Football Victoria CEO Kimon Taliadoros: “We have a demand for playing football exceeding the ability to provide opportunities”

Kimon Taliadoros played for some of Australia’s biggest clubs in the National Soccer League, and joined Football Victoria (FV) as president of the federation in 2015 before becoming Chief Executive Officer (CEO) in February of this year. He spoke to Soccerscene about the challenges he has faced so far at FV, increasing participation in football, and how sport serves as an escape for many in our community.

Q. What challenges have you faced as CEO of FV?

Taliadoros: Football has the most significant challenges, however the most significant opportunities, because we part of the global game. Within Victoria, we have an extremely competitive marketplace with Melbourne effectively being the hub for Australian sport, and Australia’s national sports – cricket, AFL, basketball, and netball. The extremely competitive local market competing for resources, support and athletes remains the ongoing challenge for football.

Q. How can FV further engage upcoming athletes to win them over to football?

Taliadoros: We believe that if we can attract people to try football in any of its numerous formats – small-sided, full-sized, social football, futsal, boys, girls, men, women, people of all backgrounds and genders – and we can produce an enjoyable game day experience we can continue to develop that relationship with the sport, that will turn into a lifetime engagement with the sport in a number of different ways – as a player, as an official, as a volunteer or as a fan. We hope to engage with someone who enjoys the benefits of a lifetime relationship with football.

Q. How important is having pathways for inclusion in football?

Taliadoros: It is critical that football is accessible for all. It is Football Victoria’s obligation to ensure that it is available to everyone. From a gender perspective, we set ourselves a target of 50/50 participation by 2027 back in 2018, and we committed to achieving that not only from a playing perspective but also from a refereeing, coaching and administrative perspective. At the very heart of our purpose is to ensure the football experience is available to everyone who lives in Victoria.

Q. Phil Brown mentioned increased participation in Powerchair Football is a goal for Capital Football, does FV have any similar goals?

Taliadoros: We intend to expand all our programs in Victoria until we meet demand, including for blind football, AAA, women and girls, wheelchair and power football. This satisfies the goal of being accessible, which is a really important word, ensuring it is available for all. This covers a range of criteria, including the format, the cost, and the convenience. This has been the heart of our role as Football Victoria, as custodians of the game, and it remains our goal.

Q. The price of playing football in Australia is often discussed, how can we make it cheaper to play?

Taliadoros: It is a significant challenge for the football ecosystem. The football economy has historically relied on a user-pay system, so the grassroots has subsidised the football economy in Australia. There are two ways we can try to address the pricing issue. The first is to increase the supply of football, which would lead to a reduction in prices through more football more often, more clubs, and more facilities. The second element of that is being able to generate a football economy that results in the professional game being able to contribute to the development of football in much the same way as cricket, AFL, and NRL – the most popular professional sports in Australia – invest significantly in their communities.

Q. How do we achieve that?

Taliadoros: It’s the growth of our key brands. Our Socceroos, Matildas, our underage teams, and the FFA Cup. All those commercial brands and assets that are critical to being able to generate a commercial outcome that can be invested in grassroots to further develop and grow.

Q. Does the disruption from lockdowns have the potential to drive up prices and make football more inaccessible?

Taliadoros: Not necessary, the disruption may have an impact on clubs from an income perspective. From a sports perspective, the demand is high at all levels, increasingly so from a community sports perspective. Community sport is increasingly being recognised as essential to our social fabric, so that has resulted in a very strong interest in participation. I wouldn’t have thought that would have been an impact on cost, but certainly, it would have affected families in certain ways.

One area that has been affected, because it has had such a significant effect on small businesses, is the strain on clubs who typically rely on small businesses for sponsorship and support. There has been an impact on clubs from a revenue perspective. The other area we have seen impact is the number of volunteers. They have come in fewer numbers, which means the demands around COVID Safe community sport are considerably greater, so there has been an additional strain on clubs to put on their community football.

Q. We are seeing how important sport is to society, is football an escape for people in these times?

Taliadoros: Without a doubt. We know this because we’ve had three lockdowns, and for every lockdown we’ve had this year in Victoria, we’ve had constant demand on our communications that clubs are provided with the latest information to enable them to get back to playing as soon as possible. This is essentially driven by their players, their coaches, and their local communities. We have very strong evidence that community sport from a football perspective has a greater demand now, perhaps even more so than ever before.”

Q. What will be the biggest challenges for FV this year and going forward?

Taliadoros: Our biggest challenges remain the same as they have been for the past five years, and even before that. We have a demand for playing football exceeding the ability to provide opportunities. This generally means facilities, which is a challenge. The second greatest challenge is to ensure that we can drive effective take-up and participation from women and girls. We need to leverage the incredible Matildas, the home of the Matildas that is being built out at La Trobe, and the Women’s World Cup arriving in two years. Those are the two greatest challenges that will remain for Football Victoria.

McDonald’s closing in on naming rights deal with Ligue 1

Fast food giant McDonald’s are edging ever closer to securing a three-year deal that would make them title sponsor of French football’s top-flight Ligue 1.

The deal will see the top division be renamed as ‘Ligue 1 McDonald’s’ and all branding of McDonald’s will be included in uses of the league logo.

The Professional Football League (LFP) currently has a title sponsorship deal with Uber Eats, that was last extended in November 2021 until the end of the 2023/24 season, which sees the food delivery platform pay around €17 million (AU$28.1 million) a year.

Reports suggested however that Uber Eats were looking to extend the deal but on cut-price deal due to the apparent lack of competition.

However, now McDonald’s has entered the bidding war, it’s believed to have made an offer worth €60 million (AU$99.3 million) over three years – a significant €3 million (AU$4.96 million) a year increase on the league’s current deal.

Reports also added that the Ligue 1 media team are in the process of writing up a press release for the deal with expected backlash. Whilst the leagues potential deal has been the butt of all jokes on social media, it is also expected to receive criticism due to the league associating itself with a brand known for its unhealthy foods.

McDonald’s are extremely involved in football, especially in Australia with the company partnered with FIFA for both the men’s and women’s world cups on top of the APL and multiple state federations locally.

Also important to note that this title sponsor deal with an expected revenue increase would net some vital additional income for the LFP with the organisation yet to lock down Ligue 1’s domestic broadcast rights for the 2024 to 2029 cycle after a long, gruelling standstill from multiple companies that has affected the league’s profits.

This naming rights deal has an element of risk to it with the potential for poor reputation and harsh criticism but the increase in funds per year will be a nice touch for the organisation.

It is imperative that the LFP manage communications correctly to ensure it goes smoothly and continue on their journey to improving league growth through the media division as they outlined back in mid-2023.

Borussia Dortmund and PRIME confirm partnership

Borussia Dortmund confirm PRIME hydration as the club’s official hydration partner in a bid to improve the club’s standing in North America.

Since its inception in 2022, PRIME Hydration is a sports drink alternative that has disrupted norms and completely blown up into the mainstream. Led by popular influencers KSI and Logan Paul, the brand has huge appeal in the US and now are expanding abroad.

In football, PRIME currently has deals with the biggest clubs in the world including Barcelona, Arsenal and Bayern Munich with a clear indication that PRIME are solely focused on attracting European consumers.

On social media, Dortmund’s fan base comprises more than 53 million people and the club have the highest average stadium attendance in world football. PRIME’s innovative hydration solutions and brand will be exposed worldwide to football fans.

Carsten Cramer, Chief Marketing Officer of BVB explained the move to target that huge US market through PRIME.

“BVB is very excited and proud that two ambitious brands have joined forces. PRIME is an upcoming brand with popular products, especially for younger people – a significant target audience for BVB to manifest its continuous growth,” Cramer said in a club statement.

“Therefore, we’re convinced that both brands will benefit tremendously through this partnership. BVB on the one hand will help Prime to conquer the German market and beyond whereas Prime will further elevate BVB’s brand especially in the US, its home market.”

PRIME co-founders KSI and Logan Paul expressed their excitement on adding another club to their portfolio.

“Witnessing the exponential growth of PRIME has been truly remarkable, and none of it would be possible without visionary partners like Borussia Dortmund. We are thrilled to align with such a prestigious and successful sports club, and we eagerly anticipate creating unforgettable moments with the club and for fans.” they said in a statement.

Borussia Dortmund also recently opened a New York office to further boost the brand’s presence in the North American continent.

This move isn’t as straightforward as other big leagues have made expansion look because of the German football fan culture.

Dortmund chief executive Hans-Joachim Watzke suggested that despite the German football fans’ opposition to outside investors, they wouldn’t be against expansion or new sources of revenue.

This deal with PRIME is a strategic long-term move by Borussia Dortmund to crack into the top clubs in world football on revenue and brand exposure by targeting an underutilised big market in the United States on the eve of a groundbreaking host 2026 World Cup.

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