PAFC Pokies and The Community

[magpies36]

What do posters think about the pokies at PAFC vs the so-called "making the community proud"?
I believe there are only 4 Victorian based AFL clubs who still have pokies - Carlton, Essendon, Richmond and St Kilda.
Not sure about non-Victorian AFL clubs.
I think PAFC operate 40 machines; don't know how much income they generate because the figure is included in the "Hospitality" total apparently.

 

[Steve Dore]

Each day, these football-owned poker machines rake in more than $300k

There are calls for football teams to distance themselves from poker machines after data found more than $110 million was lost at venues owned by football clubs and leagues in the last financial year.

www.abc.net.au

 

[Enviable Tradition]

Unless pokies are being outlawed in the state then we are only moving them from one place to another for no net gain.

In fact they are likely to move somewhere where the losses are greater.

So if there is no net gain then I would rather the profits be used to help us win premierships than to line the pockets of the likes of Hurley.

Unless the offer is generous enough that the funds we recieve can be better used to help us win premierships. We exist to win premierships is standard by which everything should be judged by.

 

[Coobk001]

The whole industry is flooded with gambling options. A bit hypocritical to target 1 and not them all. If theyre all outlawed then shut them down, if not, play on.

I dont understand why people play them, but I also spent several years in software dev for pokie machines, so know just how pointless it is.

 

[It Just Is]

Would be a great question to make Koch squirm at the AGM

 

[SonOfKek]

We should look at moving away from pokies but retain the licence just in case, then pivot towards making a deal with SkyCity/Eos that would see them as sponsor without having to shell out the big dollars to us but rather give us a share of their pokie revenue.

Then, I'd focus on making the Port club a family friendly, community driven venue that fans can go to. Sure the first few years would be lean but we'd go gangbusters after 5 or so years.

 

[Doctor Feel]

**** the pokies off and out in a port themed indoor playground.

 

[EskimoPAFC]

**** the pokies off and out in a port themed indoor playground.

With gambling?

 

[Ford Fairlane]

Alcohol causes massive extra and intrafamilial violence. So let's ban that from the club

High fat, sodium and sugar meals cause obesity and heart disease. So let's ban them from the club.

People have already mentioned horse and greyhound gambling.

Really we're hand-wringing over 40 pokies? The big NRL clubs have 6-700.

As with all things, in moderation all of these are generally not harmful.

 

[malcheski]

I can see the headline now from AFL HQ.....

"AFL CLUBS POKIE MACHINE FREE!"

-Brought to you by Sportsbet

 

[RedEffingBull]

So if there is no net gain then I would rather the profits be used to help us win premierships than to line the pockets of the likes of Hurley.

100% agree.

The Crows filth love boasting about their corporation having no poker machines or revenue from poker machines. Their supporters love gambling at hotels as much as others, but their losses just end up in lining their power brokers pockets and perhaps assisting the AFC by proxy.

Crows king makers, and favorite Sons, cleaned up from 1993 onwards when SA Brewing Co was taken over by Lion Nathan. Peter and Tony Hurley (wives, daughters and in-laws), Ricciuto, Goodwin, and the next generation of AFC "Cotton On" player contracts are cashed up via their hotel and poker machine network.

No need for Port to exit from a couple of venues. Wait for the State to implement changes and watch the tears from the AFC "elite".

 

[Festerz]

I can see the headline now from AFL HQ.....

"AFL CLUBS POKIE MACHINE FREE!"

-Brought to you by Sportsbet

This is how Sportsbet silences criticism from media organisations and reporters/commentators. A good old bribe of those that have 'a unique position of trust'.

As you say, the deep love affair and financial partnership between the AFL, its media partners and online gambling is the real issue here.

 

[Steve Dore]

I can see the headline now from AFL HQ.....

"AFL CLUBS POKIE MACHINE FREE!"

-Brought to you by Sportsbet

It's just a coincidence that the former CEO of the AFL is now the CEO of Tabcorp.

 

[Steve Dore]

The whole industry is flooded with gambling options. A bit hypocritical to target 1 and not them all. If theyre all outlawed then shut them down, if not, play on. ....

I'm not sure the OP is saying the club should necessarily be removing the pokies, rather that it is hypocritical to be claiming to be very community minded and making the community proud when it is well documented that the majority of the revenue from poker machines comes from those in the community that can least afford it.

It's just like certain individuals at the club claiming that it all about being good humans while the senior coach and the GM of Football encourage young men to get involved in the inhumane greyhound racing industry.

SA's pokie losses surpass $1bn for first time

An advocacy group say financial pressures may be increasing problem gambling, as annual losses on pokies in SA exceed $1 billion for the first time.

www.abc.net.au

 

[TazD]

High fat, sodium and sugar meals cause obesity and heart disease. So let's ban them from the club.

This is Hinkleyphobic. Ban yourself.

 

[Alberton Proud]

Tim Freedman got it right

Blow 'em up !

 

[Grave Danger]

Tim Freedman got it right

Blow 'em up !

It's not 50 years to the day that Whitlam got scratched, but it is 50 years to the day that Think Big won the Melbourne Cup.

 

[RussellEbertHandball]

What do posters think about the pokies at PAFC vs the so-called "making the community proud"?
I believe there are only 4 Victorian based AFL clubs who still have pokies - Carlton, Essendon, Richmond and St Kilda.
Not sure about non-Victorian AFL clubs.
I think PAFC operate 40 machines; don't know how much income they generate because the figure is included in the "Hospitality" total apparently.

The Xenephon reforms around 2011 of only using coins in machines is why we scrapped the northern pokies venue that Gordon Pickard was going to fund for the club.

I think the maximum bet these days in SA is $5, but I could be wrong.

Port had 73 pokies after the merger with the Magpies in November 2010 - the max allowed by sporting clubs of 40 at the Prince of Wales (now just Prince) hotel owned by the Magpies and 33 at the Port Club. We sold a chunk when we were struggling with cash flow between 2011 and 2018.

I don't know how many are left but a lot were moved out of the Port Club to the Prince either just before covid started or the restructure after covid. 40ish would make sense given the space allocated to them at the Prince the last time I looked around 2019 and I know there are only a few left at the Port Club/Precinct.

The Xenephon changes mean Port's pokies don't do much better than break even and the government might get more tax revenue than Port makes profits out of them.

In Queensland you can put $100 note into a pokie machine. Brisbane have done very well out of them and they were an important revenue stream / profit centre for them when they were struggling financially in the teens, and now a cash cow at their new Springfield base.

NSW rules used to allow for $50 notes being put into machines. I don't if that is still the same or it has changed.

Victoria used to allow max $1,000 bets on a pokie machine card, but Andrews late in his premiership made it $100. Carlton are the only club of the 4 who still have pokies left, that make a significant profit contribution to the club. But that's because their billionaire benefactor Bruce Mathieson gifted them around 300 machines. It might be more over the last 15 years.

When the Vic government broke up the pokie duopoly between Tattersall's and Tabcorp in 2010, most of the Vic based clubs made a motza in the auction by paying the minimum $5,500 per machine when a lot of clubs budgeted to pay up to $100,000 per machine. The clubs were able to take up their entitlements in 2012.

And the Vic Gaming authority have issued 20 year license extension in 2018 covering 2022 to 2042.

Its why Hawthorn, Collingood, Melbourne and Western Bulldogs and to a lesser extent Geelong have been able to exit the pokies the last few years with selling pokies and venues for between $10m - $48m and booking multi million dollar profits to their bottom line.

Another massive free kick to the Vic based AFL clubs to keep them strong by the Vic government. ( You'd like that Papa G <insert sarcasm emoji>)

The SA pokies legislation don't give us the opportunity to do that. That's why the club invested so much in the China venture. It was our alternative - do something different and innovative for a long term pay off.

I don't really care if Port keeps the pokies or not. Stupid people will do stupid things.

And for some older people the opportunity to buy cheap meals, interact with other people, they might not have any family close by or have passed away, is a day or several days out for them, then so be it. I'd rather they do that a port venue than just another pub. The Port Club is better than the Prince as they might buy stuff from the Port Store.

Since I made the following linked post in November 2010, I have been editing it and adding AFL related Pokie media reported stories, as my reference point on pokies in the AFL. Last one was 2023. Plus I have put stuff up in the Footy Industry board thread on pokies.

PAFC Financial Stability

Reported that Choco is likely to be offered a position at GWS. I assume this will save us some $. http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/mark-williamss-greater-western-sydney-talks/story-e6frf9jf-1225949111805

www.bigfooty.com

 

[El_Scorcho]

Pokies should be banned, but if someone is going to have them it should be not-for-profit sport and community clubs like us and not the massive corporations who own 99% of pokies in the state.

 

[EskimoPAFC]

Alcohol causes massive extra and intrafamilial violence. So let's ban that from the club

High fat, sodium and sugar meals cause obesity and heart disease. So let's ban them from the club.

People have already mentioned horse and greyhound gambling.

Really we're hand-wringing over 40 pokies? The big NRL clubs have 6-700.

As with all things, in moderation all of these are generally not harmful.

The problem is that a huge % of money lost in pokies is by "at risk" gamblers. ie they make a large % of their money from people that are addicted or have problems with gambling.

This is the most recent study I could find: https://australiainstitute.org.au/post/most-gambling-losses-are-from-at-risk-gamblers/