The second-ever edition of the Unite Round sparked some interesting debates and narratives about whether the A-League can properly host an inclusive event of this scale.
As the contract with Destination NSW expires, the question remains; Is the experiment worth committing to or should it be scrapped?
A potentially unfair comparison would be to NRL’s Magic Round and AFL’s Gather Round who managed to succeed with the concept in its first two seasons. It’s quite simple, the A-League don’t have the wide-ranging committed supporter base to reach those heights just yet.
But will they do so quick enough for this investment to be worth it?
Challenges that undermine Unite Round
It was a weekend that had a few positives, as mentioned in the A-Leagues press release last week but was certainly marred by a slew of negative and/or embarrassing moments.
Whilst match-going fans, who spent the weekend in Sydney, anecdotally seemed to truly enjoy the experience, there simply weren’t enough that flew out to watch their team play.
The 45,000-capacity Allianz Stadium had a rather empty look for most of the games, mirroring Covid lockdown football, and the lack of atmosphere really took away from the experience that was promised when the concept replaced the controversial Sydney Grand Final deal last season.
For a league that has constantly struggled with attendances since the horror 2021-22 season (which saw attendances slashed in half post-covid), the ability to hold a full-scale weekend of football in one city is realistically never going to work, especially in a cost-of-living crisis.
Another issue that is increasingly being brought up in media and fan spaces is the NSW Police releasing a statement before the weekend had started, ensuring that they were going to crackdown on pre-game marches, flares, banners and flags in an attempt to ‘keep everyone safe’.
Baffling for any hardcore fan, it was a truly tone-deaf action that stripped football of its core: intense and passionate tribalism.
Highlights of the weekend
Focusing on the positives, in the A-League press release, they revealed the numbers behind an improvement on last season’s first-ever United Round.
– 33 goals were scored across 12 games between both the Ninja A-League Women and Isuzu UTE A-League Men.
– Attendance was up 50% on the first-ever Unite Round with a cumulative match attendance of more than 71,000 fans. This was certainly helped by an amazing 30,777 crowd to watch the Sydney Derby.
– Over a thousand fans take part in grassroots clinics, tournament and fan zones.
Commenting on the overall feel of Unite Round 2024/25, Nick Garcia, A-Leagues Commissioner, said:
“It was a turbulent build up with a ticketing outage, a change in venue for our six Ninja A-League Women matches and a planned train strike – but we’re really proud to have welcomed 50% more fans from across Australia and New Zealand to Sydney compared to our first-ever Unite Round,” Garcia said in a press release.
“We really believe in the long term potential of this partnership with the NSW Government and Destination NSW, establishing a new tradition and welcoming football fans from across Australia and New Zealand to electrify this incredible city.
“This event really resonates with our young and diverse fanbase and aligns with our drive to unite communities through a shared love of football. It’s the pinnacle weekend of professional football, and we hope this is a tradition that we can continue to build on and grow in the coming years.
“It’s been a really strong start to our 20th season. Crowds have grown by 30% year-on-year across the first four rounds of the Isuzu UTE A-League Men, while the new Saturday night doubleheader on 10 Bold has also increased the free-to-air national audience by 34%. We look forward to continuing this momentum across both leagues as we move into the summer period.”
The path forward for Unite Round
The words from Nick Garcia suggest that the A-League are committed to making this concept work and are hoping the progress made in the last 10 months can be replicated over time.
The direction in which the United Round goes in is still unknown with the expiration of Destination NSW but it also could lead to an innovation that bursts this weekend into life.
Do they try it in New Zealand for a year? Or up in the Gold Coast where people might have more incentive to enjoy a weekend up in the Sunshine Coast?
The chance for experimentation surely has to be attempted considering the trends suggesting that this weekend won’t be considered an outright ‘success’ in the short term.
Conclusion
In the end, the future of the Unite Round hinges on bold experimentation and a commitment to creating a uniquely football-centric spectacle.
Whether it’s exploring new locations like New Zealand or the Gold Coast, or innovating to better engage fans across the country, the A-League has an opportunity to redefine what a national celebration of football can look like.
The league’s struggles with attendance and atmosphere are real, but so too is the potential for growth in a competition that resonates with Australia’s diverse and passionate football community.
The Unite Round has shown glimmers of promise amid its challenges—now it’s up to the A-League to seize that promise and turn it into a tradition worth rallying behind.
