Economic downturn will sink boot in to clubs

[FOOOOTY]

When the TV rights are up for renewal it's not the Pay TV side of things that the AFL will worry about. Look at the financial issues our free to air networks have. The league will do everything it can to maximise TV revenue. If we're still in downturn then they'll probably offer a 1-2 year extension to the current rights holders.

I think you'll find the opposite, with people able to download their TV shows thesedays, get their news off the internet etc etc, Live sport is the goose that lays the golden egg, its the last thing they can buy and know will get a massive audience. I expect it will top 1 billion.

Does anyone know if Channel 7s last bid rights are still going?,

 

[SweetLeftFoot]

The Dogs only get more ASD because we have a better long term business plan, the clubs business plan has always been a major factor in how much ASD a club gets.
Also, all profits from our pokies will be going into the community wing of the club, doing work in the community and other charitable things, and while yes pokies still arent good, most other clubs use that money on their clusb and not the community.

Crap, crap and more crap.

I love this 'business plan' line that gets trotted out by Dogs supporters.

Was scrabbling with the Dees in a race to the bottom to secure sponsorship from the lucrative tortilla wholsaling sector part of the business plan?

Smorgon is excellent at waffling and talking crap and the AFL buys it.

That's the business plan.

 

[incubi]

The dogs have a very solid long term business plan, we have already said we will not be playing home games interstate within 3 years. We have larger revunue sources than North Melbourne even before that and have already finished fixing up and our training and community facilities that have been referred to as the envy of most if not all the other clubs. Also when the business and admin sides of our facilities are finished, they are expected to bring in approx. $1m a year extra to the club in leases to other businesses and Victoria University and usage of convention facilities and lower upkeep costs.

So we already have higher revenue streams than North Melbourne (in a year when they had many pity members from other clubs) before these projects are finished.

What long term revenue raising projects do North Melbourn have?

 

[Hearts to hearts]

What long term revenue raising projects do North Melbourn have?

I shall use them to buy an "e".

Not too dissimilar to what you just said. We're ahead on bringing home games home, but our facilities redevelopment is just getting under way so we're a bit behind the Dogs there. Of course we've only had just over 12 months of people running the club who wanted us to succees, so it will take a bit of time to catch up. We are on track for a solid membership of 30K plus, probably short of last year's high, but are making more income per membership and have thousands of new members, so who knows. Bulldogs are apparently hopijng for about the same which would be a record for you, but coming off a very good year and with offfield things having fallen into place you'd hope so.

Plenty of North people have got on here and other threads to back the Dogs because we'd like to see all clubs acknowledged and successful. It's a shame you want to make it into a contest.

 

[incubi]

Im happy with that reply, yeh I have been probably too competitive in this thread, but i was not the one to start it.
I hope to see North Melbourne suceed also, and they are well on their way to doing that, but i am of the believe we are one step ahead of them.

 

[29-little-CHAMP]

Im happy with that reply, yeh I have been probably too competitive in this thread, but i was not the one to start it.
I hope to see North Melbourne suceed also, and they are well on their way to doing that, but i am of the believe we are one step ahead of them.

10 teams dont fit in Victoria


4 will be dead with in 6 years

which clubs will hang on ?

even my club could be in that bracket

 

[RUNVS]

10 teams dont fit in Victoria


4 will be dead with in 6 years

which clubs will hang on ?

even my club could be in that bracket

I agree that 10 teams in Victoria dont fit (7 or 8 would be better).

Teams which are safe include

Geelong
Collingwood
Carlton
Richmond
Essendon

I would like to see 1 Melbourne based team relocate to Tasmania and 2 Melbourne based teams merge into 1 team.

 

[hawker11]

I agree that 10 teams in Victoria dont fit (7 or 8 would be better).

Teams which are safe include

Geelong
Collingwood
Carlton
Richmond
Essendon

I would like to see 1 Melbourne based team relocate to Tasmania and 2 Melbourne based teams merge into 1 team.

And in your opinion Hawthorn aren't in the safe list because....???

 

[RUNVS]

And in your opinion Hawthorn aren't in the safe list because....???

Up until 2 years ago the only way Hawthorn could turn a profit was for them to play some of their home games in Tasmania.

People support Hawthorn when they are winning but when they arent that support falls away very quickly (more so than the listed Melbourne based teams).

 

[Butane]

I think Victoria needs another team. It's now obvious South Australia can't hold 2 and Sydney and Brisbane float around in the wind depending how the team is going on the field. W.A could get another team but I'm not sure how a triangle of hatred would work. None the less it would be profitable.

In conclusion I think there should be a team called Fitzroy or maybe even South Melbourne. Am I right?

 

[SweetLeftFoot]

I would like to see 1 Melbourne based team relocate to Tasmania and 2 Melbourne based teams merge into 1 team.

I would like to see the 1 team in Australia's largest state make a steady sustainable profit and grow its members and ratings without the AFL having to artificially engineer success for it.

You look after your own backyard, we'll look after ours.

 

[SweetLeftFoot]

In conclusion I think there should be a team called Fitzroy or maybe even South Melbourne. Am I right?

maybe even Footscray?

 

[TooFar]

I think Victoria needs another team. It's now obvious South Australia can't hold 2 and Sydney and Brisbane float around in the wind depending how the team is going on the field. W.A could get another team but I'm not sure how a triangle of hatred would work. None the less it would be profitable.

In conclusion I think there should be a team called Fitzroy or maybe even South Melbourne. Am I right?

Good idea, lets also remove the other non-Victorian teams, rename it the VFL, and give us back all the South Australians.

This sounds like a plan, only problem is, you mob wouldn’t have any decent players left…

 

[SweetLeftFoot]

Good idea, lets also remove the other non-Victorian teams, rename it the VFL, and give us back all the South Australians.

This sounds like a plan, only problem is, you mob wouldn’t have any decent players left…

Yeah, because no South Australian ever played in the VFL.

 

[Hearts to hearts]

People support Hawthorn when they are winning but when they arent that support falls away very quickly (more so than the listed Melbourne based teams).

That's probably Sydney you're thinking of.

I'm no expert but I had the impression Hawthorn had been building steadily since the 1996 brush with death, getting their latent support base from the eastern suburbs and the eighties galvanised, and their off-field finances stable and growing.

Sometimes 'ideal competition' posts can be interesting, but it does require people to put a bit of thought into it. So far this thread is just regurgitating tired old lines.

 

[StringyDog]

10 teams dont fit in Victoria


4 will be dead with in 6 years

which clubs will hang on ?

even my club could be in that bracket

People have been saying this crap since Fitzroy was taken over a decade ago and yet all teams in Melbourne are still going. The days of merger are over, and relocation is also only a very tiny chance, there is enough money in the game for all melbourne teams to survive. In 5 years time people will still be saying "10 teams dont fit in Victoria, 4 will be dead in 6 years" but it is crap

 

[PrideOf]

People have been saying this crap since Fitzroy was taken over a decade ago and yet all teams in Melbourne are still going. The days of merger are over, and relocation is also only a very tiny chance, there is enough money in the game for all melbourne teams to survive. In 5 years time people will still be saying "10 teams dont fit in Victoria, 4 will be dead in 6 years" but it is crap

Three Victorian clubs received more than $20m funding from the AFL just to stay afloat during a time when the economy was flying.

Those good times are over, plus the AFL wants to grow into two new and difficult markets which will require huge cash injections on a regular basis just to breakeven.

So no, all Victorian teams are not safe unless they perform both on-field and off-field, which is the way it should be (and should always have been).

 

[medusala]

People have been saying this crap since Fitzroy was taken over a decade ago and yet all teams in Melbourne are still going. The days of merger are over, and relocation is also only a very tiny chance, there is enough money in the game for all melbourne teams to survive.

The recession is every chance to see to that.

Surely the next tv rights will be crucial. Not only that but wont the AFL have to pump a fortune into GC?

 

[shintemaster]

The recession is every chance to see to that.

Surely the next tv rights will be crucial. Not only that but wont the AFL have to pump a fortune into GC?

Do you honestly think the clubs will stand by and allow the commission to pour money into the GC just to break even if a whole bunch of clubs get into trouble? Almost every club benefits indirectly from the relative strength of the other teams. North benefit from playing Richmond rather than a GC team by more bums on seats, more interest on TV, more media attention etc. Every club gains benefit out of this to some extent, even WC gets more national attention by playing Melbourne teams, they get put on FTA TV outside of WA and into guaranteed markets in VIC or SA for that matter. I don't think people realise just how much of an impact reduced crowds / support will have, especially in Melbourne, but also any team that doesn't sell out their stadiums - all will be impacted.

I stil think that the present model will become unsustainable the more teams we add. When there are 10 VIC teams and 6 Interstate teams then it's easier to hide the double up matchups that certain VIC teams get. With 2 more interstate clubs (if it happens) I can't see how any of the middling to smaller clubs will stand by while big Melbourne teams play each other twice and benefit from larger crowds while they pull 20-25k of their own supporters with 50 Gold Coast cheersquad members to home games. It is not realistic to expect these clubs to stand back and lose money while others aren't impacted. The more national the competition gets the closer we will have to get to equity in fixturing IMO, and as it should be. The biggest problem at the moment is that the AFL is basing it's fixturing on TV rights however the money given out to clubs from the TV rights isn't even enough to pay the players. What benefit is there for smaller clubs when the biggest gain all the benefits? I don't see how the stadium deals being improved will change the fact that the competition isn't even close to equal.

 

[hawker11]

Up until 2 years ago the only way Hawthorn could turn a profit was for them to play some of their home games in Tasmania.

People support Hawthorn when they are winning but when they arent that support falls away very quickly (more so than the listed Melbourne based teams).

Playing home games in Tasmania is certainly not the difference between Hawthorn making a profit or loss. That is completely untrue.

I wouldn't say Hawthorn have support fall away any more or less than other clubs - in fact the club has kept a healthy membership base from 1997.

 

[RUNVS]

Playing home games in Tasmania is certainly not the difference between Hawthorn making a profit or loss. That is completely untrue.

I wouldn't say Hawthorn have support fall away any more or less than other clubs - in fact the club has kept a healthy membership base from 1997.

Im not saying that Hawthorn shouldnt stay in Melbourne (i personally think they should, especially over 2 or 3 other Melbourne based teams) but reality is that 9 teams in Melbourne is too many and it should be cut down to 7.

Relocating 1 team to Tasmania and merging 2 Melbourne teams into 1 would solve alot of the AFL's problems.

 

[SweetLeftFoot]

Relocating 1 team to Tasmania and merging 2 Melbourne teams into 1 would solve alot of the AFL's problems.

Alright stuff it, I'm calling your bluff.

You keep saying this.

Please demonstrate using actual figures and evidence gleaned from previous experiences with merger/relocation, how precisely the AFL would be 'better off' by moving one Vic team to Tassie and merging another two.

You'll need to be aware that simplistic assumptions like merging North and Melbourne would create a club with 60,000 members because we both have 30k will not fly because as any member of either club will tell you, such a merger would be an abomination no fan would follow.

So here's your chance to shine.

Demonstrate how the AFL would be 'better off', in terms of revenue, in terms of crowd support, in terms of merchandising, TV ratings, the whole gamut, from this plan of yours.

 

[SweetLeftFoot]

RUNVS, you may wish to incorporate this new development into your considered reply which I await with interest.

Age: Swans Warn of Funds Struggle

 

[medusala]

Do you honestly think the clubs will stand by and allow the commission to pour money into the GC just to break even if a whole bunch of clubs get into trouble?

Yes, its well known that a large minority of clubs are against continuing welfare to the 3 sick Melbourne clubs.

As for IF clubs get in trouble, at least 3 have been basically broke for a number of years.

If they are stuffed in a boom how are they going to get on in a recessionary environment with a poor tv rights deal?

 

[shintemaster]

Yes, its well known that a large minority of clubs are against continuing welfare to the 3 sick Melbourne clubs.

As for IF clubs get in trouble, at least 3 have been basically broke for a number of years.

If they are stuffed in a boom how are they going to get on in a recessionary environment with a poor tv rights deal?

We're not talking about only 3 clubs. We're now talking about Port Adelaide & Sydney as well in the real world. There are very few clubs that are bulletproof.