With the Australian Professional Leagues principally unbundling from Football Australia in December 2020, with the process finalised by mid-2021, a report has been released which outlines the transformation of the leagues within this time.
Following the remarkable Socceroos World Cup campaign, the report states that 65% of players within the 26-player squad were developed by A-Leagues academies.
The maturation of A-Leagues academies has also been a pressing matter for football within the Australian environment, many questioning the degree of effectiveness of investment.
A-League Men clubs have invested $45 million in youth development in recent seasons, giving rise to some of the new unearthed stars such as Newcastle United bound Garang Kuol amongst a plethora of emerging talents across the league.
A-League Men attendances are on an upward trajectory, at the time of writing increasing by 32%.
Coupled with a young and burgeoning supporter-base, as evidenced through the Socceroos live sites over the course of the past two weeks, the A-Leagues are able to set a precedent within this crucial area of the professional sporting arena in Australia.
This is also reflective in the newfound social media strategy employed by the APL’s digital department with esteemed media professionals contributing to the social media community of 4.1 million, which is up 12% from last year.
Broadcasting reach is also addressed, with 6.5 million watching A-Leagues games on Network Ten in 2022 and every game of the A-League Women being available lie and free on 10Play, which is more than any other women’s sport in Australia.
Dub Zone is defined as a ‘major content investment’, the ‘Goal Rush’ type program featuring Kat Haddad, Briana Goodchild and broadcaster Teo Pelilzzeri.
Additionally, Kick360 understands that there will be an additional marketing push from the APL in the coming days.
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