MrMOB
Senior List
CHANNEL 7 THE BIG WINNER IN AFL’S DUD MEDALLION DEAL
By MrMOB
Season 2001 is over, and the Premiership Cup is heading to Brisbane for the first time (MrMOB’s Grand Final tip was correct, though the Lions ended up a tad shy of 40 points). With the extraordinarily generous draft concessions the AFL has just revealed for Brisbane and Sydney, the Cup is likely to heading north quite a few more times in coming years.
Given the Lions nor the Swans apparently didn’t even ask for these concessions, that decision by the AFL has the other clubs hopping mad. Because Brisbane and Sydney have already received unprecedented levels of support from the AFL, they see this as another example of favours being given to a privileged few at the expense of the many.
The risk the AFL is taking with this strategy is that while the favoured interstate sides will enjoy continued on-field success and prosperity, a few bad seasons could bring several Melbourne-based teams to the brink of extinction.
Going back two years, here’s another curious decision of the AFL’s that has brought great rewards for a privileged few, but anger and resentment to the many. That anger and resentment has been aimed squarely back at the AFL, and unfortunately it appears that’s all the AFL has got out of this disgraceful deal:
In August 1999 AFL CEO Wayne Jackson sent a letter to all AFL Members, letting them know the AFL Commission had decided to screw them over big time: 5000 of the seats in their reserve were to snatched away and handed over to the Colonial Stadium Medallion Club.
In fact, most members had actually heard this by now: an unabashedly elitist marketing campaign - with images of smug looking corporate types sipping at wine glasses and driving BMW roadsters (and with the odd glimpse of an actual footy player) - was already saturating the ad breaks on Channel 7’s sports telecasts. Try as he might to sweeten the bitter pill, Jackson obviously knew the AFL was going to seriously disenchant its own members and would face an enormous backlash of resentment.
Wayne’s letter said that while “many AFL Members will not support this approach…because of the importance of the Medallion Club to the overall funding of Colonial Stadium, we have agreed to include these seat holders as AFL Members and to guarantee them a seat at the Coca-Cola AFL Grand Final”.
In effect, this meant that the Medallion Club would get first call on 5000 seats in the AFL Members Reserve on Grand Final Day.
Full Members were outraged, because over ¼ of the seats available to them disappeared in a single stroke. Despite Wayne’s assurances that “we are confident the vast majority of AFL Full Members wanting to reserve a Grand Final seat next year will be able to do so”, thousands in fact missed out in 2000 and again in 2001.
Restricted Members were outraged because all of a sudden 5000 cashed-up interlopers jumped the queue ahead of them and were awarded instant AFL Full Membership. Normally this might entail a wait of up to 10 or more years.
All AFL Members were outraged again when they discovered that the “AFL Membership” Medallion Club members receive is in fact a step above ordinary Full Membership. Unlike the queue-jumping corporate carpetbaggers of the Medallion Club, ordinary members don’t get a guaranteed Grand Final seat, can’t let friends use their card, and are banished to level 4 at Colonial Stadium unless they want to shell out more money for reserved seating.
As a further insult, the AFL continues to include the Medallion Club in overall membership statistics, which gives an inflated figure of how many AFL Members got to attend important games.
One would expect that if the AFL was prepared to incur the wrath of its most loyal supporters in this way, it would be getting some serious concessions on the other side. After all, the Medallion Club costs $5000.
Astonishingly, it appears that AFL Members were not the only ones screwed by this deal.
Now the AFL did secure a financial bonanza with the 9/10/Foxtel consortium over broadcast rights, and over the years has shown a rare talent for gouging extra cash out of the ordinary punters: introducing ever-rising booking fees, cutting the family ticket from 6 to 4, lowering the junior AFL Membership age from 7 to 4 and drastically reducing eligibility for absentee membership are just some that spring to mind.
But negotiating with the Medallion Club, it seems they truly took their eyes off the ball.
In return for giving away the 5000 seats (and earning the lasting opprobrium of its members), AFL agreed to receive only $356 per Medallion Club Member, plus $98 if they take up the offer of a Grand Final ticket, a total of about $450 pa. In other words, little more than what an ordinary Full Member pays!
There are currently some 3500-4500 Medallion Memberships, so the AFL recoups around $2 million per annum. However this is about equal to the amount the AFL LOST from both the record number of members who dropped out this year, or those who voluntarily reduced their status back to restricted. For many former AFL members, the shameful Medallion deal was the last straw.
So, in other words, the net monetary gain for the AFL out of Medallion Club deal is, well, close to nothing. On the other hand, the net loss to their relationship with their most loyal supporters is huge (and frankly, it wasn’t all that wonderful to start with).
But hang on, wasn’t the purpose of this deal to support the financially vulnerable Colonial Stadium? After all, the AFL gets sole possession of the $450 million venue in 28 years time (yeah, it occurs to me that that’s when it will be about the same age as poor old condemned Waverley now…).
Unfortunately, the Medallion deal hasn’t helped there either. You see, the Medallion Club is actually owned by Channel 7, and ownership of Colonial Stadium is divided between Channel 7 and a company called Stadium Operations Limited (SOL).
The revenue streams are also divided. While Channel 7 receives all revenue from the Medallion Club, SOL gets all revenue from reserved seating, ticketing, signage and
naming rights.
Although initially it was hard slog trying to sell the Medallion memberships, once the AFL came to party and offered up Grand Final tickets sales improved. Depending where you read, there are currently some 3500-4500 Medallion Club members (and in any case Channel 7 is entitled to make use what’s left of the 5000 allocation). Because the Medallion Club is past the halfway mark to being fully subscribed, and because they charge such an incredible premium in the first place (remember, $5000 gets you a gold Medallion but no bar snacks), Channel 7 is doing nicely from the deal, thank you Mr Jackson.
SOL, on the other hand, is losing money hand over fist: $25 million last year and $40 million for 2000-2001. This is because its revenue streams - average crowds, reserved seating and axcess one memberships - are way down, and the operating costs of the stadium are far higher than anticipated.
So, by attempting to support Colonial Stadium by sweetening the Medallion Club deal, the AFL has failed miserably: SOL gets absolutely nothing out of it, and it’s the one in trouble.
The real benefactors are Channel 7 who own the Medallion Club, and the cashed up corporates who signed up for it: they even get to legally scalp their own Grand Final tickets, because unlike ordinary AFL members theirs are fully transferable. This has led to the shameful situation of some Medallion members offering seats in the AFL Members Reserve at up to 10-times face value. Meanwhile, thousands of ordinary members missed out, despite paying for Grand Final access. No wonder members are angry!
The real losers in this were of course ordinary members, because they got dudded out of the 5000 seats, and the AFL who’ve had to cop the backlash after getting effectively nothing for their trouble. Various people at the AFL are now apparently running for cover trying to avoid the blame for making this appallingly bad decision.
Given that the AFL has just cut loose Channel 7 after 45 years, it’s difficult to see the losing bidder in the broadcast rights battle being all that helpful if the AFL seeks to get a better deal. And with capacity at the MCG being cut by 30% for the next three years while the new stand is built, one wonders if Medallion Members also face a reduced allocation?
Ordinary AFL members would prefer to see them turfed out of their own reserve altogether. After all, the Medallion Club have got “the world’s most technologically advanced stadium” as their private playground, even if it is now more a cavernous shed where the grass don’t grow and the sun don’t shine…
______
Acknowledgement: Thanks to Mike Watson and other AFLMA participants on the alfmembers yahoo e-group [http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aflmembers] for facts and figures in this article.
By MrMOB
Season 2001 is over, and the Premiership Cup is heading to Brisbane for the first time (MrMOB’s Grand Final tip was correct, though the Lions ended up a tad shy of 40 points). With the extraordinarily generous draft concessions the AFL has just revealed for Brisbane and Sydney, the Cup is likely to heading north quite a few more times in coming years.
Given the Lions nor the Swans apparently didn’t even ask for these concessions, that decision by the AFL has the other clubs hopping mad. Because Brisbane and Sydney have already received unprecedented levels of support from the AFL, they see this as another example of favours being given to a privileged few at the expense of the many.
The risk the AFL is taking with this strategy is that while the favoured interstate sides will enjoy continued on-field success and prosperity, a few bad seasons could bring several Melbourne-based teams to the brink of extinction.
Going back two years, here’s another curious decision of the AFL’s that has brought great rewards for a privileged few, but anger and resentment to the many. That anger and resentment has been aimed squarely back at the AFL, and unfortunately it appears that’s all the AFL has got out of this disgraceful deal:
In August 1999 AFL CEO Wayne Jackson sent a letter to all AFL Members, letting them know the AFL Commission had decided to screw them over big time: 5000 of the seats in their reserve were to snatched away and handed over to the Colonial Stadium Medallion Club.
In fact, most members had actually heard this by now: an unabashedly elitist marketing campaign - with images of smug looking corporate types sipping at wine glasses and driving BMW roadsters (and with the odd glimpse of an actual footy player) - was already saturating the ad breaks on Channel 7’s sports telecasts. Try as he might to sweeten the bitter pill, Jackson obviously knew the AFL was going to seriously disenchant its own members and would face an enormous backlash of resentment.
Wayne’s letter said that while “many AFL Members will not support this approach…because of the importance of the Medallion Club to the overall funding of Colonial Stadium, we have agreed to include these seat holders as AFL Members and to guarantee them a seat at the Coca-Cola AFL Grand Final”.
In effect, this meant that the Medallion Club would get first call on 5000 seats in the AFL Members Reserve on Grand Final Day.
Full Members were outraged, because over ¼ of the seats available to them disappeared in a single stroke. Despite Wayne’s assurances that “we are confident the vast majority of AFL Full Members wanting to reserve a Grand Final seat next year will be able to do so”, thousands in fact missed out in 2000 and again in 2001.
Restricted Members were outraged because all of a sudden 5000 cashed-up interlopers jumped the queue ahead of them and were awarded instant AFL Full Membership. Normally this might entail a wait of up to 10 or more years.
All AFL Members were outraged again when they discovered that the “AFL Membership” Medallion Club members receive is in fact a step above ordinary Full Membership. Unlike the queue-jumping corporate carpetbaggers of the Medallion Club, ordinary members don’t get a guaranteed Grand Final seat, can’t let friends use their card, and are banished to level 4 at Colonial Stadium unless they want to shell out more money for reserved seating.
As a further insult, the AFL continues to include the Medallion Club in overall membership statistics, which gives an inflated figure of how many AFL Members got to attend important games.
One would expect that if the AFL was prepared to incur the wrath of its most loyal supporters in this way, it would be getting some serious concessions on the other side. After all, the Medallion Club costs $5000.
Astonishingly, it appears that AFL Members were not the only ones screwed by this deal.
Now the AFL did secure a financial bonanza with the 9/10/Foxtel consortium over broadcast rights, and over the years has shown a rare talent for gouging extra cash out of the ordinary punters: introducing ever-rising booking fees, cutting the family ticket from 6 to 4, lowering the junior AFL Membership age from 7 to 4 and drastically reducing eligibility for absentee membership are just some that spring to mind.
But negotiating with the Medallion Club, it seems they truly took their eyes off the ball.
In return for giving away the 5000 seats (and earning the lasting opprobrium of its members), AFL agreed to receive only $356 per Medallion Club Member, plus $98 if they take up the offer of a Grand Final ticket, a total of about $450 pa. In other words, little more than what an ordinary Full Member pays!
There are currently some 3500-4500 Medallion Memberships, so the AFL recoups around $2 million per annum. However this is about equal to the amount the AFL LOST from both the record number of members who dropped out this year, or those who voluntarily reduced their status back to restricted. For many former AFL members, the shameful Medallion deal was the last straw.
So, in other words, the net monetary gain for the AFL out of Medallion Club deal is, well, close to nothing. On the other hand, the net loss to their relationship with their most loyal supporters is huge (and frankly, it wasn’t all that wonderful to start with).
But hang on, wasn’t the purpose of this deal to support the financially vulnerable Colonial Stadium? After all, the AFL gets sole possession of the $450 million venue in 28 years time (yeah, it occurs to me that that’s when it will be about the same age as poor old condemned Waverley now…).
Unfortunately, the Medallion deal hasn’t helped there either. You see, the Medallion Club is actually owned by Channel 7, and ownership of Colonial Stadium is divided between Channel 7 and a company called Stadium Operations Limited (SOL).
The revenue streams are also divided. While Channel 7 receives all revenue from the Medallion Club, SOL gets all revenue from reserved seating, ticketing, signage and
naming rights.
Although initially it was hard slog trying to sell the Medallion memberships, once the AFL came to party and offered up Grand Final tickets sales improved. Depending where you read, there are currently some 3500-4500 Medallion Club members (and in any case Channel 7 is entitled to make use what’s left of the 5000 allocation). Because the Medallion Club is past the halfway mark to being fully subscribed, and because they charge such an incredible premium in the first place (remember, $5000 gets you a gold Medallion but no bar snacks), Channel 7 is doing nicely from the deal, thank you Mr Jackson.
SOL, on the other hand, is losing money hand over fist: $25 million last year and $40 million for 2000-2001. This is because its revenue streams - average crowds, reserved seating and axcess one memberships - are way down, and the operating costs of the stadium are far higher than anticipated.
So, by attempting to support Colonial Stadium by sweetening the Medallion Club deal, the AFL has failed miserably: SOL gets absolutely nothing out of it, and it’s the one in trouble.
The real benefactors are Channel 7 who own the Medallion Club, and the cashed up corporates who signed up for it: they even get to legally scalp their own Grand Final tickets, because unlike ordinary AFL members theirs are fully transferable. This has led to the shameful situation of some Medallion members offering seats in the AFL Members Reserve at up to 10-times face value. Meanwhile, thousands of ordinary members missed out, despite paying for Grand Final access. No wonder members are angry!
The real losers in this were of course ordinary members, because they got dudded out of the 5000 seats, and the AFL who’ve had to cop the backlash after getting effectively nothing for their trouble. Various people at the AFL are now apparently running for cover trying to avoid the blame for making this appallingly bad decision.
Given that the AFL has just cut loose Channel 7 after 45 years, it’s difficult to see the losing bidder in the broadcast rights battle being all that helpful if the AFL seeks to get a better deal. And with capacity at the MCG being cut by 30% for the next three years while the new stand is built, one wonders if Medallion Members also face a reduced allocation?
Ordinary AFL members would prefer to see them turfed out of their own reserve altogether. After all, the Medallion Club have got “the world’s most technologically advanced stadium” as their private playground, even if it is now more a cavernous shed where the grass don’t grow and the sun don’t shine…
______
Acknowledgement: Thanks to Mike Watson and other AFLMA participants on the alfmembers yahoo e-group [http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aflmembers] for facts and figures in this article.
