, and as the season rolls out there’ll certainly be more shows to engage A-Leagues fans and football fans in general, so, watch this space!

Mariners

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Melbourne Victory’s brand-new infrastructure strategy

Melbourne Victory & SEDA

A-League giant Melbourne Victory has revealed a brand-new extensive infrastructure strategy to foster and support tomorrow’s footballing stars.

The strategic infrastructure plan set out by Victory will aim to develop youth and women’s football programs by providing improved access to world class footballing facilities and player pathways across Victoria.

To achieve this, Melbourne Victory has opted for a campus model to enable players access to connected and consistent facilities across the North, East, South and West of Melbourne, all within an hour’s journey of Victory’s club administrative centre and the A-League Men’s training facilities at Gosch’s Paddock.

The club also intends to build another campus within the Melbourne city centre, with the first campus location to be announced by the club soon, as it continues to review and assess possible sites across the city.

Melbourne Victory Chairman, John Dovaston, explained why the club had chosen the campus model.

“The announcement of this project, and the direction taken, is aimed at ensuring we are best placed to attract and retain football talent across the State,” he said in a press release.

“Our innovative approach will allow us to have a number of campuses with not only an elite focus, but also, an eye on building our community to ensure that all Victorians have an opportunity to participate and engage in our game.”

Melbourne Victory Managing Director, Caroline Carnegie, outlined why the new infrastructure strategy was so important to the club.

“It is well understood that sport and football can influence social cohesion, and it’s our responsibility as a Club to establish infrastructure and programs that can positively impact members of the community, regardless of gender, background or location, whether that be through training the next generation of football stars, or using football as a vehicle to lead, unite, connect and inspire the community more broadly,” she said via press release.

“By enabling Victory to connect with communities across the North, South, East, and West of AAMI Park, our spiritual home, we can truly grow the Victory family and set new standards for elite facilities in our Pathway and community programs.”

The infrastructure project is an important move for the club, allowing it to grow, improve and future-proof its current suite of footballing programs. Currently, Victory operates nine elite and 23 pathway programs, providing services to over 16,000 participants across Victoria. Through the campus model, the club hopes it will be able to more efficiently develop the new generation of A-League and national team players.

“The priority is to provide not just an entry point for individuals to engage and participate in football, but to keep them engaged and provide a holistic journey to grow the Victory family across the State,” Carnegie continued.

“We are excited about the opportunities that the project can provide and the potential for growth for our Club and for football in the future.”

Melbourne Victory will continue to issue updates as it sets on the 5-year-plus journey to complete the entire project. For more information on the club’s major infrastructure strategy, access the plan HERE.

 

PFA issues legal threat to Premier League over new financial rules

The Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) has issued a legal threat to the Premier League, warning of potential legal action if new financial rules are passed without union consultation and approval.

The PFA alleges that the league and its clubs have deliberately withheld critical information about the proposed squad cost rules (SCR) and top-to-bottom anchoring (TBA). These changes, according to the union, could severely impact player wages and club finances.

Legal Warning Over SCR and TBA

The Premier League and its 20 clubs voted on the proposed rules during a meeting on 13 February. In a letter addressed to the league and its stakeholders, the PFA’s legal team stated they “anticipate being instructed to commence legal proceedings” if the rules are approved without adequate consultation with the union.

The union has demanded a written guarantee from the league by 4 pm on 11 February, confirming its intention to fully consult the PFA on the matter. Failure to do so will also trigger legal action.

The PFA described the proposed squad cost rules and top-to-bottom anchoring system as “fundamentally flawed” and expressed deep concerns about their potential consequences for players and clubs alike.

What Are the SCR and TBA?

The squad cost rules (SCR) would limit clubs to spending a maximum of 85 per cent of their revenue on squad-related expenses, aligning with similar rules introduced by UEFA. From next season, UEFA plans to reduce its revenue-to-spending cap to 70 per cent for clubs involved in its competitions.

The top-to-bottom anchoring (TBA) system, however, is more contentious. It would enforce a strict cap on how much a club can spend on squad costs, calculated as five times the amount received by the club earning the least from central Premier League funds.

Critics, including the PFA, argue that TBA effectively introduces an indirect cap on player salaries. Some clubs, such as Manchester United and Manchester City, have also expressed opposition to the proposal, fearing it would weaken their ability to compete with elite European teams.

Accusations of Withholding Information

The PFA has accused the Premier League of failing to follow proper consultation protocols, which are required for any matters impacting player wages or conditions.

Under the rules, the Premier League and English Football League (EFL) must consult with the PFA through the Professional Game Negotiating and Consultative Committee (PFNCC). Any changes that affect players cannot proceed without the union’s agreement.

However, the PFA’s lawyers, Mills and Reeve, claim the Premier League missed its own deadline to provide an updated version of the SCR before Christmas. Instead, clubs received the document on 9 January—too late for meaningful discussions during a PFNCC meeting held on 8 January.

The union further alleges it only received the full 87-page SCR manual after an ad-hoc PFNCC meeting on 20 January, despite indications that clubs had access to the document as early as July last year.

PFA’s Position on the Financial Rules

The PFA remains firmly opposed to the introduction of TBA, stating it imposes an unnecessary cap on player wages under the guise of financial regulation.

The union believes such measures are not only unfair to players but also risk undermining the competitiveness of Premier League clubs on the international stage.

In their letter to the Premier League’s legal team at Linklaters, the PFA’s lawyers described the handling of the proposed financial rules as “flagrant breaches” of the league’s obligations to consult with the union.

As the 13 February vote has taken place, the tension between the PFA and the Premier League appears to be escalating, with the prospect of legal proceedings looming should the union’s demands for consultation remain unmet.

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