Analysis Should we be pursuing a secondary market post-Hobart? If yes, then where?

[Ashley B]

I never understood the appeal of drinking at games, my brother used to spend more time moving between his seat, the bar and the bathroom than he did watching the game. I liked it when we used to hit a pub before the game, have a meal and a few drinks, then go to the game and then go for a few after the game depending on the time slot.

I don’t drink, but after our recent sojourn to the bottom,I can understand why many would want to drink,and a lot, during our games .Surprised I haven’t started lol

 

[Marstermind]

As much as Gippsland appeals due to personal reasons, there just isn't the facilities or money to support a team. Moe has had a couple of pre-season games in the past. Summarton Oval has had a bit of an upgrade lately but still only holds around 7k. If we're looking for a replacement for Tassie's $$$ then I doubt the LaTrobe Council are likely to stump up that number. Also, sorry Moe, but you probably aren't an attractive market to tie an AFL club to.

Bendigo and Albury/Wodonga are much better options IF we need a secondary market. After trying Sydney, Canberra, Gold Coast and Hobart, I think we'd definitely have to stay in Victoria (or Albury).

However, I'd like to think we would try a full time presence in Melbourne for both our AFL and AFLW team's and then see how we go.

 

[The Anvil]

We don't need a secondary market if we play where we train. We keep getting told about the population explosion in the North Melbourne area, why not let these new people walk to the ground.

On a members point of view, our membership will go up when we start winning. Everyone with kids in primary (particularly where they are mostly new Australians) just select one of the top teams as their team.

Also, people who nominally support the Roos will become active as members when we are winning. That's what happened at Melbourne, fans everywhere now when I didn't even know they had any.

 

[year of the roo]

I think a lot of water has gone under the bridge in terms of how this club is run off the field since we last had a go at playing 11 home games in Melbourne. In that time we've said no to the gold coast, had major upgrades to our facilities, introduced our VFL and women's programs, had the Marvel Stadium deal fixed, survived a pandemic, massively increased membership, eliminated our debt and made profits every year. We've become a pretty shrewd, lean, business. And that is all without any sort of on-field achievements. If we can fix that last bit, I am confident that we can balance books without a secondary market.

 

[Gasometer]

It should be Bendigo. Outgrowing Ballarat, reasonable public transport, the airport connects interstate, marginal seat, close to other sizeable regional centres like Shepp and Echuca.
Regional people love their footy more than their metro counterparts too. Only issue will be the impact on local leagues means Saturday arvo games might be a no no.

There’s also Sunday morning Junior Competitions

 

[CURVE]

Albury/Wodonga would be my first thought, but I'd also consider a city like Wagga Wagga. Population of around 55,000 and about 90 minutes away from Canberra. It does have an Aussie Rules history and a number of the game's greats have come from the city including one of our own, Wayne Carey.
Negatives are probably a lack of facilities and it will not be the money earner that Hobart has been.

 

[discodaddy]

Good thread. The further we get from Arden street the more it will look and feel like it’s driven purely by revenue. I was previously an advocate for us playing a couple of games in Ballarat and it blew my mind at the AFL stole it from us and handed it to a latecomer without adequate explanation.

Without having the benefit of demographic analysis, my view is that we should not venture much further north in central Victoria. For me that’s Bendigo.

Simultaneously, we should we should also be working to capitalise on demographic and population shifts north of the city centre.

 

[Cunnington Cartel]

Good thread. The further we get from Arden street the more it will look and feel like it’s driven purely by revenue. I was previously an advocate for us playing a couple of games in Ballarat and it blew my mind at the AFL stole it from us and handed it to a latecomer without adequate explanation.

Without having the benefit of demographic analysis, my view is that we should not venture much further north in central Victoria. For me that’s Bendigo.

Simultaneously, we should we should also be working to capitalise on demographic and population shifts north of the city centre.

Sure thing. Ballarat would have been a much better long-term option for us than Hobart but of course the AFL had us earmarked for a possible relocation to Tas so they ensured that Ballarat was taken off our hands.

Fortunately, Bendigo provides a similar opportunity to Ballarat. In reality, I’d say there and Albury-Wodonga are the two best options if we want to pursue another secondary market. Don’t forget that Hawthorn will be leaving Tassie soon. Also, St Kilda are in significant debt, so we may have competitors for those two locations.

If it’s decided that we need a secondary market post-Hobart then the groundwork needs to be started soon because the Tassie market (for both North and Hawks) will cease to exist within the next few seasons. It’d suck if we dithered around too much and got beaten to both Bendigo and Albury-Wodonga by rival clubs.

 

[Shinboner1]

we're basically Australia's national animal.
If it was feasible and we're good enough, I'd love for us to go international.

 

[Shinboner1]

There isnt a lot of market left in Australia. Especially in Victoria.

 

[gokangas]

Bendigo makes sense to me. Got a lot going for it and similar to Ballarat. But what can we do there long term? I want to see a 10 year plan for growth in that market including membership and how they can further develop the ground capacity. I am sick and tired of changing too so let's get this right as a long term strategy.

discodaddy you say it looks revenue driven - why else would we be doing it? It's 100% about revenue.

 

[discodaddy]

Bendigo makes sense to me. Got a lot going for it and similar to Ballarat. But what can we do there long term? I want to see a 10 year plan for growth in that market including membership and how they can further develop the ground capacity. I am sick and tired of changing too so let's get this right as a long term strategy.

discodaddy you say it looks revenue driven - why else would we be doing it? It's 100% about revenue.

It might be about revenue, but you can’t say that for certain - the motivation comes from the strategy that you’ve alluded to. A good strategy would include analysis of our place in the world, and the competitive landscape now and into the future. It would include the priorities and, dare I say it, the big bets that we might choose to pursue.

For example, do we see ourselves as a niche club looking only for long term survival? Or do we have ambitions to be a power club? How have we weighed short term revenue needs against long term growth objectives? Do we look to expand existing markets or pursue new ones? I don’t know the answers to any of those those questions, but they would be addressed in any meaningful strategy. I just hope we have one…

 

[trueroo]

They have a huge problem .
11 home games
Some have to be played in launnie
Smart play would be to continue to pay nmfc and haw to play at least one home game in hobart

 

[gokangas]

It might be about revenue, but you can’t say that for certain - the motivation comes from the strategy that you’ve alluded to. A good strategy would include analysis of our place in the world, and the competitive landscape now and into the future. It would include the priorities and, dare I say it, the big bets that we might choose to pursue.

For example, do we see ourselves as a niche club looking only for long term survival? Or do we have ambitions to be a power club? How have we weighed short term revenue needs against long term growth objectives? Do we look to expand existing markets or pursue new ones? I don’t know the answers to any of those those questions, but they would be addressed in any meaningful strategy. I just hope we have one…

It's 100% about the money. 100%. If not about money then why would we do it?

 

[Cunnington Cartel]

They have a huge problem .
11 home games
Some have to be played in launnie
Smart play would be to continue to pay nmfc and haw to play at least one home game in hobart

The Tasmanian Government have committed $12m for at least the first 12 years of the 19th club’s existence + $60m for a high performance centre + $375m for the Hobart stadium + a further $60m for UTAS stadium redevelopment.

After those huge financial contributions, you would have to be the most optimistic Roos or Hawks supporter on the planet to think that they will be providing anymore funding towards interstate clubs.

 

[Uber Roo]

If it’s to be in rural Victoria, its gotta be Albury/ Wodonga , maybe even Wangaratta.
We have been blessed to enjoy plenty of North players from those areas , and I’m sure the club support would be greater along the Hume and the close by Murray River towns , than the Calder Hwy.

Time to kick start and re invigorate the support up that way, old North heartland

Back in the zoning days, who was Bendigo aligned with? Was it Carlton , I can’t remember, and I can’t recall any gun North players from that way, let alone club support

John Longmire, Paul Spargo, Stephen Hickey, John Byrne, Xavier Tanner, Mick Nolan , Peter Chisnall, Sam Kekovich, Gary Cowton, all products of the Hume , Ovens and Murray region


Sent from my iPhone using BigFooty.com

 

[Cunnington Cartel]

If it’s to be in rural Victoria, its gotta be Albury/ Wodonga , maybe even Wangaratta.
We have been blessed to enjoy plenty of North players from those areas , and I’m sure the club support would be greater along the Hume and the close by Murray River towns , than the Calder Hwy.

Time to kick start and re invigorate the support up that way, old North heartland

Back in the zoning days, who was Bendigo aligned with? Was it Carlton , I can’t remember, and I can’t recall any gun North players from that way, let alone club support

John Longmire, Paul Spargo, Stephen Hickey, John Byrne, Xavier Tanner, Mick Nolan , Peter Chisnall, Sam Kekovich, Gary Cowton, all products of the Hume , Ovens and Murray region


Sent from my iPhone using BigFooty.com

That’s a good point. With those historical links it would be interesting to know if we have reasonable residual support in the area. I recall that Hawthorn did their research before selecting Launceston as a secondary base and it was chosen because they had above average support in that area (possibly due to the many former Tasmanian champions who played for them). You are right about Bendigo, it was Carlton’s former zone.

 

[Tas]

As much as would like to see us engage with country Victoria, you make a good point. Reservoir and Preston would have bigger combined populations than some of the regions we'd look at.

I think regional Victoria is too far from our normal supporter base, we have had a problem for a long time that our supporter base is spread out too far so we don't have critical mass anywhere. Our aim in the medium term should be to get 40k games against newer interstate teams, this will generate more revenue for the club than what we get in Tasmania or getting sub 10k in a regional stadium.

 

[Outtatym]

Given our financial position is as strong as it's ever been I believe now (or when the tas deal expires) is the time to go back to 11 games in Melbourne.
-Far better stadium deal
-50k members- there's no reason we cannot build a culture of 25-30k+ at our games every week

 

[Cunnington Cartel]

Given our financial position is as strong as it's ever been I believe now (or when the tas deal expires) is the time to go back to 11 games in Melbourne.
-Far better stadium deal
-50k members- there's no reason we cannot build a culture of 25-30k+ at our games every week

It’s hard to find any recent links online that provide an exact monetary figure the club is obtaining from the TT line sponsorship and playing games in Hobart. However, you’d have to think that it would be several million per season. That’s the difference between us being in the black or red each year. I’m all for going back to 11 games in Melbourne, provided we can find alternate revenue streams to replace the dollars that we’ve received from the Tassie deal.

 

[amaz199]

Clarkson brings bums on seats on his own so there's that.

It is just the rest of the supporter base that aren't rusted on. Once the performances improve crowds won't be an issue. I'd say the crowds will look much better this year because of the overhaul in the footy dept. People would want to see what we look like under a new coaching team.

We've had some real shitty two years and they were about as bad as it could get on-field wise but people still rocked up. Hopefully we are collectively more excited for this season and hopefully (for goodness sake please North) we are a competitive outfit. It would kill us even more if we got hyped up and then get belted on the repeat like we did last year. We just cannot let that happen like it did. Just cannot. Don't accept failure and weak performances. I was almost becoming numb to it rocking up every week watching that shit and it was a pretty low time for the footy club. Never want that to happen again. Ever.

This is a club that values competitiveness and 'never say die' Shinboner Spirit. Therefore, I especially would want the group to not rely on 'we will respond next week' after a belting. Respond when they are up in your face at half time. Not next week. That is what would instil confidence into the group from supporters. The ability to just hang in there and fight it out.

If the club wants exposure and more members, people should be able to see something special happening on match day. Not just 'hope'. The club can market and do whatever they can try, but the end result is still very much influenced by what happens on-field. Hope ain't a tactic as they say.

Let's see what happens. For me, I will keep rocking up but if you want new supporters or members? They need the 'hook'. They need something that will make them go 'oh wow, they are really getting somewhere let's give the club a ring.'

 

[koshari]

Sure thing. Ballarat would have been a much better long-term option for us than Hobart but of course the AFL had us earmarked for a possible relocation to Tas so they ensured that Ballarat was taken off our hands.

Fortunately, Bendigo provides a similar opportunity to Ballarat. In reality, I’d say there and Albury-Wodonga are the two best options if we want to pursue another secondary market. Don’t forget that Hawthorn will be leaving Tassie soon. Also, St Kilda are in significant debt, so we may have competitors for those two locations.

If it’s decided that we need a secondary market post-Hobart then the groundwork needs to be started soon because the Tassie market (for both North and Hawks) will cease to exist within the next few seasons. It’d suck if we dithered around too much and got beaten to both Bendigo and Albury-Wodonga by rival clubs.

i would suspect hawthorn might look at the latrobe valley given it was previousely zoned between hawks and footscray and the latter has gone balarat route. i like the idea of bendigo, albury/woodonga/wagga areas iirc have been zoned Giants?

 

[Joshen]

Focus on building the base in the north-west corridor + two games per year (against GWS and Sydney) in Albury-Wodonga. I don't hate Bendigo as an alternative option but we can market the Melbourne focus + Ovens Murray alternative as a return to our roots.

 

[koshari]

Focus on building the base in the north-west corridor + two games per year (against GWS and Sydney) in Albury-Wodonga. I don't hate Bendigo as an alternative option but we can market the Melbourne focus + Ovens Murray alternative as a return to our roots.

so prolly more wang then?

 

[Nylex]

As much as I disagree with the AFL’s treatment of Tasmania, it doesn’t look like Tassie are getting a team any time soon. Would it be possible to negotiate a shorter 3 year 5 game deal in Hobart?