Gillon stepping down 2022 - Press Conference at 11:30am EST

[kreglze]

Coz he did so well at the Gold Coast

Yep, ran us into the ground and set us a fair way back, still suffering from those early decisions made by the AFL/Initial Management.

 

[Pure_Ownage]

Yes. But they've been in Sydney for over a decade.

I say she would move again for this role.

Im not sure she would or if Tom wants to but he would definitely do a good job hes got the acumen.

 

[Pure_Ownage]

Hocking would be a disaster. Agree though that they will give it to Auld.

Depends on what you want the CEO to do. Hocking definitely has the skill and experience.
Afl is very insular though at HQ so i expect it will be auld which is a pity as i thinkthey could do better

 

[The Falcon Strike]

Also the new person gets to blame Gil if the deal is rubbish

Not if it is an internal promotion.

Given the nature of some of the key strategies for the executive to complete this year, i reckon you'd get a fair idea as to the new CEO by who is heavily involved in the deal(s).

 

[Bombermania]

Please Gil take your brother with you.

 

[Bombermania]

Gambling revenue makes up a not insubstantial portion of the TV revenue I believe, so the broadcasters would also have to forego gambling revenue, which impacts the value of the TV rights.

It's not a simple one.

That speaks volumes about the AFL's inability to tap corporate Australia and global businesses.

 

[Bombermania]

Eddie would be a good choice even though I hate the Pies!

He understands grass roots football and what clubs need in the terms of rebuilding as well as finance wise.

Probably most interstate supporters won’t like it but then again what do they like these days.

Eddie gets my vote.

Wouldn't have a problem with Eddie but my only concern is would he be the type to clean out the AFL.

 

[The_Wookie]

That speaks volumes about the AFL's inability to tap corporate Australia and global businesses.

The AFL and its clubs have more corporate support than any other sport in Australia. Its not even close.

 

[Rowan18]

Wow, maybe the snake did finally escape the cage.

 

[RussellEbertHandball]

That speaks volumes about the AFL's inability to tap corporate Australia and global businesses.

Nah it shows that gaming companies are prepared to pay a big premium to attach themselves to the biggest sport in Oz.

They are all trying to become the dominate player and also get around state government legislation by going online and based in a jurisdiction governments cant regulate.

Not really different to how tobacoo companies paid a big prenium for naming rights of sports competitions, when they were banned from advertising their product. It was about access to eyeballs and branding and getting around government rules.

 

[netslave]

Those covid years would be enough to burn anyone out I reckon.
Can't help but feel he's also getting out before the concussion issue really blows up.

 

[parano1a]

Eddie McGuire would be a perfect candidate to take over the role in 2023.

 

[BOMBERS 4 LIFE!!!!]

Massive credit needs to go to Gil for keeping the comp alive during the pandemic would have been a stressful job

All the best in you future endeavours Gil

 

[Freoboy in Melbs]

I wouldn't mind a female at the helm. Imagine big decisions and boardroom stoushes without 'male ego and testosterone' making the decisions. I perceive women leaders as just having more level heads in general. Bring on the lady options, please.

Edit - and she doesn't have to be anyone we are familiar with, or from another club. Just one of those kick-ass, sharp-as-they-come, confident, over-achiever types with a proven track record from any industry would probably be awesome.

 

[BOMBERS 4 LIFE!!!!]

I wouldn't mind a female at the helm. Imagine big decisions and boardroom stoushes without 'male ego and testocerone' making the decisions. I perceive women leaders as just having more level heads in general. Bring on the lady options, please.

Yep I wouldn’t the be against either

Peggy O’Neal would be a good candidate if she wasn’t 69

 

[Bombermania]

I wouldn't mind a female at the helm. Imagine big decisions and boardroom stoushes without 'male ego and testocerone' making the decisions. I perceive women leaders as just having more level heads in general. Bring on the lady options, please.

A part from women do have testosterone, not a bad idea. Peg or Susan would be good candidates and Essendon has a couple of talented women board members that could lead the AFL.

 

[ApplecrossWC]

Time for Basil to step up

 

[The Falcon Strike]

I wouldn't mind a female at the helm. Imagine big decisions and boardroom stoushes without 'male ego and testosterone' making the decisions. I perceive women leaders as just having more level heads in general. Bring on the lady options, please.

Big decisions are already being made by females

3 our of 7 non executive directors are female on the board.

So if you think the decisions have been ego fuelled, then women are equally at fault.

 

[RussellEbertHandball]

Eddie McGuire would be a perfect candidate to take over the role in 2023.

It only pays $1.5mil. He would have to resign his higher paying TV gigs and give up his work at Jam TV. He won't do that.

He more likely wants to get on the commission, then become chair, and then get AFL lackies to do the grunt work and implement his big ideas strategies.

 

[RussellEbertHandball]

So Gill is leaving at the end of the season, but will lock in a lot of stuff for his successor to be "handcuffed" to.

Before he leaves he will directly be involved with;

• next broadcast deal - the $$ from that sets up the next 5 or 6 years post 2024 when current deal finishes.
• CBA which will be both women's and men's deals and driven by new broadcast deal
• new AFLW season and place in the calendar, almost certain to start finals bye week in August
• Tasmania
• Clubs funding agreement, good time for the commission to bash the clubs around with the guy leaving

That is a huge agenda for next 6 months or so.

No doubt Travis Auld and Andrew Dillon at the AFL will be the front runners for the job but after 2 insiders getting the job, they might go for someone outside the AFL and might go back to a non AFL employee as the first two CEO's Oakley and Jackson were outsiders.

Brendon Gale would be the leading candidate from club land. Brian Cook would have been 5 to 10 years ago but his time has passed.

Tasmania is an interesting part of the equation for who is next to get the job. Gale being an ex Taswegian might be the right bloke to drive this and it gives him something to be seen as not just being a Richmond man at the top.

A Tassie team affects everything. It impacts the next media deal. which impacts the next CBA, which impacts how much women will get paid, and how much goes to grass roots funding, which impacts what the clubs get in funding from the AFL.

McGuire won't go for the CEO's job. It only pays $1.5mil, a lot less than his TV gigs and what he gets at McGuire Media/Jam TV. McGuire would have to give these jobs up if he was CEO.

McGuire will push to get on the Commission and eventually become the chair. That's where the big picture strategy stuff is nutted out, and they hand over the delivery and grunt work to the executives.

And McGuire has a lot of big ideas, and he discussed some last week at the Vic government run SportNXT conference in the lead up to the Grand Prix, with sports administrators from around the world in attendance and on a live feed. From last Tuesday's Whateley program who was at the conference. And he will push the technology angle as was frequently discussed throughout this conference.

Eddie McGuire (6.4.22)

Eddie McGuire joined Gerard from the SportNXT conference as some of the world's greatest sport administrators gather to look at the future of the sporting industry.

player.whooshkaa.com

 

[The Falcon Strike]

So Gill is leaving at the end of the season, but will lock in a lot of stuff for his successor to be "handcuffed" to.

The board is ultimately responsible - so if they didn't want Gil negotiating on those items - they wouldn't let him.

Clearly they think he will be best placed to achieve that agenda and let the new CEO work on other key strategies for growth

 

[RussellEbertHandball]

The board is ultimately responsible - so if they didn't want Gil negotiating on those items - they wouldn't let him.

Clearly they think he will be best placed to achieve that agenda and let the new CEO work on other key strategies for growth

That's obvious, but it means the new CEO has a less flexible approach in his first few years. That might be a good thing if the commission is going with an internal candidate, but might not be if they want to attract the best possible outsider.

 

[Chief]

The full hagiography.

AFL Media Statement - CEO Gillon McLachlan

AFL Commission Chairman Richard Goyder has today announced that Chief Executive Officer Gillon McLachlan had advised the AFL Commission of his resignation, which will become effective at the conclusion of 2022.

Mr Goyder said that following the successful conclusion of the NAB AFLW season at the weekend Mr McLachlan had informed the Commission of his intention to leave the role but has also agreed he would stay through the 2022 Toyota AFL Premiership Season to ensure a number of key strategic projects were completed.

By the time he finishes at the AFL, Mr McLachlan will have served nine seasons as CEO, having been appointed in 2014. He previously held the positions of Deputy Chief Executive officer, Chief Operating Officer, General Manager of Commercial and Strategic Planner, during a career that began with the League in 2000.

Mr Goyder said Mr McLachlan had overseen extraordinary growth in the game across all measures from industry revenue to community participation, membership and broadcast ratings, as well as spearheading the introduction of the AFLW competition that had driven a doubling of the number of girls and women participating in the game.

“Throughout his time as CEO, Gillon has focused on the supporters, ensuring the game remained affordable and accessible,” Mr Goyder said.

“Under his leadership the AFL has introduced initiatives such as the soft cap to ensure greater competitive balance and that any team could win on any given day – a key guiding principle that he outlined to the Commission when he applied for the role in 2014.

“His commercial acumen has resulted in extraordinary growth in our broadcast rights and our AFL industry revenue, but his commitment to local community football has ensured that financial growth has been shared across our game and been channelled into greater investment in local infrastructure and an exponential growth in the facilities and programs that provide an inclusive environment for girls and women.”

Mr Goyder said Mr McLachlan’s leadership, strategic ability and strong relationships across football, Government, and community had come to the fore in successfully steering the code through the Covid-19 pandemic.

“As an industry, we owe Gillon a debt for his ability to lead his team at the AFL and the wider industry and ensure that every part of the football community worked together to get through Covid. Again, Gill was driven by bringing all 18 AFL clubs and 14 AFLW teams through the pandemic in strong shape, but also ensuring we continued to support community football to get back up and going again.

“He knows how important football is to the community – and I think that commitment to local football and access for all will be one of the legacies when he does finish later in the year, along with his commitment to changing the culture of the industry and championing greater gender equity across the AFL and clubs. He should be truly proud of the way he and his team have shaped the AFL, its competitions, its culture and its community.”

Mr Goyder said that Mr McLachlan would finish at the end of 2022 and had committed to completing a number of key strategic projects including:

• A new broadcast deal for the AFL and AFLW competitions beyond the current agreement that ends in 2024.
• Agreeing a collective bargaining agreement with the AFLPA for AFL and AFLW players.
• Finalising the club funding arrangements for the competition, including any changes to the soft cap.
• Completing the review into a Tasmanian team and putting a final position to the 18 AFL clubs for their decision.
• Ensuring the completion of the 2022 Toyota AFL Premiership season and the successful start of Season Seven of AFLW, when all 18 clubs will be represented for the first time.
• Overseeing the increased investment into community football to support schools, volunteers and community clubs in successfully helping to re-connect players, particularly youth, who have been become disengaged with the wider community through Covid.

“I want to thank Gill for the work he has done to drive the growth of our game and its relevance to more people in more places across Australia and especially extend that thanks to Laura and the whole family – Edie, Cleo, Sidney and Luna - for their support through Gill’s time as CEO,” Mr Goyder said.

“Gill has given advance notice of the timing of his departure but is committed to working with his team to finalise a big strategic agenda in 2022 with a number of key strategic initiatives that – once resolved – will ensure we have the balance to set up all levels of football for growth over the next 10 years.”

Mr Goyder said the AFL Commission would retain an executive search firm to assist in potential candidates to succeed Mr McLachlan as Chief Executive Officer and he expected that process would begin within the next week and take several months.

“Gill has built a strong executive team internally, but this is an important decision and we will undertake a rigorous process to ensure we have the best person to take over the role,” Mr Goyder said.

Mr Goyder said what the AFL had achieved under Mr McLachlan’s reign was vast:

• Introduction of the AFLW competition in 2017 – with accelerated expansion to 10 teams (2019), 14 teams (2020) and now growing to all 18 teams in 2022 which will see 540 women playing at the elite level – the largest number of any elite sport in the country.
• Kept the game affordable and accessible to ensure families could attend games and participate in the game.
• Driven the acquisition of Marvel Stadium – a decision that ensured the AFL had the asset base to access $600m line of credit to keep the football industry operational at the start of the pandemic.
• Secured a $225 million upgrade of Marvel Stadium to transform the fan experience and ensure it is a year-round destination for major sports and entertainment.
• Introduction of the Indigenous Advisory Council, currently co-chaired by AFL Commissioner Helen Milroy and Jack Titus Award winner Uncle Paul Briggs, to provide advice and guidance to the Commission and Executive on issues concerning Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders. Led to the appointment of first indigenous Commissioner (Dr Milroy) and first indigenous Executive team member (Tanya Hosch) and the Review of the Peek Rule.
• Introduced the first Gender Action Plan introduced which has led to a significant increase in women holding senior leadership roles across the AFL Executive and General Manager levels and greater focus on leadership training and providing opportunities for senior women across the industry.
• Appointed Dr Kate Hall as the AFL’s head of Mental Health and Wellbeing and Ranjit Menon as the AFL’s Chief Psychiatrist – a move that has led to an overhaul of the industry’s approach to mental health and significant improvements in the coordination of wellbeing services across football and expanded investment in mental health at AFL clubs.
• Championed the AFL’s support for the YES vote during the Marriage Equality vote.
• Secured the country’s largest ever sport TV broadcast deal for the AFL competition and ensured an AFLW broadcast agreement which has resulted in the most expansive free to air coverage of a women’s sport.
• Overseen strong growth in all the key performance indicators of the sport including revenue ($502m in 2013 to $793m in 2019 pre-Covid), attendances (6.9m to 7.5m) memberships (756,717 to 1.14m in 2021), participation (938,068 to 1.7m).
• As CEO, Deputy CEO and COO, Mr McLachlan has been involved in the investment of more than $3 billion into infrastructure, which has seen the development or redevelopment of stadiums in every state and territory across Australia.
• As Deputy CEO and COO intimately involved in the creation of two new expansion clubs in the Gold Coast SUNS and GWS GIANTS.
• Introduced the Indigenous / Multicultural Next Generation Academies (NGAs), to accelerate the talent pathways for talent from diverse communities.
• Introduced new competitive balance measures to ensure all Clubs had the capacity to pay up to 100 per cent of TPP and fund a competitive level of football expenditure and to control football spending through a new soft cap system.
• Overhauled the AFL Tribunal and Match Review process and the ARC while continuing to introduce tighter rules at AFL and community level to protect the health and safety of players across all levels of the game while introducing tighter concussion protocols.

Mr McLachlan said it had been a privilege to be the CEO of the AFL and that, after steering the industry through Covid, seeing the AFLW competition to completion at the weekend and crowds returning in numbers to AFL games it was the right time to give notice of his resignation.

“I came into this role because I am passionate about football and the way it connects people in local communities right across the country and I will leave with that love even stronger than it was. Football is an intrinsic part of life and I have seen that first-hand at community club level and in working for the AFL over the past 20 years,” Mr McLachlan said.

“I told Richard when he took over from Mike Fitzpatrick that there is a time frame on the role of CEO and I would depart when the time is right. Nine seasons is a long time but I feel that with AFLW going to 18 teams, people returning to AFL games, the balance sheet is in good shape, we are investing more in community football, there is a good plan for 2022 and the time is right.

“Success for the code is always about trying to balance between the community and the commerciality – ensuring we were able to drive revenue but then ensuring we use that revenue to engage more people in more places, particularly women and girls and people from diverse backgrounds.

“Our team at the AFL has been extraordinary - particularly over the past two years when – like everyone in the community – we have had to do less with more as we navigated the pandemic. It is also where the collective goodwill of the industry – players, clubs, umpires, staff and our supporters and members – came together to ensure we all put the game first in every decision.

“I want to thank the club CEOs and presidents in particular and also Richard and the Commission for their support. We have a very full agenda in 2022 and I have undertaken to resolve a number of key priorities including the broadcast deal, CBAs, club funding and put a position on Tasmania to the clubs by August and if I can do that, I will leave the game happy.

“We have emerged from Covid in good shape and that has taken discipline and hard work. We need to make the right decisions over the coming months to ensure all levels of the game are set up for sustained growth over the next decade and I am keen to get that right before I go.”

 

[Freoboy in Melbs]

Explain why crypto? all i hear is how its the future

The future of what, exactly? It's just gambling in a different form, disguised as a faux "investment" scheme.

If you buy some Bitcoin and walk away for five -ten years and wait, thats an investment. But if you buy some Bitcoin, try to sell it on a peak and re-buy on a trough, you are in the realm of gambling. I'm not the guy to give you a more detailed explanation or stat-driven data, but thats the gist of it, and they have big crashes when they crash. It's only for peeps with disposable income to burn. Shouldn't be allowed to be advertised as "the future" - that is well beyond false and is simply absurd.

I fear its the vulnerable who are attracted to a notion of "the future". Makes me sick even writing it. Not saying this with any hostility or incredulousness here. I just have a healthy fear and disdain for the wolf in sheeps clothing as I perceive it. Just remember that these celebrities spouting it as "the future" get paid tens and even hundreds of thousands of dollars to say that BS.

Shame on you Matt Damon.

 

[Hoops]

Brad Scott?