Expansion AND Contraction. AFL Teams.

[Memories]

There is no doubt the AFL needs to expand, there are untapped markets in NSW, Queensland, Tasmania and even the ACT and NT. However there is a limit to how many teams can be in the league.

With 18 teams, the odds your team will win the grand final have just gone from 1 in 16, to 1 in 18. In other leagues around the world, when there are too many teams there are things like "conferences" where you only compete with certain teams in an "area" and when you win that "area" you take on the winners of other "areas". This way even if your team doesn't win the major goal, you win something minor. Other sports have the "Divisions" concept which most people are aware of. This at least ensures the odds of winning something increase.

I don't really like the fact that with so many teams and only one prize all the supporters now have to come to grips with less chance of success. So my thoughts are there needs to be a contraction of victorian teams to balance out the league. To address the biggest markets, Queensland, NSW and Tasmania, 3 victorian teams need to be removed. How this is done to ensure the least amount of supporters are upset is anyones guess.

Options:
1) Remove the teams with the least amount of supporters.
This reduces the damage done to the maximum extent. The teams which are dissolved simply can go back to the VFL.

2) Randomly remove 3 teams
Fair, but could ultimately damage more supporters. The losing teams go back to the VFL.

3) Merge 3 teams into 3 other victorian teams.
Some supporters will hate this, some will like it over their team being removed altogether. How many hate it is the key question, not only of the teams being merged, but the ones that receive them.


All the players from the removed teams should simply go into the PSD, available for all the clubs to pick them up. It is simply unfair for an AUSTRALIAN competition to be 10/18ths Victorian. Maybe the AFL are already planning to do this when the new teams come in, or are hoping teams will fold, who knows. But something needs to be done.

 

[zero]

eliminating teams at random is cutting the nose off to spite the face.. why contract unless there is a return? i not averse to losing a vic team or two, but it must be done in a way that minimizes the damage and has a reasonable chance of getting a return of at least as many supporters as lost.

expansion into SEQ and WSYD is set, it will happen, and the next two places are tassie and canberra, small markets that have a traditional AFL following. these most likely need to be propped up for years, perhaps forever.

in an ideal world i would merge two of melbourne, WB and the roos, move the other to canberra, and form a new tassie side.

but the fact is clubs are protected, they just cant be killed or moved on the whim of the AFL. you have to wait till they fall over...and the problem with that is they dont fall over at the same time, and you are trying to force a merger where one NEEDS to merge and the other doesent... so its very lopsides and one is lost into the identity of the other

anyway, its a nasty business that just doesent need to be tackled until one falls over, and i think we are many years away from that. i would really like to see a tassie side so i sort of hope one of them falls over

 

[Memories]

anyway, its a nasty business that just doesent need to be tackled until one falls over, and i think we are many years away from that. i would really like to see a tassie side so i sort of hope one of them falls over

Do you happen to have a preference of a vic team to collapse? I think it may be sooner than later, maybe by the end of next year.

 

[theyellowsash]

^^^^^^

it is indeed looking a little ominous seeing as the afl have said that there will be a tassie team in the future, and seem to be warming a little to their proposition.

 

[mantis]

Do you happen to have a preference of a vic team to collapse? I think it may be sooner than later, maybe by the end of next year.

I don't think a Freo supporter should be talking about eliminating clubs, especially when their team has done SFA since they began & don't look like they will in the future.

 

[Pessimistic]

Sorry mate, Freo will have to be like your average english soccer team. no hope of the prize just settle into a few decades where your 'win' is winning the local derby

 

[zero]

I don't think a Freo supporter should be talking about eliminating clubs, especially when their team has done SFA since they began & don't look like they will in the future.

and yet the dockers future is more assured than all but 4 or 5 vic clubs.

 

[chelseacarlton]

Would prefer to see a melb team relocated to tassie before west sydney.
I know it was mentioned in the Hun,but west sydney does smell alot like THE AFL'S vietnam.
Let the gold coast settle for a cupla years or a year and do the deal finaly on a victorian team or two to join in tassie.Do the studies and find the investment and support in the west of sydney and pounce when there is the revenue and facilities.
AND MELBOURNE TOWN NEEEDS ANOTHER VENUE,"F@#$K THE DOCKLANDS AND MCC for there continued contempt and disrespect of the hand that feeds it!
Sorry but theres my 2 cents

 

[mantis]

and yet the dockers future is more assured than all but 4 or 5 vic clubs.

I wouldn't bet on that at the moment, the AFL might decide to merge the Eagles & Dockers seeing as they are both going crap.

By the way Zero, when did you switch from the Eagles to Unlisted, don't tell me you're a bandwagoner?

 

[zero]

I wouldn't bet on that at the moment, the AFL might decide to merge the Eagles & Dockers seeing as they are both going crap.

heh funny. mate if the AFL cant merge two basketcase, broke ass melbourne suburb clubs that shouldnt even be in a national comp anyway, then they cant touch the eagles, dockers or crows.

and you seem to be labouring under the misapprehension that onfield performance makes a lick of difference to survivability. its capable management and the number of supporters you have.

the dockers have half a state, and the second largest traditional football state at that.

By the way Zero, when did you switch from the Eagles to Unlisted, don't tell me you're a bandwagoner?

heh so your still on that old argument, eh mantis... arent i a barracker and your a "real" fan? arent you the arbiter of who is a genuine supporter? isnt it your sad, pathetic ego that makes you belittle others and build yourself up because only YOU have been a member for 50 years?

what a sad bore you are, intent only on proving yourself so much better than those around you.

 

[mantis]

heh funny. mate if the AFL cant merge two basketcase, broke ass melbourne suburb clubs that shouldnt even be in a national comp anyway, then they cant touch the eagles, dockers or crows.

and you seem to be labouring under the misapprehension that onfield performance makes a lick of difference to survivability. its capable management and the number of supporters you have.

the dockers have half a state, and the second largest traditional football state at that.
heh so your still on that old argument, eh mantis... arent i a barracker and your a "real" fan? arent you the arbiter of who is a genuine supporter? isnt it your sad, pathetic ego that makes you belittle others and build yourself up because only YOU have been a member for 50 years?

what a sad bore you are, intent only on proving yourself so much better than those around you.

Good to see you answered the question.

If you can't even have the guts to list the Eagles as the club you barrack for now, it's pretty sad & proves my point. There are a lot of Eagle barrakers, but when they are down they jump ship.

The Dockers might have half a state, but seems that most don't become members or go to games. Don't be surprised if in the next couple of unsuccessful years for both of your clubs, you are merged.

 

[tandino]

This thread has only been done about 50 times.

all the supporters now have to come to grips with less chance of success.

Something Freo supporters would be well accustomed to.

All the players from the removed teams should simply go into the PSD, available for all the clubs to pick them up. It is simply unfair for an AUSTRALIAN competition to be 10/18ths Victorian.

The AFL history books goes back beyond 1990.

Have a read when you get the chance, you might get a better understanding on why the league is made up like it is.

 

[Ochre]

There are a lot of Eagle barrakers, but when they are down they jump ship.

is that why 98% of our members renewed thier membership at the end of last year?

 

[SweetLeftFoot]

Memories at it again.

I suspect its plan is to slowly cull teams for a variety of reasons until only Freo are left, thus guaranteeing them a flag.

Its the only way they'll win one.

 

[mantis]

Memories at it again.

I suspect its plan is to slowly cull teams for a variety of reasons until only Freo are left, thus guaranteeing them a flag.

Its the only way they'll win one.

Exactly, OH wait we agree on something.

 

[mantis]

is that why 98% of our members renewed thier membership at the end of last year?

What happened in the late 90's, there was no more waiting list & actual real members got to join after the bandwagoners dropped off. Wait & see what happens to your membership next year, if you don't do well this year.

 

[SweetLeftFoot]

It is simply unfair for an AUSTRALIAN competition to be 10/18ths Victorian. Maybe the AFL are already planning to do this when the new teams come in, or are hoping teams will fold, who knows. But something needs to be done.

You are aware the Aussie Rules is not the major sport in all of Australia?

And that Melbourne is the biggest city - by far - of the natural AFL towns?

And that, as Demetriou says, the TV rights are driven by Melbourne audiences?

 

[greennick]

You are aware the Aussie Rules is not the major sport in all of Australia?

And that Melbourne is the biggest city - by far - of the natural AFL towns?

And that, as Demetriou says, the TV rights are driven by Melbourne audiences?

Although I don't fully agree with what the OP is saying. Just thought I would point out that the TV rights are what they are because it is a national audience. While Melbourne may be the core of the rights, the majority (more than 50%) of the value comes from the rest of the country.

 

[SweetLeftFoot]

Although I don't fully agree with what the OP is saying. Just thought I would point out that the TV rights are what they are because it is a national audience. While Melbourne may be the core of the rights, the majority (more than 50%) of the value comes from the rest of the country.

Demetriou says otherwise

What annoys me is this notion that a NATIONAL competition should have an even spread of teams. Its beyond moronic.

Look, if Australia had 20m people and five states and all those states had four million people and they all liked footy, then yes, having 10 teams in one state would be unfair.

But that's not how it works.

Peoplem, especially in those states which are not Victoria, need to look at the facts here.

We expanded to Sydney and Brisbane decades ago and even poor old basketcase North has significantly more members than either of them. Both of them have taken far more off the AFL than we ever have.

They've needed repeated tranches of extra draft picks to top them up, extra salary caps etc.

We've never even had a bloody priority pick and we've operated at 92.5 of the cap some years.

The GC team are going to need an enormous subsidy and even then are no guarantee.

All this talk of folding Melbourne teams, or relocating them, or merging them just flies in the face of common ecionomic sense ... this is why its restricted to the realms of BF fanboys, one handed browsers and types who scratch cars with Vic plates.

The fact remains that Melbourne provides the biggest share of the revenue cake, by a considerable distance, and it provides that share by having 9 teams.

Cutting one or more of those teams would significantly reduce that revenue and to think you could just plonk a team in Tassie or West Sydney or Darwin and get that same level of revenue back is plain moronic.

 

[estibador]

Memories at it again.

I suspect its plan is to slowly cull teams for a variety of reasons until only Freo are left, thus guaranteeing them a flag.

To be fair we can probably leave the eagles in too, because they can't beat us anyway.

 

[catters05]

In the next 20 years.

Gold Coast
West Sydney
Tasmania
Another WA Team

AFL will own the Dome and the smaller Vic clubs will be fine.

 

[FOOOOTY]

1) Remove the teams with the least amount of supporters.

I guess thats Brisbane and Sydney

 

[grayham]

A reduction in Victorian teams would have immediate benefits for the whole competition.

All the football media, especially TV shows, is so Victorian-centric, it damages the brand outside victoria.

 

[JeffDunne]

Demetriou says otherwise

What annoys me is this notion that a NATIONAL competition should have an even spread of teams. Its beyond moronic.

Look, if Australia had 20m people and five states and all those states had four million people and they all liked footy, then yes, having 10 teams in one state would be unfair.

But that's not how it works.

Peoplem, especially in those states which are not Victoria, need to look at the facts here.

We expanded to Sydney and Brisbane decades ago and even poor old basketcase North has significantly more members than either of them. Both of them have taken far more off the AFL than we ever have.

They've needed repeated tranches of extra draft picks to top them up, extra salary caps etc.

We've never even had a bloody priority pick and we've operated at 92.5 of the cap some years.

The GC team are going to need an enormous subsidy and even then are no guarantee.

All this talk of folding Melbourne teams, or relocating them, or merging them just flies in the face of common ecionomic sense ... this is why its restricted to the realms of BF fanboys, one handed browsers and types who scratch cars with Vic plates.

The fact remains that Melbourne provides the biggest share of the revenue cake, by a considerable distance, and it provides that share by having 9 teams.

Cutting one or more of those teams would significantly reduce that revenue and to think you could just plonk a team in Tassie or West Sydney or Darwin and get that same level of revenue back is plain moronic.

It amazes me how people miss these simple facts.

Talk to the sponsors of most non-Victorian teams and they will tell you their focus is the Victorian market more so than the local market.

Your last point is the bottom line in this argument - unless new teams are going to bring greater TV share, greater attendances and greater support than existing teams, replacing them simply to have an even geographic spread is moronic.

 

[FOOOOTY]

A reduction in Victorian teams would have immediate benefits for the whole competition.

All the football media, especially TV shows, is so Victorian-centric, it damages the brand outside victoria.

Why would they talk about Sydney when no1 in NSW even watches said shows