Cunnington Cartel
All Australian
- Nov 18, 2022
- 709
- 1,117
- AFL Club
- North Melbourne
It’s likely that Tassie will be issued with the 19th AFL licence when the new stadium funding is sorted out in Hobart. After 25 years of selling home games to various locations, this will leave us at an interesting juncture.
If we look at the experiences of other clubs and potential future secondary markets, then there are many factors that need to be considered so the club can select the best pathway forward for our stability, profitability and on-field performance. Would love to hear the ideas and opinions of other North supporters on this issue. Here are mine so far in regards to 5 options:
1. 11 home games in Melbourne (e.g. St Kilda)
+ Melbourne-based members can attend more home games, eliminate the potential for relocation rumours, more efforts can be focused towards building support and membership in key growth areas of Northern Melbourne and also within specific migrant communities, potentially secure our future as a Melbourne-based club.
- missing out on revenue provided from secondary market, removing the ability to develop a secondary membership/supporter base, losing money from having to play games against lower-drawing sides in Melbourne. There are various reasons why St Kilda is struggling financially atm, but they would undoubtedly have benefitted from secondary-market revenue over the past few years.
2. A secondary market that’s close to Melbourne (e.g. Bulldogs in Ballarat, which we were working on until we got shafted)
Examples: Bendigo, Albury
+ Footy loving communities, likely government/local business support, likely to get decent crowds, many Melbourne-based members can still attend, stadium infrastructure (e.g. Lavington in Albury) doesn’t need extensive redevelopments, limited relocation talk about our club as these locations are quite small, potential for long-term partnership because these locations will not be pushing for their own licence, secure revenue from a secondary market, fewer expenses travelling to these games due to shorter distances. The O & M’s used to be our old recruiting zone so we already have a historical connection to the Albury-Wodonga region. Bendigo is one of our community camp locations this year - anyone know why this is the case?
- Small cities so limited opportunities for significant growth, footy fans in these areas already follow other clubs so unlikely to generate large secondary membership-base, AFL will want to keep Albury as an academy zone for the Giants. We don’t have 11 home games in Melbourne.
3. A secondary market that’s far from Melbourne, but in a footy heartland (e.g. Hawks in Launceston, us in Hobart)
Examples: Darwin, Bunbury/SW WA
Fairly similar to category #2 except greater travel expenses, harder for Vic members to attend and greater possibility of re-location talk because these regions are either keen to pursue their own licences or may want to in the future due to their larger population bases.
4. A secondary market that’s far from Melbourne and in a non-footy heartland
Examples: Newcastle, Sunny Coast, Wollongong, NZ.
+ Larger population bases so the potential to generate decent crowd and membership numbers if in for the long haul. Most locals don’t have current allegiances to clubs.
- lack of local interest and potentially poor crowds, lack of stadium infrastructure, lack of government/ local business support. If an area is a success then relocation talks might start up. We don’t have 11 home games in Melbourne.
5. A secondary market in a non-heartland but where footy has a reasonable presence (e.g. Giants in Canberra)
Examples: Canberra and Cairns
+ a percentage of the locals have some interest in footy, likely to attract some government/local business support, stadium infrastructure in place, decent crowds. Ability to generate a secondary membership base by converting some locals.
- AFL media and footy fans will engage in conversations about relocations, probably not viable as the AFL will want to keep Canberra for GWS and possibly Cairns as a secondary market for the Suns to improve the finances of those two clubs. Canberra and N QLD might want to pursue their own licences in the future. Have already been to Canberra and didn’t gain much traction so not much point in going back. We don’t have 11 home games in Melbourne.
There are clearly many things I haven’t considered, but so far, options 1 and 2 are the obvious standouts. Some might say that we should look at Darwin after Tassie. It might rake in more money in the short term, but it will bring a lot of unwanted attention to our footy club since the NT want a licence (could be Gold Coast 2.0).
If we are in the position that we have to develop a secondary market, can anyone suggest better options than Bendigo or Albury?
If we look at the experiences of other clubs and potential future secondary markets, then there are many factors that need to be considered so the club can select the best pathway forward for our stability, profitability and on-field performance. Would love to hear the ideas and opinions of other North supporters on this issue. Here are mine so far in regards to 5 options:
1. 11 home games in Melbourne (e.g. St Kilda)
+ Melbourne-based members can attend more home games, eliminate the potential for relocation rumours, more efforts can be focused towards building support and membership in key growth areas of Northern Melbourne and also within specific migrant communities, potentially secure our future as a Melbourne-based club.
- missing out on revenue provided from secondary market, removing the ability to develop a secondary membership/supporter base, losing money from having to play games against lower-drawing sides in Melbourne. There are various reasons why St Kilda is struggling financially atm, but they would undoubtedly have benefitted from secondary-market revenue over the past few years.
2. A secondary market that’s close to Melbourne (e.g. Bulldogs in Ballarat, which we were working on until we got shafted)
Examples: Bendigo, Albury
+ Footy loving communities, likely government/local business support, likely to get decent crowds, many Melbourne-based members can still attend, stadium infrastructure (e.g. Lavington in Albury) doesn’t need extensive redevelopments, limited relocation talk about our club as these locations are quite small, potential for long-term partnership because these locations will not be pushing for their own licence, secure revenue from a secondary market, fewer expenses travelling to these games due to shorter distances. The O & M’s used to be our old recruiting zone so we already have a historical connection to the Albury-Wodonga region. Bendigo is one of our community camp locations this year - anyone know why this is the case?
- Small cities so limited opportunities for significant growth, footy fans in these areas already follow other clubs so unlikely to generate large secondary membership-base, AFL will want to keep Albury as an academy zone for the Giants. We don’t have 11 home games in Melbourne.
3. A secondary market that’s far from Melbourne, but in a footy heartland (e.g. Hawks in Launceston, us in Hobart)
Examples: Darwin, Bunbury/SW WA
Fairly similar to category #2 except greater travel expenses, harder for Vic members to attend and greater possibility of re-location talk because these regions are either keen to pursue their own licences or may want to in the future due to their larger population bases.
4. A secondary market that’s far from Melbourne and in a non-footy heartland
Examples: Newcastle, Sunny Coast, Wollongong, NZ.
+ Larger population bases so the potential to generate decent crowd and membership numbers if in for the long haul. Most locals don’t have current allegiances to clubs.
- lack of local interest and potentially poor crowds, lack of stadium infrastructure, lack of government/ local business support. If an area is a success then relocation talks might start up. We don’t have 11 home games in Melbourne.
5. A secondary market in a non-heartland but where footy has a reasonable presence (e.g. Giants in Canberra)
Examples: Canberra and Cairns
+ a percentage of the locals have some interest in footy, likely to attract some government/local business support, stadium infrastructure in place, decent crowds. Ability to generate a secondary membership base by converting some locals.
- AFL media and footy fans will engage in conversations about relocations, probably not viable as the AFL will want to keep Canberra for GWS and possibly Cairns as a secondary market for the Suns to improve the finances of those two clubs. Canberra and N QLD might want to pursue their own licences in the future. Have already been to Canberra and didn’t gain much traction so not much point in going back. We don’t have 11 home games in Melbourne.
There are clearly many things I haven’t considered, but so far, options 1 and 2 are the obvious standouts. Some might say that we should look at Darwin after Tassie. It might rake in more money in the short term, but it will bring a lot of unwanted attention to our footy club since the NT want a licence (could be Gold Coast 2.0).
If we are in the position that we have to develop a secondary market, can anyone suggest better options than Bendigo or Albury?