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I'm with AIE on this one. The Titans will be around for some time yet.
Time to move Gold Coast suns to Tasmania.. Could we? Should we?
- Thread starter mick500
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I'm with AIE on this one. The Titans will be around for some time yet.
I hope they stick around too. Having two national sporting teams on the Gold Coast is great for our city. I got a fantastic thrill late last year when I read Jayden Campbell (son of Titans legend Preston) signed with the Titans and was on his way to representing the Gold Coast on the national stage after making his way through the local GC ranks. It's awesome to see professional sport go full circle like that on the Gold Coast.
Having said that, the ownership models are very different between the Suns and Titans so you can't really compare the two fairly.
Now is the time to reassess how we want the league to look in the future.
I, like many fans, have long held the view that it's unsustainable to have nine teams in Melbourne.
We don't know what the economy will look like beyond the pandemic, however when the dust settles, I think we should encourage a Melbourne side to relocate to Tasmania. St.Kilda and North are the obvious contenders.
In the future, someone may relocate to Canberra. I don't think a club is sustainable in the top end in the foreseeable future. It doesn't have the population nor the financial support to suggest viability.
I, like many fans, have long held the view that it's unsustainable to have nine teams in Melbourne.
We don't know what the economy will look like beyond the pandemic, however when the dust settles, I think we should encourage a Melbourne side to relocate to Tasmania. St.Kilda and North are the obvious contenders.
In the future, someone may relocate to Canberra. I don't think a club is sustainable in the top end in the foreseeable future. It doesn't have the population nor the financial support to suggest viability.
Perhaps one Vic team to WA?
We'll start with our own team in Tas, like WA & SA did, If you don't mind.
Then maybe we'll see if we also want an unwanted suburban side as well.
Perhaps one Vic team to WA?
We'll start with our own team in Tas, like WA & SA did, If you don't mind.
Then maybe we'll see if we also want an unwanted suburban side as well.
I love Tasmania, but if Tasmanians really think the AFL is about to award a 19th - uneven amount of licenses - license to a small state economy-wise, following a global crisis, then you’re setting yourself up for misery.
Even your Premier changed his rhetoric on this issue last week.
Let’s get real, and surely a relocated club - like what South Melbourne did in 82 - is better than no club at all.
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So we cant support our own club, but we can support someone elses club?
Did you read the Tasteam business case?
Tasmania isn't Sydney, people here often follow AFL clubs already. We are a mature footy state.
Can you see them suddenly supporting some suburban Melbourne team thrust upon them? Really?
Anyway it wont happen. Clubs wont leave their home, nor should they. They should sink or swim in their own puddle, not in ours.
Hahahhaahhahhahahah.
Hehehheheh
thegreig
Club Legend
Canberra Kangaroos and the Southern Saints has a nice ring to it. Can’t see it happening though, I think the next stage will be a 20 team comp (whenever that may be)
No relocated teams thanks.
Those clubs are part of their own communities. They can sink of swim where they are.
We'll have our own club, otherwise it won't work here or there.
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Looking forward to OP's nuanced take on if a team genuinely in dire straits both on and off field should be shipped off to Tasmania...I'll wait...
Jen2310
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This has aged well.
BringBackTorps
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As of 21.7.20 (& despite a very delayed- & recent- start to GR AF comps.), there were 12,700 AF club jnrs registered to play in club comps. on the GC, Brisbane, & Sunshine Coast. This is higher than 2019, & a new record. This does not include club Auskick players 5 y.o.-8 y.o.; nor school comp. players.
Also on 21.7.20, "With the launch of the Queensland Schools Cup Primary Competition this week, nearly 100 teams have nominated in less than a week".
The South East Queensland jnr comp. covers 3 separate & distinct, widely dispersed regions, so it is not a single jnr. comp.
Regd. snr GR AF nos. are also strong at 9200, but not yet at 2019 levels.
www.aflq.com.au
It is universally accepted that having a local, & thus high profile, team in the AFL, with the attendant tribalism, role models, & elite pathways etc., provides a huge & necessary boost for GR AF in particular- & support for the AFL in general. The GCFC had Metricon crowds of 24,000+ when it was very competitive in 2014.
In late 2019 (ie prior to the 11.6.20 new Rights' agreements), AFL executives (including, by implication, R. Goyder) said the 9th game was worth an extra $50m+ pa for the Rights etc.
This would include direct & indirect benefits for the AFL- inc. govt & council funding for stadia & GR AF facilities etc., corporate funding for GCFC & GWS, financial savings for the major boost to NSW/ACT & Qld. regd. GR nos., significant rise in MSM coverage for the AFL in NSW/ACT & Qld. etc.
(The recruitment of K. Hunt alone, in the three days after it was announced, generated national MSM publicity for the AFL which "had a commercial value of $7.5m").
www.afl.com.au
The GCFC is driving strong support for AF, will be on the GC forever, & will be a success.
Also, the GC currently has a population of c. 630,000; & the GC-Tweed Heads area is predicted to have 1.2m in 2050.
Also on 21.7.20, "With the launch of the Queensland Schools Cup Primary Competition this week, nearly 100 teams have nominated in less than a week".
The South East Queensland jnr comp. covers 3 separate & distinct, widely dispersed regions, so it is not a single jnr. comp.
Regd. snr GR AF nos. are also strong at 9200, but not yet at 2019 levels.
The Future of AFL is Bright in Queensland | AFL Queensland
www.aflq.com.au
It is universally accepted that having a local, & thus high profile, team in the AFL, with the attendant tribalism, role models, & elite pathways etc., provides a huge & necessary boost for GR AF in particular- & support for the AFL in general. The GCFC had Metricon crowds of 24,000+ when it was very competitive in 2014.
In late 2019 (ie prior to the 11.6.20 new Rights' agreements), AFL executives (including, by implication, R. Goyder) said the 9th game was worth an extra $50m+ pa for the Rights etc.
This would include direct & indirect benefits for the AFL- inc. govt & council funding for stadia & GR AF facilities etc., corporate funding for GCFC & GWS, financial savings for the major boost to NSW/ACT & Qld. regd. GR nos., significant rise in MSM coverage for the AFL in NSW/ACT & Qld. etc.
(The recruitment of K. Hunt alone, in the three days after it was announced, generated national MSM publicity for the AFL which "had a commercial value of $7.5m").
Hunt, Folau poaching a failed experiment
Luring NRL stars to the AFL was a mistake, writes Damian Barrett
www.afl.com.au
The GCFC is driving strong support for AF, will be on the GC forever, & will be a success.
Also, the GC currently has a population of c. 630,000; & the GC-Tweed Heads area is predicted to have 1.2m in 2050.
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I wrote this on the main board. But discussions are better in the Footy Industry Board.
I see no need for the Gold Coast to fold or to relocate to Tasmania. They are good for growing the sport in Queensland. Perhaps they could do with a rebrand though.
Qld has 5.5million people. 2.5m in Brisbane. 3m outside Brisbane with:
• Gold Coast 700,000
• Sunshine Coast 350,000
• Townsville 180,000
• Cairns 150,000
• Toowoomba 140,000
• Mackay 80,000
• Rockhampton 80,000
• Bundaberg 70,000
Now Brisbane provides the Lions with a good concentrated supporter base. But no where else is nearly as big as Brisbane to give that good concentration of population in an NRL state.
The Sun could focus on being the non-Brisbane AFL team in Queensland, rather than being the Gold Coast team. So rename to Queensland Suns, and relocate some games:
• 5 games remain in Gold Coast
• 2 games get played in Sunshine Coast (which would also be the closest games to Bundaberg)
• 2 games get played in Mackay (which would also be the closest games to Rockhampton)
• 2 games get played in Cairns (which would also be the closest games to Townsville)
Two games in three cities each would help justify better stadiums, compared to playing one game in six cities. Perhaps to help further, three Melbourne clubs could sell one game a year to each of the three cities and arrange to play either the Lions or the Suns as the opponent.
It might see the Suns average attendances reduce, due to games being played in smaller cities (but it might see them increase in Gold Coast due to attendances concentrating into fewer games).
But it could increase sponsorship, merchandise sales and tv viewership as more people would see the Queensland Suns as being their team and representative of them, and increase exposure to the game in northern Queensland.
I see no need for the Gold Coast to fold or to relocate to Tasmania. They are good for growing the sport in Queensland. Perhaps they could do with a rebrand though.
Qld has 5.5million people. 2.5m in Brisbane. 3m outside Brisbane with:
• Gold Coast 700,000
• Sunshine Coast 350,000
• Townsville 180,000
• Cairns 150,000
• Toowoomba 140,000
• Mackay 80,000
• Rockhampton 80,000
• Bundaberg 70,000
Now Brisbane provides the Lions with a good concentrated supporter base. But no where else is nearly as big as Brisbane to give that good concentration of population in an NRL state.
The Sun could focus on being the non-Brisbane AFL team in Queensland, rather than being the Gold Coast team. So rename to Queensland Suns, and relocate some games:
• 5 games remain in Gold Coast
• 2 games get played in Sunshine Coast (which would also be the closest games to Bundaberg)
• 2 games get played in Mackay (which would also be the closest games to Rockhampton)
• 2 games get played in Cairns (which would also be the closest games to Townsville)
Two games in three cities each would help justify better stadiums, compared to playing one game in six cities. Perhaps to help further, three Melbourne clubs could sell one game a year to each of the three cities and arrange to play either the Lions or the Suns as the opponent.
It might see the Suns average attendances reduce, due to games being played in smaller cities (but it might see them increase in Gold Coast due to attendances concentrating into fewer games).
But it could increase sponsorship, merchandise sales and tv viewership as more people would see the Queensland Suns as being their team and representative of them, and increase exposure to the game in northern Queensland.
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Not advocating for relocation, but if the Roos did move to Canberra, we'd definitely get behind them. We have before. The Roos still have two of our three highest crowds!
If the Roos were to come, I'd like to see an annual game played on the Canberra Day weekend (second Monday of March) where the Roos switch the white stripes for gold so they'd play in the Canberra colours (just not against West Coast).
How do you think a relocated Vic team go against the Brumbies & Raiders in getting members, crowds & sponsorship?
It'd be a very crowded market one would think.
Teen Wolf
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If only the biggest factor shaping a football club's brand was the name... but it's not. On-field performance is what matters most, and the Suns have sucked for their entire existence.
Being somewhere in the vicinity of finals football once in a while will increase sponsorship, merchandise sales and TV viewership (this is proven beyond doubt, there's no "could" about it). One sure way to make that goal even more difficult is to have them on long flights most weeks and playing at a hotchpotch of different home grounds.
In the only season they've finished above 14th (2014, when they soared to 12th on the ladder), they had a home crowd average of 16k. So the reality is a middle-of-the-road Suns get better attendances than a premiership-contending (and wonderfully named) Greater Western Sydney Giants.
Upgrayedd
A Vote for Clive is a Vote for Justice
Psh, Essendon have sucked longer why not fold them or send them to tasmania if on field performance is what matters most
I think we'd do pretty well.
The Brumbies have pretty much been the best Australian team for the past decade, but the Giants still get higher crowds than them. That's with negligible marketing and little presence on local media. I'd say with a full marketing budget and our own AFL and AFLW team going to schools, community events and appearing on radio and TV, we'd go very well against them. Their season is also only until April/May so we're not competing too much for crowds.
The Raiders are more entrenched, but I think we could get pretty similar numbers and I'd expect to pass them within about a decade. The Giants get a few thousand less to games, but that's again with minimal comparative marketing and local media presence. The Raiders are everywhere in the media.
But at a grassroots level, there are waaay more Aussie Rules players than league. In an office setting I've found about a 70/30 split willing to talk AFL over NRL (only anecdotal based on my various offices, but still relevant). So the support for Aussie Rules is all there and it wouldn't take long to grow a base.
In terms of sponsorship, I think we'd be a decent prospect for companies looking for curry favour with the government, and recognise AFL as a better national footprint. UNSW-Canberra (which is the Defence Force college) sponsors Manuka Oval. I wouldn't be surprised if you'd get KPMG, Thales, Boeing etc getting on board a Canberra AFL team.
The ACT govt already contributes $2.3m a year to the Giants. I'd also like a game each in Albury and Wagga, so theoretically that could amount to $3m or so a year in government sponsorship.
Teen Wolf
Norm Smith Medallist
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Because a) Essendon have a large supporter base built from a long history of being successful or at least competitive, b) rebranding doesn't improve on-field performance, and c) that's a dumb ****ing question so please go and psh yourself.
Sydney’s home attendances we’re higher Than it’s away attendances just six years out of 20 from 2000 to 2019. Arguably it’s most successful era ever.
There’s an argument if]t might have been better off staying in Melbourne, it’s certainly not encouraging for a team to move out of Melbourne
Scratchy05
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Short answer no.
Why? because the Gold Coast Suns have the potential to turn Queensland into a stronger AFL state. Junior numbers pre covid (not sure on the stats post covid) were seeing astronomical growth and that is great for the game. Gold Coast are taking some time but they are a generational investment, as younger kids need to want to watch the Gold COast Suns succeed, so that they remain intersted in footy. THis is why it is crucial tha this current Gold Coast team goes on to play in consistent finals across the next 10 years. To truly establish the area as AFL country.
Why? because the Gold Coast Suns have the potential to turn Queensland into a stronger AFL state. Junior numbers pre covid (not sure on the stats post covid) were seeing astronomical growth and that is great for the game. Gold Coast are taking some time but they are a generational investment, as younger kids need to want to watch the Gold COast Suns succeed, so that they remain intersted in footy. THis is why it is crucial tha this current Gold Coast team goes on to play in consistent finals across the next 10 years. To truly establish the area as AFL country.
If clubs made money instantly there would be 30 teams in the comp. It's a long commitment but it will pay off eventually.
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