December 1998

Live Soccer

Taken off the Screen

By Alex Chow

     Football is one of the most popular sports in the territory, and Hong Kong has its own soccer league, one of the earliest professional leagues in Asia.

     However, the average attendance of soccer matches has been declining since the past few years. According to Apple Daily (September 29th,1998), only 21,201 people went to a total of eleven matches in September 1997. The lowest attendance in that month was just 333.

     In response to this problem, the Hong Kong Football Association announced in August that under the new contract signed with Television Broadcast Limited, no local soccer match will be broadcast live on TV, unless the match is a sold-out.

     Said Mr. Tsang Wai Chung, "technical development executive of the HKFA: "The policy of not showing football matches live on TV is only one of the measures that the HKFA has carried out this year to stimulate attendance."

     Besides, the HKFA also decided to arrange two matches in a match day. This means that football fans can watch two matches for the price of one.

     "Games will be played on Thursdays and weekends regularly to ensure that people know when a match will be scheduled," explained Mr. Tsang.

     However, he commented that these policies were only packaging strategies". The current situation will not change unless the quality of Hong Kong soccer improves.

     "Organization of youth soccer programs by football clubs, availability of training fields, quality of players, coaches and referees are all important factors.

     "However, it will take a long time to raise the local soccer standard," he said.

     In Hong Kong, there are some newsgroups on the Internet about soccer affairs. Following are some messages extracted from the newsgroups "hk.rec.sport.soccer" and "starforum.leisure.sports.soccer":

     "The expected quality of a match and the confrontation atmosphere between the two rival teams are what drive us to attend a football match," Billy, a newsgroup user wrote.

"Whether or not there is live TV coverage is not the real problem," wrote 'Eggegg', another football fan, "People will go to football matches if they really want to."

     'Shekshek' thinks the HKFA should do more to promote local soccer.

     He wrote, "In fact, some matches are of high quality. If they are shown on TV, people will realize that it is worthwhile to go to the matches."

     While live TV coverage is cancelled, live radio coverage by Radio Television Hong Kong is still available.

     Although it only covers the second half of matches, radio can still serve as a supplement to people who attend soccer matches.

     Said Mr. Tsang: "Sometimes the audience cannot catch up with the action in a match. Radio commentators can inform them what is going on.

     "Still, I must admit that TV captures the games better than radio, but this also explains why people are discouraged from going to matches.

     "Withholding live TV coverage will only be a temporary policy. It will take time to see if it is really effective."

     The HKFA will evaluate the result of this policy when this year’s season closes. By then, it will decide whether to retain this policy in the future or not.

     "I hope live TV coverage and high attendance rates can coexist," said Mr. Tsang, "Then, we can promote Hong Kong soccer at a much broader level and at the same time gain more support from the public."

     Mr. Peter Shao Chi Leung, consultant of South China Athletic Association Football Team, witnessed a lot of changes in the Hong Kong football scene over the past 16 years.

     "The quality of players has been declining since they have many hobbies other than football alone," he commented, "they are unable to concentrate on the sport."

     According to Mr. Leung, the emergence of Cable TV also contributes to the present situation.

     As more overseas matches are shown on Cable TV, people have wider choices and find the standard of Hong Kong soccer inferior.

     Availability of live TV coverage is another reason why the attendance is so low.

     "The average attendance has increased recently," he said, "this could be due to the absence of live coverage of matches on TV."

     While live coverage lowers attendance, delayed coverage could serve as an alternative.

     Explained Mr. Leung: "People who cannot attend a match can watch it later, but it won’t discourage fans who want to go to the field and see it live.

     "Nevertheless, the only way to increase the attendance is to improve the quality of Hong Kong football. Therefore, we have discussed with team coaches and officials of the HKFA how to improve the quality."

     "Up to this moment, we are satisfied and happy with the attendance figures and revenue received by the club.

     "For example, this year's total attendance of the Challenge Shield has increased by 100% compared with last year's figures."

     "But we should work hard together for a brighter future," he stressed once again.