Big bash lessons for AFL

[barry]

the big bash is a roaring success in cricket because they have thrown out outdated traditions, made the comp fair (eg. grand final venue), even spread of teams, Shortened game, great coverage and commentators. Leapfrogging the A-league in a single bound.

Some savoury lessons for the AFL traditionalists i think

[Conor_Dillon]

To be fair, T20 cricket has only been around for the blink of an eye in comparison to other sports, and the Big Bash for even less time. It's almost impossible to compare it to AFL.

[barry]

Its shown there was an untapped hunger for cricket that the traditional competitions werent catering for, allowing competitors an opening to expand into their fan base.

IMHO, AFL with its parocrialism and structural problems is far more vunerable than cricket is now.

[desredandwhite]

Well, the NBL was going to conquer the world in the mid-90s too.

I think it teaches us nothing until it's sustained over a number of seasons. And even so it depends on what you define as "roaring success".

Average Crowds:
AFL - 33,000 across 206 matches
BBL - 23,000 across 35 matches

[Conor_Dillon]

Its shown there was an untapped hunger for cricket that the traditional competitions werent catering for, allowing competitors an opening to expand into their fan base.

IMHO, AFL with its parocrialism and structural problems is far more vunerable than cricket is now.

I think you'll find that the BBL crowd figures and television ratings are mainly due to the structure and timing of the tournament. The idea behind having it essentially every night for the entire holiday period was a masterstroke.

[WolfGang]

Its shown there was an untapped hunger for cricket that the traditional competitions werent catering for, allowing competitors an opening to expand into their fan base.

IMHO, AFL with its parocrialism and structural problems is far more vunerable than cricket is now.

The AFL Grand Final is scheduled at the MCG for the foreseeable future.

Part of the grounds re-build was conditional on the GF being at the ground - unsure until when - so the GF is not going to be moved for some time.

[CureTheSane]

I tend to agree with Barry.
I have many female friends who don't care at all about cricket, until the Big Bash started.
Still amazes me that it has made so many inroads in such a short time.
Definitely food for thought for other codes, including more traditional cricket.

I guess in the end the real test is dollars.
I arrange tv advertising in Canberra over each school holidays.
Of the three main networks, this year I chose Ten, partly because of air time during the Big Bash.

[barry]

I think you'll find that the BBL crowd figures and television ratings are mainly due to the structure and timing of the tournament. The idea behind having it essentially every night for the entire holiday period was a masterstroke.

I think the opposite. Its over saturated in a way. BBL is successful despite that. Imagine the AFL playing a game every night during the July school holidays. Wouldnt work IMO.

The great thing about the BBL is that its intrinscially fair. You play H&A, each team travels about the same. finals, grand finals are earnt. They dont seem to have stadium deals dictating how the comp is run. They havent chased the pay TV dollar. Ticket prices are at a level where people arent discouraged.
It does make the AFL look very ordinary in comparison.

[Conor_Dillon]

I think the opposite. Its over saturated in a way. BBL is successful despite that. Imagine the AFL playing a game every night during the July school holidays. Wouldnt work IMO.

The great thing about the BBL is that its intrinscially fair. You play H&A, each team travels about the same. finals, grand finals are earnt. They dont seem to have stadium deals dictating how the comp is run. They havent chased the pay TV dollar. Ticket prices are at a level where people arent discouraged.
It does make the AFL look very ordinary in comparison.

I'm not sure the weather in the July school holidays would be very conducive to large crowds but I'm sure the TV ratings would be off the chart. AFL players obviously need longer between games though as well which makes that kind of thing hard.

I agree that things could be done in terms of equality/fan engagement/ticket pricing etc. but as with most things in life the $$ will always come first unfortunately.

[barry]

I'm not sure the weather in the July school holidays would be very conducive to large crowds but I'm sure the TV ratings would be off the chart. AFL players obviously need longer between games though as well which makes that kind of thing hard.

I agree that things could be done in terms of equality/fan engagement/ticket pricing etc. but as with most things in life the $$ will always come first unfortunately.

I think BBL has shown that not to be true.

In fact its turned on its head everything we've been forced to accept from AFL HQ. They've even shortened the game so they can play more games.

As someone said above, BBL has allowed cricket to tap into a whole new market of casual fans.
The AFL hasnt done this for ages. If you look at membership (locked in fans) vs crowds, there isnt much difference. There simply arent many casual fans engaged in AFL. This is a very dangerous place to be, and why it is having so much trouble expanding into NSW and QLD.

[CureTheSane]

I generally don't get to the cricket.
Busy time for me over summer.
But I went to see the Renegades and the Scorchers at Etihad a week or so ago.
My wife and 3 of my kids came with me - all of them new to cricket.
They enjoyed it, but missed the commentary, which is a fair indictment on Ch 10

[royboy42]

I generally don't get to the cricket.
Busy time for me over summer.
But I went to see the Renegades and the Scorchers at Etihad a week or so ago.
My wife and 3 of my kids came with me - all of them new to cricket.
They enjoyed it, but missed the commentary, which is a fair indictment on Ch 10

How is missing the commentary an indictment of channel 10?

I'd take it as a compliment to ch 10.

[Melbourne_Blood]

I think that the scheduling is a huge part of the success as someone said earlier in the thread. The casual or non cricket fan might watch 5 games in a week on their summer holiday nights ( let's face it, their ain't much else on the box) and all of a sudden they get into it. It's a lot more action compressed into a smaller package, there's bright colours and flashing stumps, it's visually attractive. I love it, but test cricket is my favourite. It also comes at a time when people are having major sporting withdrawals ( afl and league and union fans are anyway) and are craving something to watch of a night time. I sincerely doubt its popularity is rooted in its fairness. " hey, that big bash seems to have a more even fixture than the afl, let's all tune in ever night and pack out the MCG for a domestic cricket match to show our support for a fair sporting fixture" . Said no one ever

[Meg]

I agree that the scheduling is a key reason in BBL's popularity, but that also means BBL is not entirely 'fair' as the timing is when some of the best players are not available to play for their franchises. The Sydney Sixers, whom I notionally support, are most affected by this with Smith, Starc (injured anyway but the principle remains), Hazlehurst and Lyon (most of the time) not available. Mind you I don't understand why they were contracted by the Sixers given it should have be known they would not be able to play.

I am a big cricket fan and go to a lot of matches at the SCG, but am luke-warm about the BBL. I have the TV on in the background with half an eye on the games but I don't go to the matches, the noise and hoopla annoy me. But I happily concede it has been a huge success in attracting families with children and certainly hope this translates to an interest in traditional cricket. And following on from one-day cricket 20/20 cricket has certainly played a role in improving cricketers' skills, e.g. 'death' bowling and the art of bowling yorkers.

One thing that has really impressed me though has been the success and popularity of the Women's BBL. The AFL might be looking to this for some lessons as they crank up their plans to introduce a women's AFL competition.

[Meg]

I think another key reason for BBL's popularity is the high scoring in a short time-frame. The high scoring is facilitated by changes in the traditional cricket rules. For example, fielding placement restrictions, limiting bowlers to a maximum of four overs, a free hit for the batter following a no-ball. In this sense 20/20 cricket is a sub-set of traditional cricket. Although some are now arguing it might supersede traditional cricket there is still a big interest in test matches when the teams are evenly matched.

Perhaps the more obvious comparison for the AFL is rugby sevens in which traditional rugby rules have been modified to enable faster play and much higher scoring in short matches. Perhaps there might be a model there for the AFL to develop a sub-set of traditional footy. I don't know much about either rugby or rugby sevens, but from what I've read, however, the sevens is now moving away from being a feeder into traditional rugby into being a stand-alone game (which entry into the Olympics will surely further encourage).