Usain Bolt’s departure from the Central Coast Mariners meant an end to the possibility of lacing up his boots in the A-League, but will the league and Mariners end up ruing the exit of the eight-time Olympic gold medallist?
From a pure footballing standpoint, absolutely not. It was clear as daylight that the Jamaican sprinter lacked the basic fundamentals and what it took to compete against professional footballers in the competition.
READ: Why the A-League is better off without Bolt
Though the 32-year-old managed to bag a double against Macarthur South West United in a pre-season contest last month, few walked away thinking he would set the A-League alight.
However, if you look at this from a business/marketing standpoint, Bolt would have increased the A-League’s publicity without a shadow of the doubt.
Those associated with the A-League will tell you that it wants to gain more exposure, have more people recognise the competition and you can’t help but think that Bolt’s presence would have helped that cause.
His commitment to try and pursue his dream of becoming a professional sportsperson in another code showed why he lives by the phrase “anything is possible” and ultimately it is something that must be commemorated whether you are an admirer of his or not. This is something the A-League could have thrived on to bring in more viewers.
The A-League have been starved of a huge international superstar since Alessandro Del Piero when he arrived in 2012 to line up for Sydney FC.
Despite the more recent high profile arrivals of Japanese international Keisuke Honda and Sweeden international Ola Toivonen to the Melbourne Victory as examples, the pair are not global icons like the Jamaican is.
In Bolt you are talking about one of the worlds most popular athletes who has won gold medals and set almost every record at the highest level of track and field.
You can ask any person on the street who this man is and they will know.
The A-League could have marketed Bolt in various forms to increase viewership numbers and more specifically crowd attendances, which has been a glaring issue in the league for a number of years.
If you want to dive even deeper into that, the Mariners had the second-lowest crowd attendance average in 2017/18 with 7,194. Just something to note.
Yes, we know that his ability to perform on the field would have been significantly low and that is something that needs to be stressed.
Nevertheless, having more fans tune into the league in not only in Australia, but also world wide would have accomplished the previously mentioned business approach.
What do you think? Would Bolt have been good for the league or was it best to see him go the other way?
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