SANFL 2006 Annual Report

2006 has been a successful year for the SANFL Marketingand Corporate Affairs Department with highlights including a3.5% growth in attendances during the minor round, a 24.5%increase in print media coverage and support and an increasein marketing/sponsorship revenue.At the start of the season a strategic decision was made tofocus SANFL match promotion on the physical action andman-on-man contests that characterise SANFL Footy. Theadvertising tag line of “Keeping it Real” allowed us to furtherdifferentiate our product from other levels and codes offootball and to tap into a point of appeal for fans of traditionalfooty. Television, radio and press advertisements were tailoredto highlight these appealing aspects of our competition. Ourcoaches promoted and delivered an attacking style of play andthe public responded through ticket sales.The key values highlighted in the 2006 marketing campaignwere the accessibility, value for money and physical hardnessof SANFL footy. The strategy was successful in defining ourproduct to the marketplace and driving brand equity.S A N F L A N N U A L R E P O R T 2 0 0 62MARKETING & CORPORATE AFFAIRScovered over 90 minor round matches, with all covering thefinals series. Channel 31’s dedicated team produced twiceweekly shows, Total SANFL and SANFL Insight, providing 37hours of comprehensive SANFL coverage.FEATURE EVENTSA number of fixtures were developed as showcase roundsor themes:• SANFL Season Launch –“ Keeping it Real”.• Encounter Bay - Taking SANFL footy to the regions. Localresidents and holiday makers embraced this round withgreat excitement. Features included a giant jumping castle,a band, face painters, clowns and a range of kids’ activities.• “Double header” matches - The introduction of “doubleheader” matches at Adelaide Oval.• Saturday night football at Hamra Homes Oval proved popularwith fans - 7,329 spectators attended the round one match atthe ground – the highest attendance of the 2006 season.ATTENDANCESSANFL football continued to attract popular support with309,852 spectators attending matches in the 2006premiership season. This represents 2.3% growth on the2005 figures for the full season.Crowds in excess of 10,000 per round were achieved in 17 ofthe 23 minor round fixtures and a further 54,406 spectatorsattended the SANFL finals series.• Grassroots round – Clubs and players recognised the schoolsand community clubs from which League players emerge.• Living in the 70’s – A round of fun themed activities based on70’s fashion and music. Past SANFL/AFL champions StephenRowe and Wayne Weidemann provided the “talent” aroundwhich the “Living in the 70’s” television commercial andpromotion was based. This themed round encouragedspectators to dress in 70’s gear and come along to enjoy arange of 70’s activities, including 70’s music and 70’s cars atMEDIA COVERAGEABC TV’s weekly television broadcast of the SANFL Match ofthe Round attracted a metropolitan and regional viewingaudience of 1,495,953 during the 2006 season.Once again this was an extremely pleasing level of viewersupport, particularly given that the ABC TV broadcasts takeplace on Saturday afternoons when a large number offootball followers are themselves participating in the sport.The SANFL Grand Final attracted a viewing audience of169,549 people whilst the most highly viewed minor roundmatch occurred in Round 7 when 82,467 people tuned in tosee the North Adelaide v Port Adelaide Magpies match.Print media coverage of the SANFL competition increased by24.5%. The importance of the print media can never beunderestimated and the support of The Advertiser, SundayMail, Messenger Press and Boylen Publishing in critiquing,analysing, discussing and profiling our competition is centralto our brand recognition and promotion.Weekly radio coverage during the season was againoutstanding through our broadcasters RPH Adelaide, Life FM,FIVEaa, ABC Radio and Coast FM. Collectively the stationsENCOUNTER BAY: The giant jumpingcastle was a hit with junior fans.16