16k at etihad tonight

[Beth]

The thing that gets me is that so many people seem so bloody excited about the prospect of seeing a club fold. Yeah yeah I know, footy's a business now...sigh

 

[jacko57]

That's what you did

No, we told the AFL to shove the Gold Coast.

Your club is the one that bent over.

Maybe that's where the chip comes from.

 

[jacko57]

The thing that gets me is that so many people seem so bloody excited about the prospect of seeing a club fold. Yeah yeah I know, footy's a business now...sigh

Makes you wonder what goes through their petty, juvenile little minds, doesn't it?

 

[TheGoatBaron]

Maybe that's where the chip comes from.

Keep thinking that, it's giving me a good laugh. lulz.

 

[Arden]

I want North to survive, so we can cheat you to a pulp

efa.

 

[Consumed]

Was live against the gate on Fox.

Something probably needs to be done that where this happens a % of the TV money goes to the home team.

As if North fans can afford Foxtel.

Apparently there so many of them, but they can't afford memberships. Definitely no Foxtel.

 

[incubi]

I think it is a 100K minimum these days thanks to Euge.

What did arocca actually do? north fans seem to give him a lot of credit for the new stadium deals, but he wasnt even part of the delegation.

AFL goes to war with government over stadium deals

Western Bulldogs president David Smorgon will head a delegation that will represent the clubs in the meeting with Merlino. He will be accompanied by his counterparts at Collingwood (Eddie McGuire) and Geelong (Frank Costa), along with Greg Swann (Carlton CEO) and Steven Wright (Richmond CEO).

These guys lead the way for the new mcg deal, which then put the pressure on etihad to do similar.

 

[TheGoatBaron]

efa.

Editing posts. Wow, I'm Impressed. NOT!!!

 

[Handsome.B.Wonderful]

I want North to survive, so we can beat you to a pulp, everytime we play you. Really I do.

Maybe this is where the chip stems from?

 

[TheGoatBaron]

Maybe this is where the chip stems from?

lol Keep dreaming.

 

[incubi]

North are one win and some % off 4th position, not exactly winless. Crowds like saturday nights are pathetic.

 

[jacko57]

What did arocca actually do? north fans seem to give him a lot of credit for the new stadium deals, but he wasnt even part of the delegation.

AFL goes to war with government over stadium deals



These guys lead the way for the new mcg deal, which then put the pressure on etihad to do similar.

As I recall, Arocca was the one who led the charge in making this an issue through the media, and in discussions with the AFL. Smorgon had possibly raised similar concerns previously, but Eugene was the one who put the heat on the AFL. In the end, the clubs agreed to present a united front ; just because he wasn't part of that delegation, doesn't mean he played no part.

 

[grimface_87]

Has the AFL given a committment to fund them post the entry of GC and GWS?

The AFL will be paying big bucks to support those teams for at least a decade, can they afford to carry North also? Other problem clubs seem to be getting on track but North just seem to have no direction, no market.

How are the AFL carrying North?

 

[chardonnay]

What did arocca actually do? north fans seem to give him a lot of credit for the new stadium deals, but he wasnt even part of the delegation.

AFL goes to war with government over stadium deals



These guys lead the way for the new mcg deal, which then put the pressure on etihad to do similar.

Are the new stadium deals operational ?

 

[Tzatziki_Man]

As I recall, Arocca was the one who led the charge in making this an issue through the media, and in discussions with the AFL. Smorgon had possibly raised similar concerns previously, but Eugene was the one who put the heat on the AFL. In the end, the clubs agreed to present a united front ; just because he wasn't part of that delegation, doesn't mean he played no part.

You have no idea...

This is an issue between the state government and the AFL.

Not the AFL and AFL clubs.

Clubs are arguing that the government is supporting rival codes more than the AFL in Victoria; when its the AFL that boosts Victoria's economy much more than the A-League and NRL.

It's a serious issue because North Melbourne are getting ****ed over really hard. They play most of their games at Etihad. Which is a privately owned stadium; they need to fill that stadium to a certain amount to make a decent profit.

I read an article that said North would be making 1.1 million in profit this year through ticket sales. Compare that to Richmond who made 800,000 in just one game against Carlton in round 1 and you can see the problems teams such as Dogs & Roo's have.

Victorian government should be making another stadium; that can be used free of charge to North and the Dogs so they can actually make a decent profit!!

But if North snooze then they lose, good to see Smorgan doing something about it.

 

[Deefolt]

We don't win enough right now and we don't draw well enough full stop. That is a concern, no question. Only foolish North supporters would fail to admit that.

But don't get all high and mighty when you can only attract 75% of capcity to a ground that only held 22 or 23K people in a year after you made the GF.

It wasn't that long ago that your club was rooted and it's no secret onfield success has been the driver of your turnaround. Hopefully you can maintain that upward trend when your onfield downturn happens in two or three years.

Um i used to live in Geelong, 75 percent capacity is very unusual, kardinia generally gets sold out rather quickly

 

[Malkin]

They're very lucky that they've drafted really well. Because if they hadn't and they had to resort to bottoming out to get high picks they'd be in a lot of trouble with memberships and crowds, considering they only get 16k when they have a great young, exciting list to watch.

 

[Charlotte]

You have no idea what you're talking about. They do not include reserved seats. Why do you think they can have sellout games that are less than the capacity of the ground?

There are certain seats (they may not be reseved seats) which are included into the amount regardless of whether a ticket is scanned or not.

The problem is our games are almost always live on Foxtel and over the years it has been the only way to see the team play, a lot of people have just been conditioned to just watching the game on pay-tv.

sorry but if Saints are live and playing at Etihad I have always gone to Etihad expecially if on a Friday or Saturday. There is no excuse for such poor crowds on a Saturday night

We have a lot of SA and WA supporters and members which do not register much in terms of viewers at the games but they contribute a fair bit to the club.

Sorry you cannot use that one. Otherwise Syd and Bris could say the same thing when they don't sell out they still have very large Vic followings and probably will for the rest of their existance. Also Hawks and Saints have huge followings in Tas.

If we had small stadium in Melbourne for smaller clubs then nobody would really care, you can make more money with 10k at PP than you can with 50k at TD.

Correct and I agree, however the AFL is not going to build another stadium as it will eventually own Etihad and PP has to much Carlton development to close to the actual park to be considered for anything other than for a Carlton home game.

Excellent idea but the ground would put dimwits game into disrepute.
Still, would rather 16k in Melbourne than a half full Carrara.

You got to be kidding me? Seating capacity for Etihad is 53,359 people and only 16,000 people show up. Seating capacity for Manuka oval is 10,000 (with 5,000 standing there for total capacity is $15,000). Consider you guys got something over 10,000 at Manuka the last time you played there I know what I woudl prefer to secure that my club still survives

 

[db swannie]

Was Brad Roo there?

I doubt it.

 

[incubi]

You have no idea...

This is an issue between the state government and the AFL.

Not the AFL and AFL clubs.

Clubs are arguing that the government is supporting rival codes more than the AFL in Victoria; when its the AFL that boosts Victoria's economy much more than the A-League and NRL.

It's a serious issue because North Melbourne are getting ****ed over really hard. They play most of their games at Etihad. Which is a privately owned stadium; they need to fill that stadium to a certain amount to make a decent profit.

I read an article that said North would be making 1.1 million in profit this year through ticket sales. Compare that to Richmond who made 800,000 in just one game against Carlton in round 1 and you can see the problems teams such as Dogs & Roo's have.

Victorian government should be making another stadium; that can be used free of charge to North and the Dogs so they can actually make a decent profit!!

But if North snooze then they lose, good to see Smorgan doing something about it.

Both the MCG and Etihad did agree to new deals last year.
Etihad now guarantees $100,000 for the home team no matter what the crowd, and a larger slice of money once you break the break even point.

This means where as clubs lost money last year on crowds like north melbournes, this year they have $400,000 for it after 4 low drawing home games, but as they havent had any actual large crowds, they have never got the bonuses for going over break even point.

The deal is far better than previous, where you made a small amount if you got over break even but lost significant amounts on games which didn't get over break even
Now you dont lose money on games at all, and you get more for bigger games.

 

[Damon_3388]

Just for the record...

Skilled Stadium official capacity - 27,000 (22,000 seated)
AAMI Stadium official capacity - 51,515 (all seated)
Etihad Stadium official capacity - 56,347 (53,359 seated)

Last 5 Geelong H&A Home Game Attendances

• vs. Sydney (Round 7, 2010) - 25,970 (96.91% capacity) (Highest attendance at Skilled since Round 9, 2001)
• vs. Richmond (Round 6, 2010) - 24,106 (89.28% capacity)
• vs. Port Adelaide (Round 4, 2010) - 25,579 (94.74% capacity)
• vs. Fremantle (Round 22, 2009) - 18,196 (67.39% capacity)
• vs. Adelaide (Round 18, 2009) - 21,686 (80.32% capacity)

Average - 23,107 (85.58% capacity)

Last 5 Port Adelaide H&A Home Game Attendances

• vs. Carlton (Round 8, 2010) - 30,228 (58.68% capacity)
• vs. St Kilda (Round 5, 2010) - 23,355 (45.34% capacity)
• vs. Brisbane (Round 3, 2010) - 23,306 (45.24% capacity)
• vs. North Melbourne (Round 1, 2010) - 21,205 (41.16% capacity)
• vs. North Melbourne (Round 22, 2009) - 17,284 (33.55% capacity)

Average - 23,076 (44.79% capacity)

Last 5 North Melbourne H&A Home Game Attendances

• vs. Adelaide (Round 8, 2010) - 16,479 (29.25% capacity)
• vs. Melbourne (Round 6, 2010) - 26,763 (47.50% capacity)
• vs. Sydney (Round 4, 2010) - 23,646 (41.96% capacity)
• vs. West Coast (Round 3, 2010) - 18,394 (32.64% capacity)
• vs. Melbourne (Round 19, 2009) - 16,594 (29.45% capacity)

Average - 20,375 (36.16% capacity)

Make of that what you will.

 

[Ricardo]

Just a note: Skilled Stadiums capacity has risen to around 30,900 (?) now with the new stand opening (although the capacity is debatable).

And the capacity of SS was around 24-25k during the redevelopment (2009).

 

[John Dorian]

You got to be kidding me? Seating capacity for Etihad is 53,359 people and only 16,000 people show up. Seating capacity for Manuka oval is 10,000 (with 5,000 standing there for total capacity is $15,000). Consider you guys got something over 10,000 at Manuka the last time you played there I know what I woudl prefer to secure that my club still survives

Considering that we will survive we can play wherever we want and thats in Melbourne.

People have to stop telling us our crowds are crap. You think we don't know yet. There are no excuses, but I am sure this problem is being worked on by the club. And it will not be fixed by next week, as I am sure the usual 15k diehards including myself will be the only North supporters there.

It is going to take time to build up our core support in Melbourne and it will happen. For people asking "why would it happen now, it didn't happen in the 90's?" we had idiots running the club in the 90's that didn't care about our Melbourne supporters, and they were the reason the idea of us going t the Gold Coast ever came up.

We have smart people running the club now in JB and Eugene, who want to work on recapturing our identity as North Melbourne.

It will take 5-10 years to work up to a hardcore base of 23k, but it will happen, not just yet.

 

[jacko57]

You have no idea...

This is an issue between the state government and the AFL.

Not the AFL and AFL clubs.

Clubs are arguing that the government is supporting rival codes more than the AFL in Victoria; when its the AFL that boosts Victoria's economy much more than the A-League and NRL.

It's a serious issue because North Melbourne are getting ****ed over really hard. They play most of their games at Etihad. Which is a privately owned stadium; they need to fill that stadium to a certain amount to make a decent profit.

I read an article that said North would be making 1.1 million in profit this year through ticket sales. Compare that to Richmond who made 800,000 in just one game against Carlton in round 1 and you can see the problems teams such as Dogs & Roo's have.

Victorian government should be making another stadium; that can be used free of charge to North and the Dogs so they can actually make a decent profit!!

But if North snooze then they lose, good to see Smorgan doing something about it.

Leaving the 'no idea' barb aside, I agree with most of what you say here. The contracts in question were between the venues and individual clubs ; but IIRC, it was pressure from the clubs on the AFL that prompted the AFL to put pressure on those venues to renegotiate the terms of thos contracts.

The situation last year was that if North got a crowd below a certain number (maybe 20k) at Etihad, they had to write out a 6-figure cheque to the venue, whereas clubs from other codes could pull 10k and somehow that was profitable for the venue and the home club.

 

[Tas]

sorry but if Saints are live and playing at Etihad I have always gone to Etihad expecially if on a Friday or Saturday. There is no excuse for such poor crowds on a Saturday night

You must have recently jumped on the bandwagon and not remembered the years before the Saints were a premiership contender.

Lets go back to before Saints were attracting the bandwagon supporters, before they were selling these games off to Tasmania.

Saints vs Port, round 3 2002: 17,641
Saints vs Eagles, round 10 2002: 18,876
Saints vs Dockers, round 17, 2002: 8,078

Yeah, we were getting around 40k average to our games in Melbourne when we could field a decent team. Bandwagon supporters do not stick around during the lean times, this isn't something new in football.

Hell, your crowd dropped 10k between the Collingwood and Essendon home game and you have only been wobbly for 2 weeks.

I just wouldn't throw stones when your club could be in the same position in a few years when your team stops being a flag contender.

Sorry you cannot use that one. Otherwise Syd and Bris could say the same thing when they don't sell out they still have very large Vic followings and probably will for the rest of their existance. Also Hawks and Saints have huge followings in Tas.

lol except they have 3 million plus supporters all to themselves in their own state. If we were the only team in Melbourne then you can start to make those kind of comparisons. We have a 250k supporter base, theirs are more than 10x ours.

Correct and I agree, however the AFL is not going to build another stadium as it will eventually own Etihad and PP has to much Carlton development to close to the actual park to be considered for anything other than for a Carlton home game.

Greg Swann has said the stadium could be up and running for minimal cost and could return up to 97% of revenue to the clubs because CFC pay for the maintenance of the stadium irrespective if there are any games there or not

We all know why the AFL is reluctant to use the stadium, having a small stadium with a fantastic return and who would be playing in ACT, NT and other developing places? They have been dragging their feet for ages because it suits their agenda, not because of affordability. They manipulate Melbourne clubs but interstate clubs can do whatever they want, a Melbourne club can't even go the bathroom with AFL approval.