Apple Isle Showdown: Tas Govt threatens to end Hawks, North deals if no plan for 19th side

[beema limapep]

I just don’t see a third WA team attracting enough fans. We’re too entrenched as a two team town and it’s not as though Freo are anywhere close to selling out Optus.

From what I can gather (I’ve only lived here eight years) Freo’s fan base is pretty much based upon three types of fan:

- those who didn’t jump on board when WCE was formed because they didn’t want WA to join the VFL, but then decided to go for a local team as the VFL transitioned to the (V)AFL

- those who had initially gone for WCE but had an affinity for Freo (lived there, supported a Freo WAFL team)

- those who have moved to Perth since 2000 and went for Freo due to being able to get tickets for Freo games at Subi and/or having met a few WCE fans

I just don’t see where the fan base for the third team comes from.

A Tasmania team should hands down be #19 - and I personally would love to see a Darwin team as #20. The games up there last year were awesome.

WA3 is a no brainer. 3 teams for traditional aussie rules city of 2.1 million = 700k catchment each.

Adelaide 2 teams with 1.4 million = 700k catchmen

Melbourne 9 teams with 4.9 million = 500k each.

i know its not as simple as that but as a base metric its a convincing starting point. So is deleting 2 of the smaller vic teams but it will never happen.

 

[HairyO]

Yeah and we still have more paid up AFL club members then both Queensland clubs and Sydney clubs combined yet they have populations 4-5 times more then Tasmania population numbers can be misleading

Im all for dropping 1 QLD and 1 NSW team.

 

[Roylion]

Not more teams though, the easy way out.

The easy way out of what?

 

[The_Reaper]

WA3 is a no brainer. 3 teams for traditional aussie rules city of 2.1 million = 700k catchment each.

Adelaide 2 teams with 1.4 million = 700k catchmen

Melbourne 9 teams with 4.9 million = 500k each.

i know its not as simple as that but as a base metric its a convincing starting point. So is deleting 2 of the smaller vic teams but it will never happen.

The only argument for WA3 is people wanting a 20th team to balance out Tassie.

 

[gingernuts]

nah

Hmmm Hawk head boffin open to moving to Tasmania. That will get them riled up out in the far East of Melbourne.....

they wont get riled.no-one listens to the stoopid prick

 

[Kwality]

The easy way out of what?

The Melbourne centric national comp that hampers any semblance of a balanced fixture.

 

[Roylion]

The Melbourne centric national comp that hampers any semblance of a balanced fixture.

I think you're going to have to live with that. The 'solution' is to have more clubs. Mergers and relocations of Melbourne clubs are most unlikely.

 

[WillHayward]

You don’t have a clue.

It was meant to be a joke.

Sheesh.

 

[madmug]

I think you're going to have to live with that. The 'solution' is to have more clubs. Mergers and relocations of Melbourne clubs are most unlikely.

Relocation is also off the board. Their is no will in the AFL to fix the economic mess that 10 clubs in Victoria makes. The FIFO mentality can only last so long. Its had a long ride in Tasmania & is now having its long overdue crash.

Treating a footy state in such a manner had to have a backlash at some time. And now is that time.

The AFL could at least have shown a modicum of care to, & interest in the game here. It struggles because we dont have a model like WA & SA do, or the bottomless money pit NSW & Qld get from the AFL.

A pissy little amount of money to keep the TSL operating at a reasonable level would have been all it needed to keep the media at bay.

But no. Gil flew down here & flat out lied on camera about helping Tassie footy & the public has seen that, plain & simple.

 

[eastfreo75]

WA3 is a no brainer. 3 teams for traditional aussie rules city of 2.1 million = 700k catchment each.

Adelaide 2 teams with 1.4 million = 700k catchmen

Melbourne 9 teams with 4.9 million = 500k each.

i know its not as simple as that but as a base metric its a convincing starting point. So is deleting 2 of the smaller vic teams but it will never happen.

When I was kid, most of the kids followed a WAFL club.

These days it’s West Coast or Fremantle and their a few who support another AFL club.

A combination team of East Perth, West Perth and Perth might have worked 10-15 years but the ship has sailed.

A new team wouldn’t get the support. West Coast have 2 fans to 1 Freo supporter. The next team would have less than that.

I don’t hear a lot of WA footy fans think that a third team is a good idea.

 

[eastfreo75]

It was meant to be a joke.

Sheesh.

Are you from WA?

If you are not, you don’t have a clue.

 

[Kane McGoodwin]

The perfect comp is
8 Vic
2 WA
2 SA
2 NSW
2 QLD
1 Tas
1 Canberra

Less corruption from Vic State Govt/AFL/MCC.

Everybody with half a brain knows this.

Whilst yours is more likely, I would prefer a reduction in the number of teams to 16 & proper 30 game season home & away... where players play a maximum of 24 games, bigger squads & proper reserves competition.

Would remove a Victorian team & Canberra as GWS already play games there... though not convinced Gold Coast are viable in the long term.

 

[Papa G]

Governments want to invest in things that will create jobs & economic activity. Its Ok for the Vic Gov to do that but not the Tas Gov it seems.

Relocation is also off the board. Their is no will in the AFL to fix the economic mess that 10 clubs in Victoria makes. The FIFO mentality can only last so long. Its had a long ride in Tasmania & is now having its long overdue crash.

Treating a footy state in such a manner had to have a backlash at some time. And now is that time.

The AFL could at least have shown a modicum of care to, & interest in the game here. It struggles because we dont have a model like WA & SA do, or the bottomless money pit NSW & Qld get from the AFL.

A pissy little amount of money to keep the TSL operating at a reasonable level would have been all it needed to keep the media at bay.

But no. Gil flew down here & flat out lied on camera about helping Tassie footy & the public has seen that, plain & simple.

Eddie's MCC deal and the Royal Commission into the plight of the Victorian clubs after a tiny bit of "interstate" domination saw the AFL become a ministry of the Victorian State Government. The Vic State Govt funnels cash to the AFL and it's Vic based clubs to the detriment of the rest of the comp. When you point out what a corrupt nepotistic little cartel they are running they look at you like you're insane. Andrew Dimetriou was running the show when this all came to fruition by the way. He's proven to be a beacon of integrity hasn't he?

 

[Kane McGoodwin]

Problem is Tasmania's population has not grown nearly as much as the rest of the country over the last 30 years.

They are a traditional football state, so would get more members than the likes of the Gold Coast.

Most money comes from TV rights.

 

[Papa G]

The population argument is a red herring. Malbun's population has gone up significantly in the last 20 years, yet crowds an TV ratings haven't. Why? Look where the immigration is coming from and look to see if those people follow the game.

 

[Farang83150]

Relocation is also off the board. Their is no will in the AFL to fix the economic mess that 10 clubs in Victoria makes. The FIFO mentality can only last so long. Its had a long ride in Tasmania & is now having its long overdue crash.

Treating a footy state in such a manner had to have a backlash at some time. And now is that time.

The AFL could at least have shown a modicum of care to, & interest in the game here. It struggles because we dont have a model like WA & SA do, or the bottomless money pit NSW & Qld get from the AFL.

A pissy little amount of money to keep the TSL operating at a reasonable level would have been all it needed to keep the media at bay.

But no. Gil flew down here & flat out lied on camera about helping Tassie footy & the public has seen that, plain & simple.

Exactly, gils reaping what he himself sowed.
Good on the Tassie premiere for sticking up for them.
#fktheafl

 

[Pessimistic]

The population argument is a red herring. Malbun's population has gone up significantly in the last 20 years, yet crowds an TV ratings haven't. Why? Look where the immigration is coming from and look to see if those people follow the game.

Average attendances have plateaued because introduction of two completely new teams

 

[Tasmanian saint]

Im all for dropping 1 QLD and 1 NSW team.

Is never going to happen the afl have spent a massive amount of money in those markets they have to make it work now it would be madness to pull out

 

[Pessimistic]

Eddie's MCC deal and the Royal Commission into the plight of the Victorian clubs after a tiny bit of "interstate" domination saw the AFL become a ministry of the Victorian State Government. The Vic State Govt funnels cash to the AFL and it's Vic based clubs to the detriment of the rest of the comp. When you point out what a corrupt nepotistic little cartel they are running they look at you like you're insane. Andrew Dimetriou was running the show when this all came to fruition by the way. He's proven to be a beacon of integrity hasn't he?

Every state has had significant public money put into new stadiums. The last one built in Melbourne was for soccer

 

[WillHayward]

Are you from WA?

If you are not, you don’t have a clue.

About what exactly??

 

[Forever North]

I think the AFL has more than enough on its plate than worrying about expanding into Tasmania. The next few years should be about survival and damage minimisation for existing clubs rather than risky expansion. Several clubs including mine will potentially be on a cliffs edge if there are no/limited crowds and if members and sponsors start walking away.

 

[eastfreo75]

Average attendances have plateaued because introduction of two completely new teams

Some of the smaller Melbourne teams are lucky to get 20,000 to a game vs an interstate team. That’s why they try to sell those games.

The Suns and Giants are lucky to get 15,000.

 

[eastfreo75]

About what exactly??

You know who the Old Easts are or the Cardinals ?

 

[Pessimistic]

Some of the smaller Melbourne teams are lucky to get 20,000 to a game vs an interstate team. That’s why they try to sell those games.

The Suns and Giants are lucky to get 15,000.

Gold Coast average at marvel 23k mcg 27k. GWS is 19k at marvel and 27k at mcg. This would probably include early games around 2011

When the hawks went to tassie, 20 yrs ago, those figures were loss making at docklands. The last few years this has completely changed

 

[beema limapep]

Hypothetical - If Tasmania had exclusive rights to Tasmanian players and had a team (positions as examples only) in 2020:-

B:- J Howe, J Kolodjasnij, J Webster
HB:- G Birchall, L Jones, A Pierce
C:- M Robinson, H Greenwood, A Hall
HF:- L Weller J Riewoldt, R Fox
F:- B Mihocek, B Brown, H Dixon
R:- Nankervis, L Weller T, T Thomas
I:- A Phillips, C Jones, T Bellchambers