A-Leagues commissioner Nick Garcia wants fans to reserve judgment on the competition’s maiden Unite Round, insisting the event can become a staple of the Sydney sporting calendar.
The weekend-long festival of football will bring all 13 clubs across the ALM and ALW to Sydney to play games at Leichhardt Oval, CommBank Stadium and Allianz Stadium from Friday through to Sunday.
The initiative, which mirrors the success of the AFL's Gather Round in Adelaide and the NRL’s Magic Round in Brisbane, was announced in October.
Unite Round replaced the unpopular deal that sold grand final hosting rights to the NSW government for three years.
Vowing to “electrify the city with football”, Garcia called for fans to view the success of the round on a long-term basis.
“We’re definitely looking at this over a two-year horizon,” Garcia said.
“There's always things that you want to do in year one, but in year one you want to nail what you do (well).
“Then you can build on it next year when you've got the kind of confidence and the habitual stuff in there.
“Looking at different times in the season and all that kind of stuff is definitely on the table.”
NSW Tourism Minister John Graham said the state government was hoping fans flock to Sydney, claiming they expect "42,000 people" would travel to the event over the next two seasons.
Garcia said an aggregate attendance of more than 30,000 across the first weekend would be a pass mark.
“I think in year one of an event, you've got to make sure it runs really well and fans have a good time,” he said.
“I think if we get into the early 30,000s we’d be doing really well.
“Year one, into it slightly late to make it happen, we’ve had a shorter runway.
“The last few days have had really good spikes in ticket sales. Interestingly, quite a few are coming interstate.
“But really, it's about the whole picture, and next year will also be a really good indicator to expect some significant growth.
“We want to make our events anchors in the calendar, long-term things that fans look forward to.”
Unlike the NRL and AFL equivalents, the A-League is pitting its male and female competitions against each other.
However, Garcia rejected the suggestion that it was forcing fans to choose between which event to attend.
“The thing for us is our whole proposition is about unity, equality and doing stuff at the same time,” he said.
“To be the first to do this was a big deal for us.”
