Adelaide Giants Discussion Thread

[SaltPeter]

there’s not much below the surface of these trite sound bites and cliches is there?

Pretty clear it was all unknown to you until material was given as you seemed unaware of these positions at all

And as for discrediting Forbes and the Harvard Business Review... well...

Good luck with that. I’m out

Yes the links to the articles were unknown to me prior. I was appreciative this morning when you provided them. How many times would you like me to thank you?

I am confused as to why you think I've discredited any of the information you provided. I made an observation that the information in the Forbes article was not particularly ground breaking. And an observation that the 2 from the Harvard review came from the same source.

 

[thirtytwo]

The issue for me are the higher roles. When I arrived at the company I run now, we had three different divisions. Two were contributing 20% of our revenue and one was contributing 80%. After expenses, the two were contributing 5% of our profit. First thing I did was chop them and focus on our core business. Before that happened at least 25% of my time and head space was taken up by the other two divisions, and it would have been more if I didn't know I was going to chop them, and the same for the six executives in my team. From there down, it didn't really make too much difference because employees were split into the divisions, but out of the top seven people in the organisation, not including the board, how many opportunities did we miss in our core business because we were spread across other divisions which were not our core business? its unquantifiable because we don't have alternate universes to find out but it would have been a lot.

There is a lot of research on visions and missions, and companies that know why they exist and don't divert from it. Focus on a core mission is absolutely the best way to run a business.

Genuine question, what if your traditional core business revenue streams are maxed out?
And if this is correct, without some diversification into a different market, where is the opportunity for growth coming from?

I completely understand that diversification for the sake of it and moving into markets you don’t understand and are not considered a part of your traditional business culture can be fraught with dangers.
However is managing a sporting club out side of football really that far out of their core business given that this is exactly what these people do? They manage the operation of a sporting club, they do not manage the day to day running of the team itself.

Our football dept reports and is subject to review from upper management and the board, the bite will/ should operate exactly the same.

It will be the board and managements primary job to grow the bites revenue, this is not about the club being community minded it’s about the opportunity for revenue growth outside of the control of the afl.

I would suggest that cross marketing of sponsorships between teams, generating new support and membership for the bite from existing afc supporters and growing bite game day revenue are the obvious ones. It’s the potential for international exposure of the brand and the marketing/ sponsorship opportunities this brings that are the real potential, how the club taps into and profits from this will be the key to how successful this venture is, if at all.

 

[headache1]

We're maxed out in terms of members and sponsorships already. If we're talking about the club making money we don't have a lot of growth regardless of team success coming or not.

I wasn't talking about money. Whilst the AFC has many aspects of a traditional business, it isn't a traditional business. Its shareholders are its members, and the dividends to those members are supposed to be premierships, not a healthy profit & loss statement (although I'll believe this to be a profitable venture when I see it). The club can have all the money in the world, but the fact is no matter how much money they have, they will still be constrained by a player salary cap and a soft cap for spending in the football department. To achieve the primary goal of this club, effort needs to be focused on squeezing every ounce of benefit from every single cent spent in those two areas. Does this venture aid in that at all?

 

[Geoffa32]

I don’t think you understand the meaning of words let alone the principles they convey

Nothing to add but a personal insult.

Classic Sanders.


I am still chuckling at your suggestion that having a one venue pokie leasehold is a worthwhile investment.

Such a business is great for an individual wanting to earn a fairly good wage and work in the business.

The real money in pokies is in owning multiple venues across different locations.

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

 

[Damp Squarie]

Being a baseball fan, i think this is a good move

I’m not a fan of baseball or the decision.
I was taken to a lower league game in Dallas once, I think the the Fresno Roughriders was one team playing.They had kiss cam, musical chairs, belly flop competition and I thought at the time the final one-all scoreline was just so underwhelming no wonder they needed all that other s**t.

 

[Cole Dammett]

I’m not a fan of baseball or the decision.
I was taken to a lower league game in Dallas once, I think the the Fresno Roughriders was one team playing.They had kiss cam, musical chairs, belly flop competition and I thought at the time the final one-all scoreline was just so underwhelming no wonder they needed all that other s**t.

Very hard to believe a baseball game ended in a 1-1 draw...

 

[MatthewB]

Very hard to believe a baseball game ended in a 1-1 draw...

i thought the same thing

 

[Damp Squarie]

Perhaps it was 2 -1...my son said ”When are we leaving?” I remember that.

 

[hey shorty]

Im surprised at the negativity on this move.

The only bit that concerns me is the impact on footy dept spending, although given current circumstances it couldnt get much worse.

 

[Archie87]

I don't mind them having a crack at this tbh but I'd like to know why they can take a chance at investing in what is a minor sport in this city but they won't even consider building a proper club base for the fans.

 

[Next Gen Rookie]

I don't mind them having a crack at this tbh but I'd like to know why they can take a chance at investing in what is a minor sport in this city but they won't even consider building a proper club base for the fans.

With ANOTHER city pub/restaurant going bust this week (The Hindley), it's no surprise that they don't want to get into that space.

 

[ad victoriam]

there’s not much below the surface of these trite sound bites and cliches is there?

Pretty clear it was all unknown to you until material was given as you seemed unaware of these positions at all

And as for discrediting Forbes and the Harvard Business Review... well...

Good luck with that. I’m out

Just Curious Sander's do you actually read the Harvard Review,
I mean HBR.

 

[ad victoriam]

Don't look at only Baseball in this discussion.
I am Suprised nobody has mentioned the Adelaide Sports & Entertainment company, Too me that's a bigger venue than acquiring the Bite.
Even the media has seemed to overlook this. That the Area they will make the money, the Bite and Legacy will help them gain exposure. on a semi-international platform with room to grow.
Now they have positioned that company up to Promote their brand. In a very smart way, by using Adelaide. Looks like a Long-term approach.
while the short-term gains will be the added exposure for companies wanting to sponsor the Adelaide teams.

Next step in the distant future will be name changes incorporating Adelaide (legacy) or the Crows (Bite)

To the Football Purist, the two area's has been split. They still have a Football Department that only concentrates on Football related items.
Now all the restructuring moves are starting to make sense. Be interesting to where Smart fits in all this.

 

[Iron]

1. Then how can we afford it?
2. How do we manage this? Can the AFL then penalise us for salary shifting?
3. Is this then a vehicle for money laundering?

I keep hearing about the soft cap on footy spending . we can afford a baseball team but not the best fitness people

Point 2 - clubs have their soft caps audited. The AFL set the rules on how they're audited.

Salaries, equipment, etc. is all allocated pro rata to what should be included in the cap. If we purchase $100k in new equipment, we'd have to decide how much of that 'should be' allocated to the cap. It isn't good enough to say none of it, when that's obviously not the case.

 

[SaltPeter]

Point 2 - clubs have their soft caps audited. The AFL set the rules on how they're audited.

Salaries, equipment, etc. is all allocated pro rata to what should be included in the cap. If we purchase $100k in new equipment, we'd have to decide how much of that 'should be' allocated to the cap. It isn't good enough to say none of it, when that's obviously not the case.

So does that mean for example 60% is allocated to Crows and 40% allocated to the Bite, $60K is included in the cap instead of the full $100K?

 

[Iron]

So does that mean for example 60% is allocated to Crows and 40% allocated to the Bite, $60K is included in the cap instead of the full $100K?

Equipment was a bad example. Let's say we hire Mr Smith in a new role, which services the Bite and the Crows in roughly equal measure. Pay him a salary of $80k, allocate $40k to the cap, and the other $40k floats away into the ether.

 

[Cole Dammett]

Shane Smallacombe the Crows Chief Financial Officer now finds himself as the project leader for this venture and in this episode he chats with Chris Coleman about how the deal came to pass, will the Bite become the Crows, and how the Crows-owned baseball team will make fans of their AFL Rivals Port Adelaide feel welcome.

 

[ManInTheArena]

Genuine question, what if your traditional core business revenue streams are maxed out?
And if this is correct, without some diversification into a different market, where is the opportunity for growth coming from?

I completely understand that diversification for the sake of it and moving into markets you don’t understand and are not considered a part of your traditional business culture can be fraught with dangers.
However is managing a sporting club out side of football really that far out of their core business given that this is exactly what these people do? They manage the operation of a sporting club, they do not manage the day to day running of the team itself.

Our football dept reports and is subject to review from upper management and the board, the bite will/ should operate exactly the same.

It will be the board and managements primary job to grow the bites revenue, this is not about the club being community minded it’s about the opportunity for revenue growth outside of the control of the afl.

I would suggest that cross marketing of sponsorships between teams, generating new support and membership for the bite from existing afc supporters and growing bite game day revenue are the obvious ones. It’s the potential for international exposure of the brand and the marketing/ sponsorship opportunities this brings that are the real potential, how the club taps into and profits from this will be the key to how successful this venture is, if at all.

For the sake of clarity I'll call our vision or mission our purpose because a vision and mission are different things but researchers and experts are divided on which one is which. The AFC's purpose is the reason it exists, it answers the question; "why are we even here?". There is a tonne of research that shows that companies that have and purpose and stick to it without distraction are far more successful in the long-term.

We've obviously got a purpose, what is it? To be the best sporting administration company in the world? I wouldn't mind that if we had a company that owned subsidiaries and the AFC was one of those subsidiaries, along with the Bite and Legacy, but that's not what's happening.

Take Wesfarmers for example, it would have a purpose of it's own and it's subsidiaries have purposes of their own, which is fine because they all have their own CEO's and management teams who focus on the purpose of each subsidiary. We've got a mix and match structure which just isn't good business. The AFC have a confused purpose; are we there to be the best club in the AFL? Are we there to run other sporting clubs? What exactly do we exist for? What is the purpose of the Bite and Legacy? Are they there to feed the AFC? I don't think that's appropriate, neither do I think it will work because they are community organisations on their own, and their fans expect them to have their own purpose which aligns with their connection and support of those clubs.

So what do we do if we maxed out our revenue? I don't believe there is such thing as maxing out revenue. Back yourself in to be innovative and work out how to increase it without compromising your purpose.

I don't mind what the are AFC doing if they can significantly increase sponsorship revenue for each of the clubs (which I'm not sure they can) but it needs to be done with a parent company with the purpose of sports administration. The AFC needs it's own CEO for one purpose only.

 

[1970crow]

You talk about conglomeration being a 80/90s idea.

Then tell us your great idea is to buy pokies.

I was one who thought we should buy pokies. M But then asked a few people in the industry about them. It ain't no goldmine. Especially in the CBD.

Take a walk around town and note the recently closed pubs. You will find at least three along Grenfell/Pirie st.

Not to mention the capital outlay to procure the business. It is a million dollar plus outlay to set up a decent venue.

Your pokies suggestion had merit in the late 90s early 2000s before the big pokie owning barons (chiefly Coles and Woolworths) got into the industry.

The Vic clubs arent pulling out of pokies as an act of community goodwill. They are doing so as they are losing their profitability in the scale they operate in. Collingwood lost millions across their venues not long ago.


I am a bit sceptical about the financial merits of this and Legacey. But do quite like the concept of our club being a multi sport club where all the major Adelaide teams come under one club umbrella.

It works well in Europe.

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

The city isn't a place for pokies. You go with something akin to a mini-casino in the lower socioeconomic burbs. Go north, go south, that's where the Ching-Ching is.

 

[1970crow]

I do not see how bite break even financially let alone turn a profit.

Yet another dead weight drain on our club in the short term with no real way to turn a profit long term just like our esport teams

When we puchesed e-sports I wondered and posted whether Fagan is on a bonus system based purely on revenue or poorly defined membership numbers. This acquisition does nothing to dispel that gut feel. And, we have the worst and weakest board imaginable. Trigg, the incompetent fool, had these muppets wrapped around his finger, it's highly likely that a decent operator would experience the same. Given the s**t show that is our footy dept, it's getting likely that Fagan is sending us down a lesser path than his predecessor.

 

[hey shorty]

When we puchesed e-sports I wondered and posted whether Fagan is on a bonus system based purely on revenue or poorly defined membership numbers. This acquisition does nothing to dispel that gut feel. And, we have the worst and weakest board imaginable. Trigg, the incompetent fool, had these muppets wrapped around his finger, it's highly likely that a decent operator would experience the same. Given the s**t show that is our footy dept, it's getting likely that Fagan is sending us down a lesser path than his predecessor.

Absolute shite, the club is in a far better place now than it was then

 

[1970crow]

Absolute shite, the club is in a far better place now than it was then

Explain how. And remember that Fagan inherited AO, it was not of his doing.

 

[hey shorty]

Explain how. And remember that Fagan inherited AO, it was not of his doing.

More members, sponsors, money, made a GF......

 

[1970crow]

More members, sponsors, money, made a GF......

Provide the relative numbers. And how much of the money is from AO attendance which was not much of Trigg's regime. And how is our best people footy dept propelling us to an equivalent or better team result than the all conquering GF making group. Management practices are coming home to roost and it's not pretty. Will be interesting how our financials look this year.

 

[hey shorty]

Provide the relative numbers. And how much of the money is from AO attendance which was not much of Trigg's regime. And how is our best people footy dept propelling us to an equivalent or better team result than the all conquering GF making group. Management practices are coming home to roost and it's not pretty. Will be interesting how our financials look this year.

I don't have them on hand, do you ?? You can't honestly suggest we are in a worse position than 2014 can you ??

I have my reservations about the footy dept, and voiced as much in an email Tuesday, but the business as a whole would appear in a MUCH better position.