Football on Commercial Telly...Wow!

When you see all the kids playing and the number of people involved in the game it's always amazed me that Commercial TV has been slow, very slow to get involved in one of Australia's major activities.

How hard can it be to get sponsors for this show and at the end of the day that's all Commercial Telly is about, isn't it?

How many other sports or interest groups have such a large number of women, girls and boys involved in a sport, and we are always told these are the people who influence so much discretionary spending.

Well finally Channel 9 is to show "Football Stars of Tomorrow,"..Football finally breaks through to commercially telly...what next they start talking up the code and include it in the their sports bulletins...hold on..one step at a time..but a good indication of where the code is heading...

Apart from the fact I hate those commercial stations....this is a great thing for the game...see release below

Award winning television program Football Stars of Tomorrow will in 2009 debut on commercial television, after a deal between Football NSW and Channel Nine was struck.

Fresh from claiming the 2008 NSW Sports Federation Media Award, Football Stars of Tomorrow will initially feature on Channel Nine for eight weeks beginning in late June.

Channel Nine personality Stephanie Brantz will host ‘Season Four’ of Football Stars of Tomorrow which will be screened at 2pm on Sunday during the ‘Wide World of Sports’, broadcasting grassroots football across the nation.

Football NSW Chief Executive Officer Michael Quarmby was elated with the agreement.

“Channel Nine has given our sport every chance of growing not only in NSW, but across Australia.

“Our dream of being able to deliver a national message in order to promote grassroots football has finally been realised and with the help of various sponsors and Football Federation Australia, this fantastic prospect will be taken with both hands.”

Football Stars of Tomorrow, although primarily targeted at children aged 8-16, proved to be popular with adults as well and accumulated an average of 92,000 viewers a week in 2008, resulting in a total viewership of 1.75 million.

Its’ aim was to not only promote the game at the grassroots level, but also to target viewers from various demographic backgrounds.

Season Four will feature a variety of new segments including a Football Federation Australia (FFA) endorsed Socceroos segment, Women’s Football segment, Celebrity segment and a Coaching segment with special guests from FFA.

Football Stars of Tomorrow Producer and Football NSW Commercial Services Executive Manager Tony Peters is adamant the show can be a success on commercial television with the support of the greater ‘football community’.

“Clearly Channel Nine are putting their foot in the water to test the sport; it’s up to the football family to ensure the program stays on Channel Nine long term by supporting it.

“Football NSW applauds Channel Nine in their support of promoting the round ball game at grassroots level.”

The new season of Football Stars of Tomorrow can still be seen on Fox Sports and will feature exclusive access to the 2009 TeleChoice Premier League.

More information regarding times, dates and talent will be released when available.