When it comes to initiatives to attract new punters to sport then you can usually take your lead from the Americans. Just not literally as I was to find out during one of my spells playing across the pond. From the brilliant to the barking I saw all sorts of ideas during my time at Colorado Rapids and Rochester Rhinos.
So it’s no surprise the Friday and Saturday evening kick off trials in Scottish football are being conducted by clubs with American owners. Good on Hibs for volunteering to test the return of Friday night football next month because we need to freshen our game up. Just don’t go down the Charleston Battery route which ended up stinking out one 90 minutes I’ll never forget.
The majority of initiatives in the MLS and USL Championships involved cheap food or drink included in the price of the ticket - pizza for a dollar or pints for a couple of bucks type stuff. Sometimes it was a carnival for the kids or bring a pal for free.
But the good people at Charleston decided to go further and make that bring your DOG for free. Needless to say it was chaos. They’d set up a puppy assault course type things at the side of the park as if it was Crufts. But the dogs weren’t interested and just charged onto the pitch before the game for some canine capers.
There must have been over a hundred dogs going mental and doing their business on the park and the game had to be held up so they could clear all the cr*p! There was dog sh*t all over the astro but even when the game kicked off the stench was still there and anyone eyeing up a slide tackle was soon thinking better of it. The punters probably thought they should have cleared us off with it because the game was every bit as rotten.
I’ve been used to taking a hounding from the stands - but that was certainly the first time the crowd were howling for me to be subbed! That instance aside there were plenty of good initiatives and I’m all for trying new things to keep the game attractive.
If Friday nights under the lights work then I’m all for more of that. Clubs need to realise they have to work hard on attracting punters and not just rely on their loyalty. These days football faces competition on a Saturday afternoon. Maybe on a Friday night you can get that exclusivity and attract a better crowd.
One thing I’m sure of is that, given time, Friday night matches could attract a better American audience for Scottish football. A Friday 7.30pm kick off would be anything between late morning and 2.30pm over in the States which is far better than the current Saturday and Sunday live matches which start at silly o’clock on the other side of the pond.
I used to get up out my bed on a Saturday morning and watch the early kick off in Scotland before my own game. But I’d have to tune in before 7am. In some places that would be 5am. If that had been an early evening on the Friday then I’m sure the viewership would have been far greater.
Why not try to tap into that market for viewers and potential sponsors? I’m pretty sure that’s what Ron Gordon, Dave Cormack and Mark Ogren will be thinking. On other matters I’m delighted to see Ryan Porteous back in the Scotland squad this week even if I reckon he’ll be a bit surprised.
The defender’s not been in top form so far this season but he has been a standout previously. Overall he deserves the recognition. He splits opinion but Ryan is a good player and is capable of holding his own at international level. It’s great for the club to have players in the international squad and hopefully he gets an opportunity to play.
It’ll give Ryan a boost. He’s yet to sign a new deal with the club and, to be honest, I don’t think he will. So he’ll be looking to get himself in the shop window by winning his first cap. Before that there’s a tasty looking encounter with Aberdeen in Leith this weekend.
The Dons have started well and there’s noises up there that Jim Goodwin has built a good side that’s capable of finishing third. So it’ll be a barometer for Hibs to see where they are. Off the back of a good win against Kilmarnock it’s important they get another home win. These are two clubs that should be minimum top six but the way Hearts are looking you’d fancy them both for third right now too.
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