31 Jan Victory CEO “shocked” and “concerned” by paltry TV ratings

Melbourne Victory CEO Trent Jacobs admits he was “shocked” by the poor TV ratings from their Australia Day clash against Sydney FC.

The Big Blue encounter on Saturday night attracted just 31,000 Fox Sports viewers and Jacobs believes the poor numbers can be put down to a couple of reasons.

“I was a bit shocked if I’m honest and it hasn’t been consistent with our games throughout the year,” Jacobs told SEN’s Whateley.

“A lot of the sporting broadcast and attendance numbers are down, so we’re very pleased that we’re holding strong.

“We’re a good 10-15 percent up on crowds this year and that may be attributed to some of our international signings and no doubt our on-field form, but it is concerning.

“It was in the midst of a long weekend, the women’s final across the road at the Australian Open, and not to make excuses, there are some reasons why that may have been the case, it was a sharp drop from what we’ve seen.”

Jacobs says FFA and A-League chiefs are working together to try and arrest the league-wide ratings slide.

“Year-on-year they’re down now,” he added.

“It is an issue and as I mentioned it’s an issue for a number of codes. It’s certainly something that is being discussed in CEO meetings and no doubt trying to be addressed in a number of different ways.”

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Listen to Trent Jacobs' chat on SEN's Whateley with Gerard Whateley in the player below