FFA defends A-League finals revamp

The six-team play-offs will do away with home-and-away preliminary finals and will have a sudden-death format, with two semi-finals preceding the grand final by only a week.

This means FFA will know the venue of the grand final just seven days before the season decider.

A-League rules stipulate the grand final be played at the home ground of the team finishing higher in the premiership table.

FFA said it feels that seven days would give it enough time to promote and deliver a successful and sold-out grand final.

"Week One finals matches have traditionally sold strongly with often only a four-day turnaround from the end of the regular season," an FFA spokesman told The World Game.

"A grand final is a powerful driver and we don't see this short turnaround as an overwhelming issue.

"Also, a maximum of three semi-finalists will be in a position to host the grand final and the ticketing, promotion and rollout of the event can be prepared to cater for each option before knowing the host team.

"With event builds already in place for four matches throughout the finals series we will be well placed to hold a successful grand final.

"On top of this FFA's digital retail marketing strategy now reaches a large number of active fans with unique and exclusive ticketing offers prior to public sale which has seen a significant rise in the allocation of tickets in pre-sale windows."

FFA is understood to have also based its decision on the following points:

:: Scarcity and immediacy are two powerful catalysts to sell a match. Fans are more likely to buy a ticket if they feel they could miss out.

:: A two-week marketing budget rolled into one week makes twice an impact and can target more varied avenues.