Portfolio AFL Blueprint 2023: A National League for the Future

[Red Crow]

Welcome to my new portfolio: AFL Blueprint 2023!

There have been a number of portfolios on the board that have demonstrated the future of the league by going back in time and creating an 'alternate history', but this portfolio is a little different. I like to think of this as an 'alternate future', where the league skews in a new direction from right here in 2019.

The original plan was to finish the whole folio before posting, but with the news of a new AFL logo in the works, I felt it timely to get the first part out now. This will be quite a big project, which has been a work in progress for at least 12 months. I've had moments where I've lacked inspiration or just scrapped what I'd done and started again. Hopefully, by releasing the first completed stage, I'll find the motivation to finish it off in a timely manner.

Enjoy!​

 

[Red Crow]

EXCLUSIVE: Victorian clubs to be dumped as part of radical new AFL ‘blueprint’


August 28, 2019


Four Victorian clubs are set to lose their licence as part of an ambitious plan to overhaul the AFL.

Dubbed ‘Blueprint 2023’, the league revamp is the brainchild of new CEO Redmond Crow, and its set to cause a major stir.

Crow, who succeeded Gillon McLachlan after he was forced to resign in the wake of the “sex, drugs and sausage rolls” scandal, is pushing to further distance the league from its Victorian roots and develop a fairer, more balanced national competition, with Victorian clubs needing to make way.

“This plan is all about securing the future of the competition, to ensure it is the biggest and best supported football code right around the country, and to give every supporter a feeling that their team has the same chance as any other to win the premiership.” Crow said.

“This is a long term vision. It is about the next 40 or 50 years, not the next 10. It’s ambitious, and there will be aspects which won’t be popular, but the benefits will be seen far into the future.”

“There are more clubs in Melbourne than necessary, and it skews the competition too much. We need to do something about that, and it needs to happen sooner rather than later. We can ultimately end up with a number of Victorian clubs that are all strong and healthy, rather than a group of haves and a group of have-nots.”

“Every club needs to earn their place in a national competition. Nobody should have their place guaranteed purely on the back of a long history. We need our clubs to be relevant on a national scale, not stuck in a bygone era of a state competition. We want a relatively even spread of clubs in all corners of the country who all bring something to the table and give something back to their supporters.”

There are a number of key pillars to the revamped competition, which is expected to come into effect in 2023 at the beginning of the new broadcast cycle. The blueprint for the future competition includes:

Reduction in teams back to 16;
Removal of four Victorian teams;
Addition of new teams in Tasmania and Canberra;
A new league structure to ensure equity in matches played and avoid uneven “double-ups”;
A new national reserves competition;
The launch of a standalone AFL broadcast product, similar to NBATV and NFL Network in the United States;
A ‘refresh’ of the AFL logo and branding.

The process for choosing which clubs are removed will involve a range of factors including membership figures, attendance numbers, sponsorship revenue and TV ratings. Low performance in these areas will put clubs at risk of losing their licence.

“There will be no targets to hit to ensure a club keeps its licence, as we will be removing four clubs regardless, but all factors will be looked at and a decision made by the commission. That decision will be made by the end of the 2021 season to ensure that clubs can appropriately recognise their final season in the competition in 2022.” Crow said.

Mergers between clubs are not going to be encouraged, but may be given consideration if they are particularly attractive.

Currently, the AFL owns the intellectual property of all clubs, including names, logos and jumper designs. Clubs that have their AFL licences revoked will be handed back their IP to allow them to continue to operate in their current form at a lower level of competition, such as the VFL.

 

[Red Crow]

MEDIA RELEASE FROM THE AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE

New AFL Logo Suite​

​

The AFL is today launching its new suite of logos as part of the Blueprint 2023 masterplan.​

The existing AFL logo – in use since 2000 – has gained tremendous brand recognition in an increasingly competitive sports market in Australia. It is for this reason, that rather than develop an entirely new logo from the ground up, the decision was taken to refresh and modernise the existing logo.​

The new logo sees the old line work of different weights replaced with a cleaner, bolder, more consistent look. The lettering loses the serifs, and the 3D-effect is replaced by a simple outline.​

In the digital age, faithful replication at a range of sizes and in varied colour applications is important. The old logo would often lose definition in these applications – particularly in black and white – and as such the ability for the logo to be modular and easily simplified was a key criteria.​

The lettering and oval device can be used as a simplified logo in itself, in a range of two-tone colourways, for situations requiring greater clarity. The full logo is also available in club colours, but these will not feature on the club guernseys.​

Matching logos for the AFLW competition and the new national reserves competition also feature. The reserves competition will be known as ‘AFL2’ – a reference to reserves teams often colloquially being called “the twos”.​

A new official Toyota Premiership logo has also been revealed, alongside a number of other ancillary logos.​

The new logo suite will take effect from the 2023 season.​

 

[Red Crow]

​

 

[Red Crow]

​

 

[Red Crow]

​

 

[Spanna_]

View attachment 693736​

The Grand Final is in Perth? I'm liking this altered future already.

 

[Red Crow]

The Grand Final is in Perth? I'm liking this altered future already.

Well, it is a national league!

 

[Silent Alarm]

Using the up-down logo with the club ones either side for the Grand Final is a... really really good idea.

 

[Exodus]

This is fantastic! Really solid work here, very realistic too.

Big fan of the rework of the logo, definitely feel this is going to be similar to what they will bring in with the real redesign of the logo. Love the ability for the logo to stand alone in singular colours and the ability to adapt to the teams too. Only thing that I don't quite like as much is the font choice for the 'finals series' and 'grand final', I feel a sans serif would work better here because the readability is a little bit off in my opinion. (Hope you don't mind the feedback!)

Looking forward to the next posts, I will be following with interest. The detail, believability and execution is some of the best stuff I've seen.

 

[Red Crow]

This is fantastic! Really solid work here, very realistic too.

Big fan of the rework of the logo, definitely feel this is going to be similar to what they will bring in with the real redesign of the logo. Love the ability for the logo to stand alone in singular colours and the ability to adapt to the teams too. Only thing that I don't quite like as much is the font choice for the 'finals series' and 'grand final', I feel a sans serif would work better here because the readability is a little bit off in my opinion. (Hope you don't mind the feedback!)

Looking forward to the next posts, I will be following with interest. The detail, believability and execution is some of the best stuff I've seen.

Thanks for the feedback! Yeah, the font was something that I struggled a little with. I wanted something to differentiate it from the regular season logo, but didn't want to just choose a font that was more or less just a variation on what I already had. Wanted to find something a bit unique and different.

I'm hoping to have the next part ready to go pretty soon.

 

[Red Crow]

MEDIA RELEASE FROM THE AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE

2023 AFL Club Announcement





The AFL can today reveal the 16 clubs that will compete in both the Mens and Womens competitions beginning in the 2023 season.

In choosing which six Victorian teams would continue to hold an AFL licence beyond 2022, the AFL took into account a number of factors, including:

- Membership numbers and revenue
- Sponsorship revenue
- Matchday attendances
- Television viewership
- Geographical locations
- On-field and off-field success in the AFL era

The six teams to retain their licences are Collingwood, Essendon, Geelong, Hawthorn, Richmond and Western Bulldogs. The remaining teams represent a diverse geographic spread across the Melbourne metro area, as well as greater Victoria.

Collingwood and Richmond - CBD and inner suburbs
Essendon - Northern suburbs
Geelong - Geelong and the Surf Coast
Hawthorn - Eastern and South-Eastern suburbs
Western Bulldogs - Western suburbs and Ballarat

The six Victorian clubs are joined by new teams Canberra Cockatoos and Tasmania Devils in the new competition alongside the existing eight Non-Victorian clubs. Further details on season structure and a new league-wide uniform policy will be announced in the coming days.


Quotes attributable to AFL CEO Mr Redmond Crow:

"We're extremely excited about the new direction the AFL is heading in. It is now a truly national competition, with a greater focus right around the country, and less centred on Victoria."

"The two new clubs are in areas where the AFL has had a presence for a number of years, and to give these areas their own team to get behind, we're confident they can be a success."

"The six Victorian clubs chosen to lead the league into a new era represent a strong history of success, as well as providing a platform into the future to bring back a bit of the old tribal feel of supporting your local team."

"Its incredibly hard to say goodbye to four fantastic football clubs, three of which were founding clubs in the VFL and in the case of Melbourne, the oldest club in the country. The decision to remove these clubs from the league was a difficult one, but we have no doubt that these clubs will continue to thrive at a lower level into the future, and remain viable clubs with continued support from their existing fans."

"We're strongly of the belief that while we may lose some older fans to the competition who will continue to support their old clubs at a lower level, a younger generation of fans will want to attach themselves onto teams at the elite level, and that the continuing Victorian clubs will only expand their supporter base and continue to grow the game in Victoria. We're equally confident that the two new clubs as well as the existing eight non-Victorian clubs, will see greater support from their fan base in a competition that brings them to a level playing field."​

 

[Rabman]

Im sorry but not having carlton in this league is ridiculous. I know they've been poor since the turn of the century but on there day they can get 50,000 easily to a game, this year they've averaged just under 47,000 per game(remember there 16th) they are an enormous club. Going by your Metrics for clubs to be in this league, they would easily all tick the boxes bar the last one.

 

[MKMatty]

Im sorry but not having carlton in this league is ridiculous. I know they've been poor since the turn of the century but on there day they can get 50,000 easily to a game, this year they've averaged just under 47,000 per game(remember there 16th) they are an enormous club. Going by your Metrics for clubs to be in this league, they would easily all tick the boxes bar the last one.

someone was going to get upset whichever way it was split.

 

[Red Crow]

Im sorry but not having carlton in this league is ridiculous. I know they've been poor since the turn of the century but on there day they can get 50,000 easily to a game, this year they've averaged just under 47,000 per game(remember there 16th) they are an enormous club. Going by your Metrics for clubs to be in this league, they would easily all tick the boxes bar the last one.

First of all, lets not lose sight of the fact that this is all make believe. Its really not worth getting your knickers twisted over a fictional design project.

Secondly, let me remind you that as it states in the OP, this concept started well over 12 months ago now. Carlton were an absolute rabble with no light at the end of the tunnel at that point. Just because they’ve seemingly turned a corner in the last couple of months since sacking Bolton, doesn’t mean I’m going to change my entire project that I’ve been working on.

Thirdly, my main reason for excluding Carlton was because the whole point is about cutting Victorian clubs who were literally just coasting on the fact that they have been in the league for so long. Carlton is the biggest of those yes, but at the time I conceived this their membership was ridiculously low for a club of their stature, nobody wanted to watch their games and they were still stuck in the 80s mindset of trying to buy success (eg hiring Malthouse). In a lot of ways they have been the epitome of “not being able to transition to a national competition”.

This is nothing personal against Carlton, but I wanted a nice spread of clubs across the city and that meant a certain number of inner city teams had to go. If I did this five years ago, I may have cut Richmond instead of Carlton.

 

[_Damo_]

But what about the 12,000 Saint Kilda fans?!

 

[hitthepost]

First of all, lets not lose sight of the fact that this is all make believe. Its really not worth getting your knickers twisted over a fictional design project.

Secondly, let me remind you that as it states in the OP, this concept started well over 12 months ago now. Carlton were an absolute rabble with no light at the end of the tunnel at that point. Just because they’ve seemingly turned a corner in the last couple of months since sacking Bolton, doesn’t mean I’m going to change my entire project that I’ve been working on.

Thirdly, my main reason for excluding Carlton was because the whole point is about cutting Victorian clubs who were literally just coasting on the fact that they have been in the league for so long. Carlton is the biggest of those yes, but at the time I conceived this their membership was ridiculously low for a club of their stature, nobody wanted to watch their games and they were still stuck in the 80s mindset of trying to buy success (eg hiring Malthouse). In a lot of ways they have been the epitome of “not being able to transition to a national competition”.

This is nothing personal against Carlton, but I wanted a nice spread of clubs across the city and that meant a certain number of inner city teams had to go. If I did this five years ago, I may have cut Richmond instead of Carlton.

Well said sir!

 

[Barrybran]

Hey, I'm all for cutting Carlton for real the lolz

 

[Cody_]

No more kanga kanga kanga

 

[The_torpedo]

Don't care; we're still in the league

 

[Freight Train]

No more kanga kanga kanga

ROO ROO ROO

 

[cottoneyeYeo]

looking forward to seeing how this portfolio goes

 

[caloschwaby]

No more kanga kanga kanga

At least we have Hawforn

 

[Red Crow]

​

 

[Red Crow]

Adelaide made some minor changes to their home jumper for season 2023, bringing the design more in line with their inaugural guernsey. The hoops were widened and reduced to only two sets on the front, while the white stroke on the numbers was dropped. The Crows were one club who opted for dual alternate kits, with both a gold and red variant to be worn equally in away matches. This design features a single set of hoops across the front, at 1.5 times the width of the home.







For their AFL2 uniform set, the Crows opted to retain their popular white based uniform used in the SANFL since 2014. A navy-based variant was introduced alongside for the colour uniform.

​