Franchises prove loyalty and location matter little

Nov 1 2007 COMMENT by Sean McGuire, Liverpool Daily Post

THE ‘f’ word still arouses more anger and disgust than any other in British sport. Far worse than diving or bung or drugs, it is ‘franchises’ that causes the blood to boil of traditional fans.

But there are signs that slowly it is becoming part of our sporting culture.

This is not to include Everton’s move to the proposed Kirkby outpost, which is little different to Manchester United playing in Trafford.

Rather it is to look at the success of rugby union clubs who moved away from their traditional homes, including Sale’s shift to Stockport, and the London clubs of Saracens, Wasps and London Irish moving to Watford, Wycombe and Reading

The clubs have flourished, attracting much higher crowds than before, and not even Jonny Wilkinson can be entirely responsible for that.

Football’s only franchise club plying their trade in the English leagues, the MK Dons, had the highest attendance in League Two last Saturday by nearly 3,000 fans.

And the figure would’ve been one of the highest in League One and was only slightly below the average for Super League and the Guinness Premiership.

Their success proves that what is often assumed to be important, isn’t. Or at least is no longer important.

Clubs that provide value-for-money entertainment no longer rely on the old-fashioned values of loyalty and community.

By providing family-friendly facilities they can appeal to markets that were firmly off limits even 20 years ago.

But despite the drive to extend the supporters’ demographics, players seem increasingly inaccessible.

And that’s why franchises work in American sport. The fans can no longer relate to their heroes, the bond has been broken.

Baseball’s star man, third baseman Alex Rodriguez, has this week chosen to opt-out of the final three years of his £15m-a-year contract. His agent is now seeking £20m-a-year. Or, to put it another way, he will break through the $1-a-second barrier. Once it is impossible for fans to relate to the players, the clubs and governing bodies can stop trying to maintain the link.

Which helps to explain why NFL bosses moved one of only eight Miami home matches 4,400 miles across the Atlantic Ocean to Wembley.

The event thrilled British fans of American Football and the resulting commercial opportunities will be significant.

A balance could be struck for the globally-attractive European football teams to create a dual-structure. A shorter domestic season could sate the appetite of the home fans, followed by a global Champions League played at neutral venues.

Liverpool v AC Milan in Shanghai, Real Madrid v Flamengo in New York. Blanket TV coverage already means that the casual fan overwhelmingly outnumbers the paying spectator.

Because television makes it easy to be a fan of any team regardless of their location, it becomes increasingly irrelevant where their team actually plays.

The players are from all corners of the globe, as are the fans, so it is only logical that teams will one day play anywhere.