lockyno1 said:
If it was so popular how come it is not on free-to-air TV:lol: ....Oh that's right- most people in Australia could not care less about soccer!
Don't make assumptions.
Soccer is very popular in Australia but the problem is the Australian product has been poor for so long. Most people I know like one of the English Premier League teams or European teams. Soccer or 'football' is a very attractive product to many people with all the big name Europeans and South Americans, but the A-League lacks star power still. It has certainly improved with the socceroos making the World Cup and the A-League is better than the NSL, but at the end of the day it is still only on pay TV.
Back to my original point. Don't make assumptions. If soccer had the money in this country to attract more big names like Dwight Yorke and even keep some of the best Aussie talent, then the A-League would be a threat to the NRL. But since it lacks star power and tradition is in its infancy it won't.
Why are people so negative? Support the game and get our own product right. Don't worry about other sports and their supposed 'threat'! We can't control what they do. The NRL needs to promote the game because it is great product in this country. Worldwide soccer is astronomically more popular but either way they aren't a threat to us in Aus for a while yet, and we will never be a threat to them globally. End of!