Expansion A third team in Queensland? AFL acknowledges QLD3 as a 20th licence option

[GenericUsername202]

To be honest, a second Brisbane team makes the most sense when you think about it. However, i'm still not over the gold coast stealing about 8k of our fans back in 2010, so i know it'll kneecap us for about 10 years. But having a population of 2.7m + the surrounding areas of sunshine coast and gold coast makes the lions a potential juggernaut. I said it on our board, but by the time the new stadium comes out, The lions could potentially become one of the biggest teams in the comp simply because the sport is growing so fast up here and we will have the entire city to ourselves. I think maybe in 10 years, when that eventually happens, the only way to stop that would be to put another brissie team in.

 

[The Terrible Thinker]

So looks like it might be a North Queensland / Northern Territory combined club to form the 20th reading between the lines of Andrew Dillion's statements. Cairns, Darwin and Alice Springs to share the games around. I'm guessing no new stadiums required for this venture?

 

[Coolangatta]

So looks like it might be a North Queensland / Northern Territory combined club to form the 20th reading between the lines of Andrew Dillion's statements. Cairns, Darwin and Alice Springs to share the games around. I'm guessing no new stadiums required for this venture?

What statements?

 

[GenericUsername202]

So looks like it might be a North Queensland / Northern Territory combined club to form the 20th reading between the lines of Andrew Dillion's statements. Cairns, Darwin and Alice Springs to share the games around. I'm guessing no new stadiums required for this venture?

NQ and Northern Territory couldn't be anymore different, and lumping those two areas as a single team would spell disaster.

 

[Johnny Bananas]

Iirc, during the Storm v Canberra 2 weekends ago when there was a bit of argey bargey going on they started playing the theme music from the original Rocky movie.

When Munster got binned last year they played, Hit the road Jack as he was walking off.

Can the AFL follow that and stop taking themselves so seriously?

They could, but look at how much the fogeys moan that the Lions play a goal song for each player.

 

[Coolangatta]

What statements?

Okay, I checked.

I don’t doubt NT is the AFL’s preferred choice for team 20 because it’s popular, good for their PR and indigenous politics. It sounds like they absolutely do have enough talent up there for a team, so player retention is probably not going to be the problem.

It’s going to be the business case, playing conditions and staff retention because the talent needs to be developed professionally or they’ll get pummelled week in, week out.

If NT does get up then sorry but bring on Canberra Kangaroos please, make our comp truly national and fix up Norf’s crap on field performances.

 

[Cyclops]

To be honest, a second Brisbane team makes the most sense when you think about it. However, i'm still not over the gold coast stealing about 8k of our fans back in 2010, so i know it'll kneecap us for about 10 years. But having a population of 2.7m + the surrounding areas of sunshine coast and gold coast makes the lions a potential juggernaut. I said it on our board, but by the time the new stadium comes out, The lions could potentially become one of the biggest teams in the comp simply because the sport is growing so fast up here and we will have the entire city to ourselves. I think maybe in 10 years, when that eventually happens, the only way to stop that would be to put another brissie team in.

Brisbane's fans have been pretty hard earned. Long bad times, and really hard earned success.

Is it fair to say the 10k you lost might be fringe/prestige supporters rather than rusted on loyalists?

You can't just inject players to build a base, GWS and GC prove that, and I think the "propping up" stops people taking it seriously.

 

[Purple Suit]

Afl wants to expand the comp. Not reduce it. Therefore mergers make no sense. Especially when they will struggle to find other markets. Outside an extra perth team i cant imagine any other club would be more profitable than the worst clubs from melbourne.

The whole point of a merger is that the new merged Melbourne team is suppose to become a member of the big 5 and isn't a drain on the comp. The extra 20m that the AFL save can then be pushed into new markets without affecting the bottom line.

 

[Roylion]

The whole point of a merger is that the new merged Melbourne team is suppose to become a member of the big 5

How do you know this will happen?

 

[LordLucifer]

Cairns Cougers.

CCFC

I can see it now…

Population is good but could be better (166,494)

Sunshine Coast is a huge increase on that (376,114) and has a lot of expat southerners based there.

 

[LordLucifer]

Brisbane Lions
North Brisbane Numbats
Gold Coast Suns
Sunshine Coast Saints

 

[TheEscapeClub]

NQ and Northern Territory couldn't be anymore different, and lumping those two areas as a single team would spell disaster.

Hot and humid Cairns and Darwin with hot and dry and freezing cold Alice Springs. Madness.

 

[Bjo187]

Okay, I checked.

I don’t doubt NT is the AFL’s preferred choice for team 20 because it’s popular, good for their PR and indigenous politics. It sounds like they absolutely do have enough talent up there for a team, so player retention is probably not going to be the problem.

It’s going to be the business case, playing conditions and staff retention because the talent needs to be developed professionally or they’ll get pummelled week in, week out.

If NT does get up then sorry but bring on Canberra Kangaroos please, make our comp truly national and fix up Norf’s crap on field performances.

Can you link this comment? I couldn't find any new ones. I'm surprised if he said that today, I would have thought he'd more worried about keeping his job at the moment, with the sheer incompetence of the AFL admin under his leadership.

 

[Seeds]

The whole point of a merger is that the new merged Melbourne team is suppose to become a member of the big 5 and isn't a drain on the comp. The extra 20m that the AFL save can then be pushed into new markets without affecting the bottom line.

There is no big anything. Its not a thing.

 

[Seeds]

Brisbane Lions
North Brisbane Numbats
Gold Coast Suns
Sunshine Coast Saints

Gold coast cant even support itself. If anything i think they should go back to one queensland team.

 

[parano1a]

There is no big anything. Its not a thing.

The Big 4 of Collingwood, Carlton, Essendon, Richmond are clearly above all others when you consider: average crowds, TV ratings and revenue in the AFL era.

 

[Coolangatta]

Can you link this comment? I couldn't find any new ones. I'm surprised if he said that today, I would have thought he'd more worried about keeping his job at the moment, with the sheer incompetence of the AFL admin under his leadership.

Not Found | Fox Sports Videos

www.foxsports.com.au

He didn’t say it outright, just that as we all know there’s a lot of interest in NT as the 20th club. Essentially what he says is that grassroots participation is really good up in the NT, especially women’s.

He also said the business case needs to stack up. Now he didn’t say specifics but I gather that means they’re going to need funding and lots of it on a long term basis. But if they can make such a “case” I think they’ll get it.

They haven’t said jack shit about player or climate concerns. I think their impression is there’s enough talent there that they can draw on but I still think development of that talent is gonna be a big barrier.

 

[Thedeftouch]

Using my made up numbers

Perth is 2.2m people @ 75% =1.65m who care about the AFL and will spend money. Lets say it translates into 1m for WC and 650K for Freo. With a 60K stadium, it is sold out every 2nd week and getting close to in some Freo games. As the population grows, you need to cater for these people who are missing out. You get very little money out of the excess supporters who cannot attend, this is like losing a repeat customer. Money for Jam.

Brisbane is 2.6m people @ 15% = 390K fans for Brisbane who care about the AFL and will spend money. That might actually be close considering the attendance and profit difference between the three teams. To generate that sort of interest has been nearly 40 years in the making and a bigger stadium in Brisbane will open up the ceiling of the Lions. No need to add another team that will struggle and fight for the new punters. This is the hardest job, turning someone into a paying fan who was not previously.

As populations grow, the numbers will keep stacking up for WA3 due to the percentages involved.


Qld teams still travel about half the distance as WA teams. Travel is only a reason for WA3 to exist.

We already have 2 teams that need to be propped up indefinately in GC & GWS. No need to add a third team in QLD3, WA3 would generate money and they would be mid table on the financial list within 5-10 years.

I live in Brisbane and have spent time in Perth, and agree with all this.

South East Queensland is still largely a rugby league area. 3 NRL teams and 2 AFL teams in SEQ vs just the 2 AFL teams in WA.

SEQ just isn’t big enough to be supporting 6 footy teams.

 

[Seeds]

The Big 4 of Collingwood, Carlton, Essendon, Richmond are clearly above all others when you consider: average crowds, TV ratings and revenue in the AFL era.

Essendon and carlton arent. And richmond certainly wasnt for most of the modern era. The sides with the biggest crowds and tv audiences changes overtime. Often a function of success.

 

[PerfectFooty]

I think it should be an NT team, but with an arrangement to play some home games in QLD

 

[Canberra Pear]

I think it should be an NT team, but with an arrangement to play some home games in QLD

But who's going to pay for it? Their own scoping report said there'd be a $15m financial blackhole every season.

 

[Bjo187]

Not Found | Fox Sports Videos

www.foxsports.com.au

He didn’t say it outright, just that as we all know there’s a lot of interest in NT as the 20th club. Essentially what he says is that grassroots participation is really good up in the NT, especially women’s.

He also said the business case needs to stack up. Now he didn’t say specifics but I gather that means they’re going to need funding and lots of it on a long term basis. But if they can make such a “case” I think they’ll get it.

They haven’t said jack shit about player or climate concerns. I think their impression is there’s enough talent there that they can draw on but I still think development of that talent is gonna be a big barrier.

My goodness, hopefully Dillon just being a nice guy and not offending anyone. Nothing would surprise me with the AFL administration at the moment though under him, their decision making leaves a lot to be desired.

 

[Canberra Pear]

My goodness, hopefully Dillon just being a nice guy and not offending anyone. Nothing would surprise me with the AFL administration at the moment though under him, their decision making leaves a lot to be desired.

His tone to me sounded incredibly non-committal.

But I think they need to just put them out of their misery. We know the NT can't sustain a team; the AFL knows it, too.

Stringing them along and building false hope could backfire in the long-run.

 

[PerfectFooty]

But who's going to pay for it? Their own scoping report said there'd be a $15m financial blackhole every season.

Fair i haven't honestly looked into it too far

Just stating my preference

 

[javaguice]

Great idea.

Makes complete sense.