Roast The AFL have completely screwed us financially with the fixture

[LeverPuller]

I knew it was bad, but it has just been worse and worse.

-> Opener on Easter Sunday at 1.10pm. When people are having lunches. Great.
-> Rd2 v Essendon, great crowd, Saturday night, but away game.
-> Rd3 v WCE, no complaints, 2.10pm Saturday.
-> Rd4 v GWS, Sunday afternoon.
-> Rd5 v Brisbane up there on a Sunday.
-> Rd6 v Carlton, Sunday, away game.
-> Rd7 v Gold Coast, Sunday TWILIGHT, MOTHERS DAY.
-> Rd8 v Richmond, away game, Sunday
-> Rd9 v Freo away, Sunday
-> Rd10 v Hawthorn, home game, Sunday.
-> Rd11 QBD
-> Rd12 bye
-> Rd13 v St Kilda, away, Saturday TWILIGHT
-> Rd14 v Dogs, home, Saturday night
-> Rd15 v Sydney, 1.10pm Sunday
-> Rd16 v Geelong in Geelong (again)
-> Rd17 v Brisbane, Darwin, Saturday night (can't be helped due to heat?)
-> Rd18 v North, home game at ETIHAD?!?!?!, Saturday
-> Rd19 v GWS, away, Saturday
-> Rd20 v Gold Coast, away, Saturday night (back to back interstate)
-> Rd21 v Freo, home, Sunday 1.10
-> Rd22 v Adelaide, away, Saturday
-> Rd23 v Bulldogs, away, almost certainly Sunday

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

- We have both Easter Sunday and Mother's Day, two of the worst drawing days for football.
- We only play two games against Melbourne sides at home on a Saturday, and one of those is at Etihad
- We only have home games against two 'big' Victorian clubs
- We play ten (probably 11) games on a Sunday; of those, eight are home games.
- We play three 'primetime' games, of which only one is a home game.
- We play seven of our eleven home games against interstate sides.

* Vlad.

 

[PureFooty]

Probably because we're a rabble not worth putting on the main stage, because whenever we get the chance, we cave quicker than lager turns to piss.

 

[Demon 16]

Looks like a dream draw to me - the problem is we are too rubbish to take advantage and get a few wins/build some momentum.

That's what's screwed us financially (for the last 6 years in fact)..

 

[saladodger]

I knew it was bad, but it has just been worse and worse.

-> Opener on Easter Sunday at 1.10pm. When people are having lunches. Great.
-> Rd2 v Essendon, great crowd, Saturday night, but away game.
-> Rd3 v WCE, no complaints, 2.10pm Saturday.
-> Rd4 v GWS, Sunday afternoon.
-> Rd5 v Brisbane up there on a Sunday.
-> Rd6 v Carlton, Sunday, away game.
-> Rd7 v Gold Coast, Sunday TWILIGHT, MOTHERS DAY.
-> Rd8 v Richmond, away game, Sunday
-> Rd9 v Freo away, Sunday
-> Rd10 v Hawthorn, home game, Sunday.
-> Rd11 QBD
-> Rd12 bye
-> Rd13 v St Kilda, away, Saturday TWILIGHT
-> Rd14 v Dogs, home, Saturday night
-> Rd15 v Sydney, 1.10pm Sunday
-> Rd16 v Geelong in Geelong (again)
-> Rd17 v Brisbane, Darwin, Saturday night (can't be helped due to heat?)
-> Rd18 v North, home game at ETIHAD?!?!?!, Saturday
-> Rd19 v GWS, away, Saturday
-> Rd20 v Gold Coast, away, Saturday night (back to back interstate)
-> Rd21 v Freo, home, Sunday 1.10
-> Rd22 v Adelaide, away, Saturday
-> Rd23 v Bulldogs, away, almost certainly Sunday

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

- We have both Easter Sunday and Mother's Day, two of the worst drawing days for football.
- We only play two games against Melbourne sides at home on a Saturday, and one of those is at Etihad
- We only have home games against two 'big' Victorian clubs
- We play ten (probably 11) games on a Sunday; of those, eight are home games.
- We play three 'primetime' games, of which only one is a home game.
- We play seven of our eleven home games against interstate sides.

**** Vlad.

Financially maybe but if you guys were up and about that's a dream run!

 

[Wonaeamirri33]

Looks like a dream draw to me - the problem is we are too rubbish to take advantage and get a few wins/build some momentum.

Exactly right mate. s**t, when I first saw this draw last year, I thought we might even have some kind of chance to make the finals this season.

 

[Blackas87]

I reckon the AFL gave us an easy run to get a few wins to get the members and supporters excited, sadly the team is not up to scratch

 

[Wickzki]

- We have both Easter Sunday and Mother's Day, two of the worst drawing days for football.
- We only play two games against Melbourne sides at home on a Saturday, and one of those is at Etihad
- We only have home games against two 'big' Victorian clubs
- We play ten (probably 11) games on a Sunday; of those, eight are home games.
- We play three 'primetime' games, of which only one is a home game.
- We play seven of our eleven home games against interstate sides.

**** Vlad.

MELBOURNE:

"This a good fixture for Melbourne people. The club starts the year with 12 of its first 14 games at our home, the MCG," chief executive Cameron Schwab said.

"The fixture does however present some commercial challenges for the club, with six of our home games at the MCG being against interstate clubs.

"Playing a home game against North Melbourne at Etihad isn’t ideal for our members and it is our stated, clear preference not to play home games at Etihad Stadium.”

http://www.news.com.au/sport/afl/se...fls-2013-fixture/story-fnelctok-1226507384623

From all of that the only two concerns that your club had were the number of interstate clubs playing you at the MCG and the North Melbourne home game at Etihad Stadium.

Though your home prime time game is against the Western Bulldogs... Not exactly an enticing night for football and it possibly wont even be aired free to air as the Geelong Vs Fremantle game is on at Skilled Stadium at the same time.

 

[wowlace]

Exactly right mate. s**t, when I first saw this draw last year, I thought we might even have some kind of chance to make the finals this season.

Oh Wona :-(

Seriously, I actually like Sunday games even though the twilight ones are tough to get motivated for.

 

[CTHORANGE]

I'm with you Striker. Different policies apply depending on how much money your club can make the AFL. It's a business blah blah, bulls*#% I say.

 

[Logger]

It's a horrible off-field draw but a very generous on-field one. Given our state at the moment, we're more likely to post a profit than a win against a non-expansion side so I think it's probably fair enough that (if you accept the fixture should be compromised, which it's almost impossible to avoid) the AFL do what they did. how many sides get both an easy draw and a financially helpful one?

 

[Cudi_420]

TBH I see the fixture as the league's attempt at letting the team win as many games early up, and overall, as possible.

Port at MCG they were expected to win
Brisbane is always winnable these days
GWS
GC

Even West Coast at home.

It's not much of a crowd-drawing fixture but on-field it has its benefits.

The club really has itself to blame for such low exposure and crap timeslots.

 

[RandB]

Essentially we see our draw as a corporate nightmare year in year out. The AFL see us as a corporate nightmare year in year out.

Nothing changes unless you make it change.

We don't have to be a 50k+ member club to get exposure but not resembling a car crash on field would help. People literally can't watch us these days. We watch but we have a hard time not dry-reaching. A genuine problem which the AFL is trying to mitigate as best possible through less prime-time and more optimal match ups.

 

[CTHORANGE]

Essentially we see our draw as a corporate nightmare year in year out. The AFL see us as a corporate nightmare year in year out.

Nothing changes unless you make it change.

We don't have to be a 50k+ member club to get exposure but not resembling a car crash on field would help. People literally can't watch us these days. We watch but we have a hard time not dry-reaching. A genuine problem which the AFL is trying to mitigate as best possible through less prime-time and more optimal match ups.

I think there's a wider issue at play here though. I would agree that the top 8 teams from the previous year should get better timeslots and play each other twice the next year, it makes sense, they are going to be more attractive to promote the game. But it shouldn't matter who those teams are, and right now it does matter. Regardless of ladder position or car crash talent, apparently Coll / Carl / Ess have the right to play each other twice every year. Policies like this filter through and affect our fixture in an even more negative way than they should.

When Richmond were a car crash not long ago, they still had decent prime time exposure, that's an example of a policy based on money, not onfield performance / attractiveness. Different rules for different clubs. I know the AFL needs financials, but at the expense of the integrity of the competition? I hope they change their fixture policies sooner rather than later.

 

[Logger]

I think there's a wider issue at play here though. I would agree that the top 8 teams from the previous year should get better timeslots and play each other twice the next year, it makes sense, they are going to be more attractive to promote the game. But it shouldn't matter who those teams are, and right now it does matter. Regardless of ladder position or car crash talent, apparently Coll / Carl / Ess have the right to play each other twice every year. Policies like this filter through and affect our fixture in an even more negative way than they should.

When Richmond were a car crash not long ago, they still had decent prime time exposure, that's an example of a policy based on money, not onfield performance / attractiveness. Different rules for different clubs. I know the AFL needs financials, but at the expense of the integrity of the competition? I hope they change their fixture policies sooner rather than later.

Each club puts it's wishlist in to the AFL before the fixturing is done. I'm guessing Ess/Coll/Carl all have as their top priority "Can we play Coll/Carl/Ess twice, please Mr Demetriou."

Ours would be Queens Birthday against the Pies as a home game, Port up in Darwin and no Etihad games, St Kilda's would have been for a game in NZ, Richmond's would have been to open the season V the Blues again, etc etc etc.

If we ever get to the point of being an on-field powerhouse again, our priorities might just be set a little higher, but for now there's not much we can do.