As Australia was "whipped in to a Big Bash frenzy over Christmas," a couple of things became "abundantly clear about the A-League," according to Matt Windley of the HERALD SUN. For starters, Football Federation Australia "needs to beg, borrow or steal its way on to commercial television next season." Forget "trying to make money out of it, just have one of Seven, Nine and Ten take SBS’s one game a week and hope that generates some sorely needed mainstream publicity" before the next TV rights cycle begins the following year. The competition is "sitting on its hands when everyone is looking for something to do during their end-of-year break." Big Bash is played "pretty much every night and with the kids on school holidays it doesn’t matter when the matches are, they rate well on TV and are well attended." Apart from a game on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve, the A-League has "offered nothing outside its meat and potatoes line-up of Friday nights, Saturday nights and Sunday afternoons." A "few ideas:"
- 1. Play a "whole round in one day."
- 2. Crank it up "FFA Cup-style."
- 3. Go regional.
- 4. When "all else fails, stretch it out" (HERALD SUN, 1/10).
