The Isuzu A-League finals series is a huge event in the footballing calendar, though its contribution to stagnant attendance numbers in the league is something to be said.
If the 2025/26 finals series follows similar patterns to those before it, it will gather huge traction and strong ticket sales.
It is the largest event for the domestic league, bringing in massive amounts of viewership through media and gate receipts.
Finals series from years past have shown this, with the 2024/25 final, a Melbourne derby, being sold out within 48 hours and gathering significant viewership online.
The idea of a finals series lies within the Australian sporting ethos; the other sporting codes have had this tradition for most of their existence, especially in recent history.
Football, though, is different from the rest of the sporting codes in Australia, unique even. This has historically contributed to its inability to integrate into the same supported status as other codes.
Many in the Australian footballing community, supporter groups, players, coaches, and even the new Director of Football Australia, have voiced concerns over fan numbers in the league competition.
It wouldn’t be absurd to say that maybe, though profitable now, the finals series is actually taking away from the league itself.
Consider the media image: the league winner is called the “minor premiership,” and ticket sales and viewership figures reveal a huge disparity between the two parts of the A-League.
It must be said that an alternative that could work in unison with the league and possibly increase viewership of the league itself would be a great advantage.
It would allow the league to gain more jeopardy and drama, which could build greater interest in attending league games.
One alternative is already here.
No other sporting code in Australia has both a league competition and a cup competition. Football in Australia does.
The Hahn’s Australia Cup is our equivalent to the FA Cup in England or the Copa del Rey in Spain.
These are competitions that offer a finals option in a different competition entirely. They generate huge traction while never diminishing the importance of the league and, therefore, its popularity.
These cup competitions cannot be discussed without acknowledging some obvious differences.
They don’t face the same popularity issues that football does in Australia. It’s obvious the Hahn’s Australia Cup doesn’t yet gain the traction that the finals series does.
However, for a healthy footballing environment with increasing fan numbers, it should.
The idea of elevating the Hahn’s Australia Cup and scaling back the finals series is a complex question, one that is treated like a “no-go zone” by many in the Australian footballing community, and that is understandable.
Though big changes like this might, in the end, be credible options for the future of the sport in this country.
Larger plans must be set in motion, strategies that can be worked towards and refined along the way. It is the process by which all large organisations, business models and even national governments build their strategies.
Such a shift will be scrutinised and pushed back against.
Though with further fine-tuning and smart investment in development, not to mention the introduction of promotion and relegation and the possibility of changing the footballing calendar.
It could replicate the success that these two-competition models already enjoy in other leagues.
The added importance that the premiership would gain, the reality that every game matters, could alongside other strategies entice fans to more games, increase viewership and ticket sales, and create more dedicated fan bases. It works in other nations, very well in fact.
The possibility of two teams lifting a trophy, rather than one single event defining it all, sounds like a strategy that could deliver more engagement over longer periods of time.
Maybe Australian football doesn’t need to answer this question just yet. It is complex, difficult and it would require a great deal of work, including significant investment into the game, which is another issue entirely.
Yet as low attendance numbers persist in the A-League, even alongside increased media viewership, something needs to change for football in Australia.
The rise in popularity of this game and its dedicated community deserves bold ideas and forward thinking.
Ideas like this could eventually begin to change the landscape of the beautiful game in Australia for the better.
