Brighton Homes Arena (Springfield) discussions

[Skoob]

The question this raises for me is whether Springfield was always the only realistic option, and that it was pursued so strongly not because of commercial interests but because there just wasn't any other alternative.

That puts a slightly more positive spin on the board's actions (or lack thereof) over the past decade, but it's not very encouraging for our chances of getting something else going.

That is partly true, although it was only the best (maybe only) commercially viable option because of those commercial interests. Those commercial interests were a huge factor. For a long time, I was able to ignore those commercial interests because they would have delivered probably the best deal anyone could wish for, someone else paying for the land and the facility's development. When it became obvious that those commercial interests were affecting total focus, things started to sour. It seemed that the blinkers were on and full disclosure was not forthcoming. Then the new chairman shared his dream of playing games out there and other back scratching favours came to light.
How we came upon such a great deal can be ignored, but only for so long. The possibility that it was the only realistic option, doesn't make it the right one. When we consider what are the current criteria, we can all argue the importance of each ;

As a reminder, the criteria that have been identified by the Club to help decide the best option for a new facility are:
· The availability of funding and overall financial impact on the Club;
· Implications for the Club's on-field performance including the well-being and retention of players and staff, having regard to both the quality of facilities and location;
· Opportunity to provide commercial activity on the site or in the immediate area;
· Opportunity to enhance engagement with supporters, sponsors and broader community;
· Potential to partner with other elite sporting organisations and/or community groups

I'd suggest there is a question mark over Springfield in regard to those criteria I've bolded. Add to this the pungent smell that was coming from the "how and why" such a great deal was struck and the whole thing was very ick.

As that email states, so much has changed in the last few years; we may never know if any alternative was realistic, and none may be now, either. I don't agree it puts any positive spin on how determined the board was to pursue Springfield, especially when there is no doubt in my mind that it is the reason our current chairman is our current chairman.

Welcome back, by the way.

 

[western royboy]

In my mind the funding for Springfield from the RDV was a pipe dream - combined with the conflicts of interest involved and the distance from the CBD it seemed hard to fathom how it was the recommended position.

The financials don't give me enough info to form a view on what the cost of being at the Gabba is by sector, other than to say it's expensive, but my limited understanding of the game day component is that it's a high risk/reward venue in that when full (including corporates) the club makes big money and obviously the previous admins never forecasted the downturn in attendees. Theo's wher I would like to see some more work done and I'm sure it is.

 

[Hollow Knight]

The game day component is entirely separate from the rental of administration and training facilities.

 

[Haso]

REFERENCES!

 

[Tairy Greene]

He is branching out & assimilating nicely.

 

[whatboutbob]

$150m election promise for Townsville stadium and entertainment district was announced today.

Crickets for the Lions so far. If we don't hear anything in the next week or so then I suspect it could be status quo for quite some time to come.

 

[winged1]

$150m election promise for Townsville stadium and entertainment district was announced today.

Crickets for the Lions so far. If we don't hear anything in the next week or so then I suspect it could be status quo for quite some time to come.

You would think by now they would know cricket and the lions dont mix.

 

[dlanod]

Should've moved the training base to Ashgrove...

 

[Skoob]

$150m election promise for Townsville stadium and entertainment district was announced today.

Crickets for the Lions so far. If we don't hear anything in the next week or so then I suspect it could be status quo for quite some time to come.

Yeah, you'd expect at least an empty promise from Labor.

 

[bombersfan4000]

$150m election promise for Townsville stadium and entertainment district was announced today.

Crickets for the Lions so far. If we don't hear anything in the next week or so then I suspect it could be status quo for quite some time to come.

the NRL has been good at extracting money from decades. the AFL is only new at it

 

[Fatcat08]

the NRL has been good at extracting money from decades. the AFL is only new at it

I'd say the afl is much better in general. Issue is in QLD there's really no political pull for the afl to work with

 

[bigleague]

the NRL has been good at extracting money from decades. the AFL is only new at it

rubbish, the NRL have been terrible at lobbying government until recently, Smith has actually renovated their entire governance and administration to a level the AFL have been operating on for years.

 

[bombersfan4000]

rubbish, the NRL have been terrible at lobbying government until recently, Smith has actually renovated their entire governance and administration to a level the AFL have been operating on for years.

rubbish look at all of the NRL suburban grounds the NRL has had funded for decades?

the AFL had been crap up until recently, even still no where near the level that the NRL gets

 

[bombersfan4000]

I'd say the afl is much better in general. Issue is in QLD there's really no political pull for the afl to work with

uh so the new stadium for townsville? the current one the cowboys struggle to half hill on average
the promised $110 million dollar stadium for Rockhampton to built on a flood plain for the CQ NRL bid
Cbus stadium on the Gold Coast for the disaster case known as the titans, who are 25 million in debt & moving in to a high school for training & council building for admin facilities
the proposed state and federal funding to help upgrade the Broncos training facility

mean while
Metricon stadium was built with the 2018 commonwealth Games in mind
the Lions had their funding application rejected

yeah the AFL has great pull at government levels

 

[POBT]

The AFL has no pull in Qld because the code is arguably now behind League, Union, Soccer and probably Netball in terms of popularity of winter sports.

 

[bigleague]

rubbish look at all of the NRL suburban grounds the NRL has had funded for decades?

the AFL had been crap up until recently, even still no where near the level that the NRL gets

Suburban grounds, ie. poor local government venues which due to their growing maintenance costs the NSW government are finally moving to a cohesive stadium policy.

uh so the new stadium for townsville? the current one the cowboys struggle to half hill on average
the promised $110 million dollar stadium for Rockhampton to built on a flood plain for the CQ NRL bid
Cbus stadium on the Gold Coast for the disaster case known as the titans, who are 25 million in debt & moving in to a high school for training & council building for admin facilities
the proposed state and federal funding to help upgrade the Broncos training facility

mean while
Metricon stadium was built with the 2018 commonwealth Games in mind
the Lions had their funding application rejected

yeah the AFL has great pull at government levels

all taken place in the last two years.

Carrara redevelopment was announced at least 2 years before the commonwealth games winning bid had been announced and was for the benefit of the Suns and the result of AFL lobbying of a weak Bligh government. Add to that Blacktown, Spotless, Canberra.

titans aren't in debt anymore, their current training and admin facilities are temporary while their new base is constructed.

 

[dlanod]

For the record, it's very different stories in NSW and Qld. The NRL basically gets what they want in Qld - plenty of money thrown at the Broncos over the years, the Cowboys get a bit, the Titans had their own custom stadium built. In NSW it's a different story (recently anyway). There's a move away from having all the suburban grounds because of the costs involved, though Parramatta is an exception due to its multi-sport use.

 

[mikey127]

So it seems like the overall consensus is the QLD election result will have no impact for the Lions outside of needing a new number 1 ticket holder. Am I right?

 

[Fatcat08]

uh so the new stadium for townsville? the current one the cowboys struggle to half hill on average
the promised $110 million dollar stadium for Rockhampton to built on a flood plain for the CQ NRL bid
Cbus stadium on the Gold Coast for the disaster case known as the titans, who are 25 million in debt & moving in to a high school for training & council building for admin facilities
the proposed state and federal funding to help upgrade the Broncos training facility

mean while
Metricon stadium was built with the 2018 commonwealth Games in mind
the Lions had their funding application rejected

yeah the AFL has great pull at government levels

If you're going to try to compare just QLD then it's always going to look skewed given the influence league has in QLD. If you start looking nationally then its a very very different story with the afl miles ahead

 

[bombersfan4000]

Suburban grounds, ie. poor local government venues which due to their growing maintenance costs the NSW government are finally moving to a cohesive stadium policy.

yes all of those suburbaban grounds, that local councils & broke NRL teams cannot afford, so the taxpayer has been footing the bill for decades, some of those grounds, will be used for a hand full of home games per season & some haven't been used in years

Carrara redevelopment was announced at least 2 years before the commonwealth games winning bid had been announced and was for the benefit of the Suns and the result of AFL lobbying of a weak Bligh government. Add to that Blacktown, Spotless, Canberra.

titans aren't in debt anymore, their current training and admin facilities are temporary while their new base is constructed.

Metricon it was built with the Commonwealth Games in mind, but as to the Titans custom building theirs.
good old business being able to make 25 million of debt disappear
if you want to look at groups lobbying governments, look at the broncos,Titans & Cowboys & the CQ bid first before crying about the AFL

as for NSW, those Spotless aka the showgrounds gets a revamp, for another use than just the showgrounds as oppose to the several NRL grounds that get used less or even not at all

 

[bombersfan4000]

If you're going to try to compare just QLD then it's always going to look skewed given the influence league has in QLD. If you start looking nationally then its a very very different story with the afl miles ahead

not really, two states finally get a decent stadium, mind you its pretty much they are the only major stadiums in those states. both new multi purpose venues replacing outdated shit holes. as to decades of government funding in QLD & NSW something the AFL has never had previously.

you gotta consider when large money is spent, case studies are done about the financial viability of the piece of infrastructure being built. both the Eagles & Dockers have waiting lists for their memberships that people pay $75 per year to be on & most games are near sellouts & both Crows & Power have nearly 50k members each, as oppose to the NRL's regular pissy crowds

 

[bigleague]

yes all of those suburbaban grounds, that local councils & broke NRL teams cannot afford, so the taxpayer has been footing the bill for decades, some of those grounds, will be used for a hand full of home games per season & some haven't been used in years



Metricon it was built with the Commonwealth Games in mind, but as to the Titans custom building theirs.
good old business being able to make 25 million of debt disappear
if you want to look at groups lobbying governments, look at the broncos,Titans & Cowboys & the CQ bid first before crying about the AFL

as for NSW, those Spotless aka the showgrounds gets a revamp, for another use than just the showgrounds as oppose to the several NRL grounds that get used less or even not at all

No, it wasn't, the GC hadn't even won the bid until 2011, the redevelopment of Carrara, which is now Metricon, was announced in 2009.

Get a clue fool!

Ahead of the March 21 state election, Queensland premier Anna Bligh on Monday took her campaign to the tourist haven to announce that, if re-elected, her government would go further into debt to build the $130 million AFL stadium.

Queensland's share of the cost would be $60 million, Gold Coast City Council has pledged $20 million, with the AFL and Federal government to make up the difference.

"If these conditions are fulfilled - and I have every reason to believe they will be - Gold Coasters will get a new Aussie Rules team to cheer and a new home to cheer them in," Ms Bligh said.

http://www.afl.com.au/news/2009-03-09/states-60m-gold-coast-pledge-shores-up-bid

 

[POBT]

So it seems like the overall consensus is the QLD election result will have no impact for the Lions outside of needing a new number 1 ticket holder. Am I right?

Not entirely sure. Labor has traditionally been the party prepared to spend on sports infrastructure. Springfield was a Labor supported proposal. And Labor has just won back the western metropolitan heartland which it lost last time and may want to do something in that area.

I personally think it would be madness for the ALP to spend any money on a project like this but stranger things have happened.

 

[Hollow Knight]

I personally think it would be madness for the ALP to spend any money on a project like this but stranger things have happened.

Yeah, the ALP announcing major spending for an AFL club would illicit a massive "what the ****!" from the electorate.

 

[POBT]

Yeah, the ALP announcing major spending for an AFL club would illicit a massive "what the ****!" from the electorate.

I guess you never know what promises have been made or who owes who a favour. I also never discount a political party giving their opposition a big "**** you" by overturning a previous decision, for no other reason than because they can.

But yeah, this project doesn't seem to be the one the ALP would fight for.