Hi all,
I'm writing an open letter to the Collingwood Football Club off field leadership. I know the clubs have employees whose job it is to read online commentary about the club, and that this is more likely to be read than any email or angry letter I send. Although I rarely post, I regularly read bigfooty and I would be interested in any comments of Collingwood supporters here.
I'm Victorian originally but have spent the last several years in the Northern Territory. I regularly time my visits to Melbourne around the footy fixture. I'm an MCC member, and my last trip was timed so that I could attend Hawthorn v Sydney, Collingwood v Adelaide and Collingwood v Port Adelaide. Going to the footy is a family ritual, and I often go with my nieces and nephews and my dad.
I attended Hawthorn v Sydney and Collingwood v Adelaide, but elected not to go to this weekend's Port Adelaide game. I notice the club (Eddie in particular) has put a lot of the blame for poor attendances on the AFL fixturing Sunday games, cold weather and the cost of attending. I agree, but these are all factors largely outside the club's control. This letter is about things the club can control.
The flight back to Darwin gave me time to think about why; having flown down with the purpose of going to the footy; I elected not to go to the Port Adelaide game.
The match day experience has radically changed in recent years. I suspect the change has been gradual and not obvious to people who regularly go to the footy, but living interstate seems to have given me a better perspective. For example, when I was a kid and going to the footy in the 90's, I don't recall gambling being rammed down my throat to the extent that is typical today, particularly in Collingwood home games. Hawthorn to its credit had a lot of beyond blue advertising.
Living in the NT and having previously worked in criminal law, I saw first hand the social problems caused by gambling. I'm really angry that the club is allowing its brand to be exploited to normalise gambling. There are Australian children in 2014 who regularly go days without food because dad has spent the Centrelink money on gambling. Women get bashed because of fights that start around problem gambling. So spare me your indigenous round hearts and flowers bullshit. It is very easy to put some dots on your jumper and paint the big reconcialiation R on the ground for one round a year and assert some sort of black cred. Or even sending footballers to remote communities to have a kick with the kids. Put your money where your mouth is and stop promoting and glamourising gambling.
I'm not a prude, or an anti-gambling crusader per se, however the fact of the matter is that the club has taken its loyal, captive audience and has used it to flog a product that is known to be harmful. My nieces and nephews look forward to when their uncle is down from Darwin and takes them to the footy, but I won't be enabling the club to ram gambling down their throats, just as my Dad wouldn't have allowed it when I was that age. At least watching the game on TV you can mute the ads, or explain to the kid in the room that as an adult I think online gambling is stupid, "the house always wins", or that if that smug little shit Tom Waterhouse ever gets one cent of your money I will disown you as a nephew. Or that despite the gambling ads with attractive women in them, you're more likely to lose a woman to gambling than to land one. You can't do it at the footy.
Also, there is an ad that regularly features in Collingwood games on the big screen. A car manufacturer's logo appears with the really loud sound of an engine revving and flashing lights, ostensibly to "rev up" the groud. With say 40,000 people in a crowd, the club and/or the MCC is really exposing itself to litigation if one of them happens to be an epileptic and goes into a fit. Separate to that risk, it's a really shit imposition for the other 39,999 people who aren't epileptic. I suggest the club gets legal advice on that ad, and generally stops treating its supporters as mugs.
My future Melbourne trips will be planned around other clubs games, and I'll making a donation to a problem gambling charity instead of renewing my Collingwood membership (although I'll definitely renew my MCC membership). I won't be taking my nieces and nephews to a game as long as the experience is as it is.
This is not a knock on any players, coaches or the club in general which over the years has brought me a lot of joy. Just the people who are employed and paid well to make decisions in the best interests of the club, and who apparently seem to favour short term profit over the long term best interests.
TLDR: the club should cop some of the blame for poor match day attendances, instead of passing the buck to the AFL.
I'm writing an open letter to the Collingwood Football Club off field leadership. I know the clubs have employees whose job it is to read online commentary about the club, and that this is more likely to be read than any email or angry letter I send. Although I rarely post, I regularly read bigfooty and I would be interested in any comments of Collingwood supporters here.
I'm Victorian originally but have spent the last several years in the Northern Territory. I regularly time my visits to Melbourne around the footy fixture. I'm an MCC member, and my last trip was timed so that I could attend Hawthorn v Sydney, Collingwood v Adelaide and Collingwood v Port Adelaide. Going to the footy is a family ritual, and I often go with my nieces and nephews and my dad.
I attended Hawthorn v Sydney and Collingwood v Adelaide, but elected not to go to this weekend's Port Adelaide game. I notice the club (Eddie in particular) has put a lot of the blame for poor attendances on the AFL fixturing Sunday games, cold weather and the cost of attending. I agree, but these are all factors largely outside the club's control. This letter is about things the club can control.
The flight back to Darwin gave me time to think about why; having flown down with the purpose of going to the footy; I elected not to go to the Port Adelaide game.
The match day experience has radically changed in recent years. I suspect the change has been gradual and not obvious to people who regularly go to the footy, but living interstate seems to have given me a better perspective. For example, when I was a kid and going to the footy in the 90's, I don't recall gambling being rammed down my throat to the extent that is typical today, particularly in Collingwood home games. Hawthorn to its credit had a lot of beyond blue advertising.
Living in the NT and having previously worked in criminal law, I saw first hand the social problems caused by gambling. I'm really angry that the club is allowing its brand to be exploited to normalise gambling. There are Australian children in 2014 who regularly go days without food because dad has spent the Centrelink money on gambling. Women get bashed because of fights that start around problem gambling. So spare me your indigenous round hearts and flowers bullshit. It is very easy to put some dots on your jumper and paint the big reconcialiation R on the ground for one round a year and assert some sort of black cred. Or even sending footballers to remote communities to have a kick with the kids. Put your money where your mouth is and stop promoting and glamourising gambling.
I'm not a prude, or an anti-gambling crusader per se, however the fact of the matter is that the club has taken its loyal, captive audience and has used it to flog a product that is known to be harmful. My nieces and nephews look forward to when their uncle is down from Darwin and takes them to the footy, but I won't be enabling the club to ram gambling down their throats, just as my Dad wouldn't have allowed it when I was that age. At least watching the game on TV you can mute the ads, or explain to the kid in the room that as an adult I think online gambling is stupid, "the house always wins", or that if that smug little shit Tom Waterhouse ever gets one cent of your money I will disown you as a nephew. Or that despite the gambling ads with attractive women in them, you're more likely to lose a woman to gambling than to land one. You can't do it at the footy.
Also, there is an ad that regularly features in Collingwood games on the big screen. A car manufacturer's logo appears with the really loud sound of an engine revving and flashing lights, ostensibly to "rev up" the groud. With say 40,000 people in a crowd, the club and/or the MCC is really exposing itself to litigation if one of them happens to be an epileptic and goes into a fit. Separate to that risk, it's a really shit imposition for the other 39,999 people who aren't epileptic. I suggest the club gets legal advice on that ad, and generally stops treating its supporters as mugs.
My future Melbourne trips will be planned around other clubs games, and I'll making a donation to a problem gambling charity instead of renewing my Collingwood membership (although I'll definitely renew my MCC membership). I won't be taking my nieces and nephews to a game as long as the experience is as it is.
This is not a knock on any players, coaches or the club in general which over the years has brought me a lot of joy. Just the people who are employed and paid well to make decisions in the best interests of the club, and who apparently seem to favour short term profit over the long term best interests.
TLDR: the club should cop some of the blame for poor match day attendances, instead of passing the buck to the AFL.
