The SIG Column – 16 November

After another drab England friendly, Drew Barrand, head of media at
Sport Industry Group, asks whether the concept of such games as a commercial
asset is under threat…

‘Friendlies. What’s the point?

As the dust settles on the latest drab non-competitive bore draw that the
England football team puts itself and the watching millions through, it’s an
increasingly valid question for the football-loving general public to ask.

The concept of an international friendly performs two key objectives for the
FA. Firstly it allows the England team to train together for 3 days, an entirely
necessary and vital obligation for any international team if it is to perform
well in games where the result actually matters.

Secondly it brings in revenue. Putting aside the income derived from gate
receipts and merchandising for a second, friendlies form an integral part of the
FA’s sponsorship and broadcast contracts in that they add substantial content to
packages that, without which, would amount to a couple of exposure hits,
admittedly highly sought after ones, a year. For brands and broadcasters who are
looking to grab the limelight more frequently than the two yearly cycle of
European Championships and World Cups, friendlies perform an important role.

And this is where the problem lies. The whole idea of friendlies as a revenue
driver is based on the fact that the football hungry English fans can’t get
enough of the beautiful game. There’s a lot of truth in this cliché but there is
an overwhelming feeling that the current structure for friendlies is stretching
this devotion to its breaking point.

Looking around a packed pub on Wednesday night, you couldn’t help but notice
that, despite the presence of a myriad of TV screens which allow the punter to
view the match from every conceivable angle in the establishment, very few
people were actually watching.

The hundreds decked out in their England shirts and scarves seemed more
preoccupied with the banter with their mates than the game itself. Even the
sight of an England goal is only greeted with a barely audible grunt of
approval. Compare this with a competitive game and the difference is
astonishing. Fans’ eyes are glued to the screen throughout the game and the ball
hitting the back of the net sends unbridalled euphoria around the watching
millions.

So where’s it all gone wrong? It may be that the friendly concept is
fundamentally flawed. After all, even the most die-hard fan’s devotion must be
tested by a game where the result doesn’t matter.

To its credit, the FA has tried to fiddle with the structure of friendlies to
add some competitive juice. Gone are the Sven-orchestrated days where the
half-time oranges coincided with the entire team being substituted for a bunch
of reserves that the fans didn’t exactly pay to see play. England’s schedule of
friendly internationals also now reads more like a World Cup finals fixture list
than a round-robin tour of the more bizarre footballing nations.

But none of these changes seems to have done the trick. Whether it’s the
autopilot nature of the playing performance or the simple fact that when you
don’t care about the result, it’s difficult to be enthusiastic, it is clear that
fans are falling out of love with the friendly international.

When this lethargy from the general public eventually starts to manifest
itself in dwindling TV figures – and all the signs suggest that it will -,
sponsors and broadcasters alike are going to start asking the FA some hard
questions. Questions for which it appears, there are no natural answers.’