Patrick Kavanagh: Who’ll step up to bat for the League Cup?
Patrick Kavanagh: Who’ll step up to bat for the League Cup?The Drum blogger Patrick Kavanagh takes a look at what will happen now Carling has pulled out of the League Cup as sponsor after 14 years.
In baseball there is a term for the leagues below Major League Baseball (also known as ‘The Show’): that name is the ‘minor leagues’. The minor leagues have a tiered system similar to that of the Football League, consisting of AAA, AA, A+, A and Rookie Ball. In some team systems, there can be six or seven tiers. In a certain way this is similar to the academy system for each football club or for the national side, but the core difference being the Major League Baseball system is a development system without the age restrictions.
There are some minor league teams with some great history, and there have even been Hollywood movies made about minor league teams. The movie Bull Durham comes to mind: starring Kevin Costner and Susan Sarandon, it is a tale of the types of characters in minor league baseball and talks of the lore of the game. It has become a cult baseball movie classic.
Why this (extremely brief) history of minor league baseball? Well, that is the way I see the nPower Football League in some ways, with the core difference that the teams have the tease of making the Premier League one day. And this is a very big difference.
One way to showcase yourself as a strong up-and-coming team with a chance for that Premier League dream is during the League Cup, when relative minnows get a chance to battle the big boys. They get a chance against Manchester United, Liverpool or Chelsea. In essence, this is a minor league team getting to play against major league competition – or is it?
The League Cup does not inspire teams any longer, in my estimation, and there is no more proof needed than to see what type of teams Premier clubs field. In the main, you get a mix of fringe players and academy kids playing for what is meant to be a major trophy. What am I saying here? I’m suggesting that the League Cup is a minor league trophy for minor league players, at least until the semi-finals when teams start to see it as a chance for silverware. In some cases, it’s a shot at a modicum of success in what is a league dominated by a few big spenders.
Even though the Football League claims that the League Cup is watched in “150 countries”, the semi-finals and the finals might be seen in 150 countries, but Wycombe vs. Colchester will not likely be seen anywhere except in Wycombe and Colchester.
It is no surprise that Carling has pulled out of the League Cup as sponsor after 14 years. Once sponsors of a prominent British competition, they are now a major league brand sponsoring a minor league trophy. In a similar case, Coca-Cola pulled out of the Football League sponsorship, which is another example of a major league brand supporting a minor league sporting organization. In this instance a UK brand jumped in to sponsor the nPower Football League. This may have to be the same strategy for the League Cup; a British brand will have to step up to the plate.
I have no doubts that they’ll find a sponsor. It’ll just have to be a little more regional, as that’s what the League Cup has become.
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Interesting read, I agree the cup will in all likelihood find a new sponsor with more British roots than Carling. I think in some respects though it shows a further worrying decline to a major trophy when a beer brand chooses to walk away, especially given how football and beer brands have gone hand in hand in the past (Amstel and Heineken with the Champions League, Holsten and Carlsberg with Spurs and Liverpool etc)
Perhaps it's time to take bold steps with the "product" to add something extra for the audience as the current trend of the competition being seen as a hinderence by football clubs will in all likelihood continue.
Maybe removing the premier league teams and handing automatic promotion to the winners from their respective league is a way to increase attention and therefore make it more attractive to potential sponsors?
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I think there needs to be some innovation, the automatic promotion would be a great shout. Some have mentioned that a big win fall may be the solution, but I think that would be another case of the rich becoming richer. The unfortunate part is that some fans still think their team is giving it an honest go, that may be the case for a few lower league teams, but certainly is not the case in the Premier League.
In the end it's another case where the Football League was short sighted and now lost their key integrated sponsor. Will they change now? I'm not sure they will. Maybe it'll take a team to just pull out than to risk injury for them to make a change!
One thing is for sure, it's not a major trophy any longer.
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I think it's a question of where it 'fits' in modern day football. From an FL point of view this is the only time their clubs interact with the 'big boys' in a competition that they own, so they should focus on protecting it and be looking at it as their jewel, maybe drop the Leyland Daf/Autoglass/Johnstone's Paint or whatever it is trophy? The lasty thing they should be doing is moving away from the PL clubs.
As for winning it - just ask all those bluenoses who were at Wembley to see their side finally win something.
Maybe it's time for something clever from the FL - how about associating with a charity rather than a commercial sponsor? If the FL is about 'real football' and communities, then give the rights to a worthy cause.
How to make it more interesting? Regionalise the early stages? Groups? One off semi finals rather than two legs? Only allow PL teams to play 9 players - that last one is a joke, before Sepp Blatter makes it happen!!
How to make it fit in the football calendar? Play the first couple of rounds pre-season, make it part of club's warm up rather than pointless friendlies with multiple substitutions?
How to make it more attractive? talk to fans, players and managers and get their input - we'd call it research - so that the 'product' fits the 'need'.
Lord Mawhinney - you know where to get in touch!
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Tim, you are a man after my own heart: "How to make it more attractive?". You make it attractive by making it interactive. Make it an experience. Use the tournament to bring the fans closer to the game and players. Bring them closer to the game in an unprecedented way. That's what fans crave - and oddly enough - football is brilliant at not feeding that craving.
If you find a way to integrate the fans - they will come - they will watch.
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