In case you werent paying attention, heres whats come across our desk in the last week here at Footy Industry.
A-league and local Association Football
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A-LEAGUE boss Greg O’Rourke will recommend to the outgoing Football Federation Australia board which two teams should join an expanded national competition but wants the governing body’s new board to endorse his decision..
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Soccer players in Casey are getting a major boost thanks to $5 million in funding from the Andrews Labor Government. Minister for Sport John Eren and Member for Cranbourne Jude Perera today announced four football pitches and a new female friendly pavilion will be developed at Casey Fields thanks to the Labor Government’s Growth Areas Infrastructure Contribution program.
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Football Federation Victoria (FFV) has revealed plans to implement sweeping reforms to its top tiers for the 2020 season that will radically alter the shape of the state’s elite competitions whilst aiming to improve pathways and reduce costs for its junior player base.
- AN Adelaide-based sports management company has instigated talks to bring superstar Cristiano Ronaldo and his Italian club Juventus to Adelaide Oval but the State Government isn’t interested this time.
- A-League expansion has been put on ice with the announcement of two new teams to be pushed back. A delayed decision is expected next month which would likely push entry into the league back a season to 2020-21, but Canberra have firmed as one of the favourites.
- Football Federation Australia has serious concerns over the financial backing for one of its favoured bids for A-League expansion with no certainty surrounding funding for Team 11’s stadium. The bid hailing from South-East Melbourne is among the frontrunners to be granted a licence to enter the competition, but is not yet assured of receiving much-needed grants from the Victorian state government to build its permanent home.
- WOLLONGONG and Ipswich are out of the A-League expansion running after Football Federation Australia slashed the remaining bids down to six.
- Victorian Government announces a further $20m towards the Victorian “World Game Fund” if the Andrews government is re-elected in the coming state election.
- FFV rebrands as Football Victoria;
- Thrifty has joined forces with the Brisbane Roar for the upcoming campaign.
- The Motor Accident Commission (MAC) will sponsor Adelaide United for the coming season.
- More fans than ever will be able to watch the Hyundai A-League and Westfield W-League this season with 19 broadcast partners covering 79 territories set to broadcast Australian football around the world. And for the first time, both leagues will broadcast on YouTube and Twitter in territories that are not covered by traditional broadcasters.
- Hyundai A-League 2018/19 matches to be streamed for live, fast and data-free for the first time on Telstra network with My Football Live App and Telstra Live Pass
Australian Football League and local Australian Football
- Can We Handle A Footy And Cricket Season That Never Ends?
- Is the AFL trade period bigger than the game?
- North Melbourne have agreed to play an extra AFL game at Blundstone Arena in Hobart from next year. The club announced an extension of their deal on Tuesday, increasing their commitment to play four games in Tasmania until at least the end of the 2021 season.
- The Darebin Falcons are flying high after Darebin Council agreed to contribute funding to the Club. The deal, which will see $160,000 provided to the club over the next two years, will enable the Falcons to continue fielding an elite VFL Women’s (VFLW) team and contributing to the wider Darebin community.
- Lendi has announced a new partnership as co-major sponsor of 2018 AFL premiership winner, the West Coast Eagles Football Club, in a strategic move that will help Lendi broaden its brand presence.
- THE Port Adelaide Football Club has been instrumental in facilitating the first visit to South Australia of delegates from the China Chamber of International Commerce. Around 20 business people from 14 businesses will arrive in Adelaide in late October.
Australian Rugby Union and local Rugby Union
- Fiji’s hopes of Super Rugby inclusion are fading fast as World League negotiations delay an agreement on the future of Super Rugby. Fiji Rugby Union in June submitted a bid to join the southern hemisphere’s professional rugby competition but have all but given up hope of success after SANZAAR upped its financial demands on prospective entrants.
- The new Western Sydney Stadium could become the Waratahs’ second home in 2019 after the franchise announced plans to take three home games to the stadium.
National Rugby League and local Rugby League
- The Eels have rejected a deal to play their home games at the new Parramatta stadium, claiming the current offer would “impact the club negatively for the next 25 years”.
- PARRAMATTA will explore hosting games at Penrith, Campbelltown, North Sydney or the Central Coast as an incomprehensible last resort to avoid remaining homeless next year.
- Parramatta says the board has been offered commercial terms by the stadium operator that are not acceptable to the Board of the Parramatta Eels Club or the Parramatta Leagues Club. Therefore, when the NRL draw is released in the near future, the venue for the Club’s home games in 2019 will be marked as “TBC” (to be confirmed).
- The Telegraph has also revealed the
#NRL will be changing the premiership logo in 2019. The colour of the logo will change to match each club’s jersey similar to the@ALeague template. - INTERNATIONAL rugby league is set for a shake-up with Australia, New Zealand and Tonga on the verge of taking part in a historic tri-nation series which would see the last-placed country relegated to play other Pacific nations.
Other Australian Sport
International Sport
- The Netherlands and Belgium are considering merging their top-flight football leagues to form a new cross-nation competition
- Major League Soccer ‘to introduce shirt-sleeve sponsors in 2019’. A source indicated to the publication that those sponsorships could be worth anywhere between $500,000 and $1m per year
- NFL owners voted Tuesday to lift the longstanding cross-ownership prohibition, meaning they are now free to own a different professional sports team in cities that have an NFL team. That change, approved at the league’s annual fall meeting, could have a significant impact on the sports landscape.
