Expansion AFl says 2nd team in Sydney by 2015

[walhawk]

From the AFL

"The restructure (of AFLNSW) is about looking at how the next phase of growth will help us get to the stage of underwriting the second (AFL) licence (in NSW)," Holmes said.

"The timeframe is going to be five years out to 2015, so anywhere between 2013 and 2015 is probably the time required. We need to really make sure we have helped develop the Swans to be impregnable off the field, and that gives us the opportunity to put in the second licence."

A stadium at Blacktown, in Sydney's west, will be ready to host official pre-season matches from next year. Plans also include establishing it as the training, administration and social club base for the second club based in NSW.

http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/footy/common/story_page/0,8033,23069013%5E20322,00.html


The AFL is not afraid to put it out there. If they want to be in WS by 2015, then GC will need to be up & running by 2012.

It will happen. But they better get cracking as they haven't started constuction in Blacktown as far as I'm aware.

http://www.blacktown.nsw.gov.au/news-and-events/blacktown-olympic-park-upgrade.cfm

 

[SweetLeftFoot]

Yeah, I'll believe that when I see it.

 

[Azzballz Deluxe]

good stuff

 

[Matt_TY]

Absolutely, sure, whatever you reckon Andy D. Get back on the medicine, son.

 

[McCrann]

Absolutely, sure, whatever you reckon Andy D. Get back on the medicine, son.

Why don't you want to see the game grow around the nation? Or would you prefer it to stagnate?

 

[Dont be a lemon]

Yeah, I'll believe that when I see it.

North supporter. What a surprise

 

[ChrisFooty]

If the AFL are willing to pay for the costs of running a western sydney side, that's great. No chance it will make anywhere near a profit. It will destablise the Swans too, so there is a good chance that you will have two NSW teams requiring major AFL assistance. The choice of Blacktown as the training and social club place is astonishing.

 

[Cap]

so generally are people for or against expansion on the AFL ?

or does that question need to have a caveat that along as it isn't your club expected to move or fold ?

 

[ChrisFooty]

so generally are people for or against expansion on the AFL ?

or does that question need to have a caveat that along as it isn't your club expected to move or fold ?

Against expansion so soon. 2010 is far too soon for a Gold Coast side (Six months ago, the AFL stated were saying they wanted a second qld side by 2015)

Again, 2013-2015 far too soon for a second NSW side. The AFL are so rich, they are capable of pumping 10 million dollars a year into the new GC and WS side.

 

[McCrann]

If the AFL are willing to pay for the costs of running a western sydney side, that's great. No chance it will make anywhere near a profit. It will destablise the Swans too, so there is a good chance that you will have two NSW teams requiring major AFL assistance. The choice of Blacktown as the training and social club place is astonishing.

Why is Blacktown so astonishing?

I'd like to hear the answer to this one - seems like a pretty centrally located area of Western Sydney to me - why not?

 

[sherrinorburley]

Against expansion so soon. 2010 is far too soon for a Gold Coast side (Six months ago, the AFL stated were saying they wanted a second qld side by 2015)

Again, 2013-2015 far too soon for a second NSW side. The AFL are so rich, they are capable of pumping 10 million dollars a year into the new GC and WS side.

If the AFL have so much money to direct the game truly National, we should be looking forward to a Tasmanian Team, ACT Team and most important, a Northern Territory Team. Seems logical for every State to be represented. Why go for a second Sydney/Queensland team when other States arent represented yet?

A little from www.goldcoasttruth.org

South East Queensland Sport
<SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%">
The Gold Coast is a city located approximately 78 km (or about an hour’s drive) south-east of Brisbane. As such, it is part of what is known as ‘South-East Queensland’, a sprawling and highly populated region that contains approximately two-thirds of the state’s population.

As of 2007, the SEQ region is home to many professional sporting clubs-

NRL: Brisbane Broncos, Gold Coast Titans
ARC: East Coast Aces (based on the Gold Coast), Ballymore Tornadoes
Super 14: Queensland Reds
A-League: Queensland Roar
AFL: Brisbane Lions
NBL: Brisbane Bullets, Gold Coast Blaze
Pura Cup: Queensland Bulls

Interestingly, all three of the aforementioned Gold Coast teams entered their respective competitions in 2007. It seems that every major national sporting competition in Australia wanted to get into the Gold Coast market early, with the notable exception of the A-League and AFL. As the A-League is only two years old, their conservative approach to awarding new licenses is understandable.Curiously, the AFL however has been rejecting applications from the Southport Australian Football Club (Sharks) for an AFL licence since 1996, and has only recently decided that they want a piece of the Gold Coast action.

But that’s not to say that the Gold Coast hasn’t been the home of professional sporting teams in the past. The Gold Coast had no local professional sporting team from 2000-2006, but many clubs came and went before then. Here is a list of such teams who were formerly based on the Gold Coast-

AFL: Brisbane Bears (who, ironically, ‘relocated’ to Brisbane in 1993 due to lack of support on the Gold Coast).
NBL: Gold Coast Rollers, whose license was revoked by the NBL in 1996 due to its ongoing financial difficulties.
NRL: Gold Coast Chargers (aka Gold Coast Seagulls aka Gold Coast Giants) who were booted out of the NRL at the end of 1998.
ABL: Gold Coast Cougars (aka Daikyo Dolphins aka Gold Coast Clippers) whose demise came as a result of the collapse of the Australian Baseball League in 1999.

 

[Philhawk]

Why is Blacktown so astonishing?

I'd like to hear the answer to this one - seems like a pretty centrally located area of Western Sydney to me - why not?

It's a hole, pure and simple.

Sure, it's got a decent sized population, but it's certainly not the kid of place that people will go out of their way to visit (from the North, South or East).

If the AFL want a second team, they really should be thinking either Northern Beaches or the South of Sydney.

 

[SweetLeftFoot]

North supporter. What a surprise

Well, we do have first hand experience of Demetriou's George Bush like combination of incompetence and arrogance in those matters.

The Gold COast stadium = the WMD of Aussie Rules.

We heard so much about it, but nobody seems able to find it.

 

[woosh_era]

What will change in 2015? Do it now.

 

[sherrinorburley]

What will change in 2015? Do it now.

Yeah, f*ck that crystal ball

 

[Funkalicous]

It doesn't matter where the stadium is build, Sydney has the best train network in all of Australia. Any of the 6 million people will be able to get to the game if they choose.

Why not play at Telstra Stadium though? That's an excellent venue for footy. I suppose that could be the "neutral" venue shared by West Sydney and Sydney. - Derbies for sure!

 

[ChrisFooty]

Yeah, f*ck that crystal ball

Well if the AFL are going to fund 80% of the venture and can pay that, you might as well put the teams in straight away. Western Sydney is not going to make a profit in 2010, or 2015, or 2020 or 2025. The AFL will need to keep propping up the club, so you might as well get in early as you can.

 

[SweetLeftFoot]

It doesn't matter where the stadium is build, Sydney has the best train network in all of Australia. Any of the 6 million people will be able to get to the game if they choose.

Good to see the old 'if you build it, they will come' argument extends to Sydney too.

 

[CF]

if a license is established without a Vic team relocating then I can foresee an 18 team comp will start to place a lot of pressure on the shakier Vic clubs to survive. We have already seen how draft and salary cap concessions for new clubs have been detrimental to Victorian based clubs ultimate success over recent years. We could see 2 new clubs getting priority picks and salary cap concessions for 5 years each. I think the AFL obviously think that if they lose a few Vic clubs along the way in their push for the national competition, then so be it.

 

[Funkalicous]

Good to see the old 'if you build it, they will come' argument extends to Sydney too.

I wish I could express the same sentiments to see another NM supporter's opinion on expansion.

 

[robaba]

NM supporters have got nothing against expansion.
What we are against is a power hungry, stupid, incompetent rush to expansion with no plans, no stadiums, no proper studies and an attitude which is reactive. This was evident during the push to sell off the Kangaroos to GC, hence our constant bemusement at the crap being fed to the media by AD and Ms Gillon and happily being ingested by a few mindless trolls on these boards.

 

[shintemaster]

If the AFL are willing to pay for the costs of running a western sydney side, that's great. No chance it will make anywhere near a profit. It will destablise the Swans too, so there is a good chance that you will have two NSW teams requiring major AFL assistance. The choice of Blacktown as the training and social club place is astonishing.

No, it's not great. One of the main problems I have with expansion at the moment is that there appears NO chance that teams will be able to support themselves. You have several teams (and not just in Melbourne) who are struggling to keep their heads above water. How exactly is it fair if they fund expansion teams to their financial detriment?

They are the ones earning the income for the AFL and are supposed to just sit back and accept actions which affect their ability to continue in the future? If the AFL wishes to fund expansion teams it needs to come up with a solution which doesn't have a negative financial impact on the other teams.

 

[zero]

They are the ones earning the income for the AFL and are supposed to just sit back and accept actions which affect their ability to continue in the future? If the AFL wishes to fund expansion teams it needs to come up with a solution which doesn't have a negative financial impact on the other teams.

thats the problem, the roos, with their small supporter base, and low number of TV viewers, dont really earn that much for the league as a whole. why do you think they were so willing to move you and risk losing the share of the revenue that north provide? its because its such a small amount.

whereas up north, a population of 11 million has two teams between them... there is massive amounts of TV revenue to be made up there, and a couple of new teams will bring that in. they are worth propping up, because pretty much straight away they will be bringing more into the league than they cost.

 

[shintemaster]

thats the problem, the roos, with their small supporter base, and low number of TV viewers, dont really earn that much for the league as a whole. why do you think they were so willing to move you and risk losing the share of the revenue that north provide? its because its such a small amount.

whereas up north, a population of 11 million has two teams between them... there is massive amounts of TV revenue to be made up there, and a couple of new teams will bring that in. they are worth propping up, because pretty much straight away they will be bringing more into the league than they cost.

Have it your way. I'm not only talking about my club either, there are several clubs from more than one state who are not in any position to give up income. The problem I have is that the commissions job is NOT to make as big a profit as possible. They were entrusted with running the league to the betterment of all the clubs. This doesn't include clubs that don't exist. I don't have a problem with expansion, I think it could add some more interest to football. I do have a problem with it being done in a haphazard way without thinking through the consequences. Besides the financial issues we are also left with an even more unbalanced draw if 2 new teams are added. These issues need to be addressed before starting a new team, not afterwards. Frankly, what happens if North, Melb etc don't require AFL assistance? What reason do they then have to stand by and accept substandard fixturing?

 

[Mickdog]

The sooner the better imo. Would be good to have a stadium out west but I would think most if not all games would be played at ANZ stadium (formerly Telstra). The quicker they have teams on the Gold Coast and in West Sydney the quicker the game will grow in the 2 League states.

Go West Sydney