Festus
08/08/2002, 9:51 PM
It occured to me prior to the World Cup, that given the massive interest in the Irish team, it was perhaps odd that there exists not one weekly or monthly football magazine in this country.
I'm a little perplexed. Given the huge popularity of the national team, and the emerging vibrancy of the domestic game which continues to add to its support base, wouldn't you think there would be a market for even one glossy monthly?
Granted, the national press do a reasonable job of covering the game here, (although real news on the domestic scene often takes second place to stories spun off from the rumour mill in the UK concerning the employment contracts of high profile Irish players. In my opinion anyway.) And some publications embrace the domestic game alot more than others Certainly there exist a number of engaging websites for media junkies with an interest in the game here. But a monthly publication offers a different product to a daily paper or website ie higher quality writing, articles with a broader overview of the subject etc.
I remember the Irish Soccer Magazine, which I'm sure alot of you do as well. It may not have compared too well with the UK competion in terms of presentation, but it had some good articles.
OK, its clear that the market doesn't exist here for such a publication, otherwise a publisher would be busy meeting that demand. But I just can't figure out why that should be the case. Any opinions?
I'm a little perplexed. Given the huge popularity of the national team, and the emerging vibrancy of the domestic game which continues to add to its support base, wouldn't you think there would be a market for even one glossy monthly?
Granted, the national press do a reasonable job of covering the game here, (although real news on the domestic scene often takes second place to stories spun off from the rumour mill in the UK concerning the employment contracts of high profile Irish players. In my opinion anyway.) And some publications embrace the domestic game alot more than others Certainly there exist a number of engaging websites for media junkies with an interest in the game here. But a monthly publication offers a different product to a daily paper or website ie higher quality writing, articles with a broader overview of the subject etc.
I remember the Irish Soccer Magazine, which I'm sure alot of you do as well. It may not have compared too well with the UK competion in terms of presentation, but it had some good articles.
OK, its clear that the market doesn't exist here for such a publication, otherwise a publisher would be busy meeting that demand. But I just can't figure out why that should be the case. Any opinions?