I think best would be having 10 team league with 1 home-away and a neutral match making 27 round affair or else we can play 2 home-away... And once team count reaches 12-14 reduce to neutrql thing and after reaching 16 shall we go normall football leagues format.. This way we can reach the mandatory needs of afc and dont need ro rush expansions
I suggest add 2 out of the the teams from Hyderabad/Chennai/JCT, without the corporate benefits. 12 team- 3 rounds (1 match neutral, if organised well will attract crowds, there were 10k plus at bhubneshwar watching southern samity last year for some local tournament (i think kalinga cup))...It will be a good way to test cities for future league expansions......But this would require planning and coordination from AIFF, do they have the time??
AIFF does not indulge in planning or coordination, they take things as they come. If a third or fourth Corporate wants a team from Pune, they are ready to oblige. It doesn't disturb them that there is no team from the Capital, and the financial capital is poorly represented. They are absolutely okay with 2-3 clubs from Goa and Kolkata, as long as they keep coming.
Any sensible league would weigh the situation, prepare the ground for launching (permitting) new clubs. Foster the growth of clubs where needed (say NE). Problem for them is that they do not know how this is done. And they are not wise enough to employ market analysts or even development managers.
Another Myth, 10K + in a stadium doesn't mean a thing in a football club's finances and can be easily taken away as security fees and SAI fees). There are only two major revenues that a top level club can hope for as big income to compensate the ridiculous salary demands of Indian/Random African footballers :
A.) TV revenue (Non existent to I-league clubs) B.) Sponsorship (Again next to nil to most I-league clubs, Infact all clubs are so dependent on it that if a sponser pulls the plug, there is choas inside the club recruitment and salary drive eg., MB, EB, CB)
For a small niche league like the I-League the crowd revenue will be a huge thing. Why do you think MLS still has a hard-on for attendance statistics? Same for the A-League and even J. League? These are upcoming leagues which do not have what the Premier League, Bundesliga, La Liga have and that is high TV contracts, they still need to show they can draw crowds as that will lead to better ticket revenue as well as other things such as sponsorships.
Now, the problem in India though is that we get 10,000 fans... cool... who cares though if those 10,000 fans don't pay or barely pay much! You are not getting anything from that 10,000 fans! But wait, that does not matter cause those 10,000 fans will bring in sponsors, right? Well, no. If a corporate is interesting in sponsoring you and see that the 10,000 fans that come in to your games don't or barely pay they will wonder what kind of crowd is it you are attracting... if they are not willing to pay to watch a game at your venue, why would they buy my product? Thus, why would we sponsor you?
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This way we can reach the mandatory needs of afc and dont need ro rush expansions
Any sensible league would weigh the situation, prepare the ground for launching (permitting) new clubs. Foster the growth of clubs where needed (say NE). Problem for them is that they do not know how this is done. And they are not wise enough to employ market analysts or even development managers.
A.) TV revenue (Non existent to I-league clubs)
B.) Sponsorship (Again next to nil to most I-league clubs, Infact all clubs are so dependent on it that if a sponser pulls the plug, there is choas inside the club recruitment and salary drive eg., MB, EB, CB)
Hence the reason you see I-league clubs failing.