This must stop.....

[greatwhiteshark]

The game as a whole is a poor cousin to the game I grew up watching and loving.

Heard an interesting comment on the radio after the WAFL grand final that it was great to see 25k Football supporters at a game instead as opposed to the plastic supporters of the AFL which go for entertainment purposes and not for the game or the result.

The AFL is about the place to be seen, go and watch a game at 2pm Saturday arvo and have a look at how many 18-30 year old guys are there who all think they know something about the game and profess they love the game while sipping on their beer and having a bet in the TAB.
How come these guys don't play the game they love??

AFL is entertainment now, it used to be football. Feel good entertainment with a warm and cuddly ending. Everyone's a winner...........blah blah blah.

Like I said it is a poor cousin to the great game called Australian Rules Football which no longer exists.

 

[Last of the Roys]

Here is my take on the AFL:
- it seems to be rapidly growing its revenue / profits, and expanding its market
- but for what purpose?
- what are its ultimate objectives?

I am definitely not someone who thinks profit-seeking is a bad thing for individuals or companies. But that in and of itself is not the goal of the AFL or the Clubs.

The question is, what is the real purpose of the AFL / the Clubs? What is their reason for existing? Is it just to profit-maximise? Squeeze as much money possible out of the game? Pay players as much as possible? Expand to every inch of Australia and ultimately the world? Empire building?

Surely there needs to be a bit more balance. I can understand why the emphasis on corporatisation was brought in given how bad things got in the '80's and '90's for the League and some of the Clubs. But now the overall finances of the League is relatively very good (whilst acknowledging many Clubs still need to be cross subsidised by wealthier ones) - so where does this all end? What is its purpose?

Surely the AFL can afford to forgo some growth in revenue to ensure the historical community involvement / spirit / links are maintained and are not bastardised (which may actual cost the AFL revenue down the track if aussie rules becomes just another sport).

 

[Gaz_Brownlow]

Exactly my point...the AFL is not in the business of business!!! They are mere custodians of the game and are there to ensure a caretaker role for players, clubs and associates (including fans) to facilitate the running of the game. They do not need to sell out to the extent they are.... I think your last point is spot on, the AFL can forgoe exponential growth in the interest of preserving some more important aspects of the game.

 

[western royboy]

Exactly my point...the AFL is not in the business of business!!! They are mere custodians of the game and are there to ensure a caretaker role for players, clubs and associates (including fans) to facilitate the running of the game. They do not need to sell out to the extent they are.... I think your last point is spot on, the AFL can forgoe exponential growth in the interest of preserving some more important aspects of the game.

Agree entirely, maybe they are just raking in as much cash as they can now so that when they have to bail it out for a time they can.

A major advantage is that AFL is not a great TV game, which keeps crowds high.

Crowds are the major problem for every other sport in the company.

 

[SweetLeftFoot]

Plus it's very tacky. Promoting one-arm bandits next?

What kind of monstrous organisation would do such a thing?

http://www.westernbulldogs.com.au/Portals/0/bulldogs_docs/Club Edgewater Brochure.pdf

 

[Gaz_Brownlow]

Haha, yep, definitely a GOOD example of money put to a good cause SLF, and there is no doubt that there are some strong examples. However, at the end of the day, this will be run as another commercial interest - for which you may notice in the plan proposal ' GAMING LOUNGE '....

 

[zero]

1. Gambling. Whilst i love a punt, why do i have to be subjected to a Sportsbet odd's report at every interval during the football? Why do every radio, tv and print outlet feel compelled to list repeated odds for every bet under the sun and why do the AFL allow this?

because it pays.

aussie rules is the richest code in this country, it gives us great licence to pay our players better than anyone else, to funnel money to the grassroots, to promote the game to kids, to upgrade stadiums, to keep ticket prices cheap

everyone just takes these things for granted... they complain about the amount of advertising thats in games and the fact that its all on delay, and you have to pay extra to get it live on fox....

but if we didnt have these things, the game would be alot poorer, and we would be paying a fortune to go see teams play in run down suburban stadiums, and the standard would be alot poorer because the pathway for players would be alot harder and more expensive than it is.

2. Gold Coast and GWS....ok, well fantastic that we can expand. However, do we really need to expand into non-traditional areas that are obviously aimed at media, marketing as opposed to football? These are nothing short of gimmicks and have serious repurcussions to the footballing community. Why should Tasmania be held at bay whilst others line their pockets through their own self-interests?

self interests? what a load of bollocks.

what these teams are is an honest attempt at converting alot of new people onto the game. tasmania (in addition to having a poor and disparate population) is already AFL mad, and it brings noone new to the game to put a side there now

just to be clear, i think tassie should get a team ASAP, but i perfectly understand why the 2.5 million people of the GC and GWS get teams first.

When Gary Ablett announces the inevitable and the game is robbed of the greatest father-son combination that highlights the roots of our game we will all understand what Gold Coast signifies.

oh boo ****ing hoo. as ron barassi will tell you, great players were leaving their clubs long before the gold coast came in with a blank chequebook. your not the first club to lose their best player, and you certainly wont be the last.

3. Can someone please have a look at Demetriou's personal wage? Why should this CEO profit so much from a game that doesn't belong to him? I would suggest that CEO salaries have risen disproportionally under his administration!

oh this old chestnut.

andy d is the head of a billion dollar ship. somehow im not that keen on paying the man in the top job 80 grand a year, thanks very much. we need to have the cream of the crop doing this job, and thats what we can afford.

all these ****ing idiots that seem to think the CEO should get no more than 100 grand a year

for that you will get an accountant who will bankrupt the code and put your precious clubs out of business.

Anyways, this is just a rant, but FFS can't we take some ownership of our game. It is not meant to be a corporate entity and yet it is exactly what its turning out to be. There must be some accountability from the AFL to extend every benefit of the game to the people who support and play it. The grand final ticket shenanigans are just the cherry on top and I just don't understand how they are getting away with this.

and the most misguided and flat out wrong rants i have seen in a long time.

congratulations, your an idiot.

 

[SweetLeftFoot]

Haha, yep, definitely a GOOD example of money put to a good cause SLF, and there is no doubt that there are some strong examples. However, at the end of the day, this will be run as another commercial interest - for which you may notice in the plan proposal ' GAMING LOUNGE '....

In the middle of the worst problem pokie gambling area in the country.

The Dogs can run all the community programs they want. The best way for them to help the local community would be to not have pokies.

FWIW - the Hawthorns and Collingwoods setting up pokie joints in the west is even worse.

 

[zero]

Heard an interesting comment on the radio after the WAFL grand final that it was great to see 25k Football supporters at a game instead as opposed to the plastic supporters of the AFL which go for entertainment purposes and not for the game or the result.

you what?

most of the people that went to the WAFL grand final didnt go to another WAFL game all year. im in that group

but to suggest that the 20000 people who remember that they follow a WAFL side once a year are more "real" supporters than the 35000 that turn up week in and week out to subiaco to watch the worst team in WCs history play miserable football is just ludicrous.

 

[Gaz_Brownlow]

Understand the economic rationale....that is easy to digest; but should it come from an increase in gambling revenue? Why don't the AFL just distribute a few bags of Benny Cousins to the kids and make a profit that way????

The argument is that finanical growth is being exploited at the expense of other interests. The AFL do need to make money, given, and your point about club survival is duly noted, but it should not be at the expense of promoting gambling, hiking up GF corporate packages and introducing crap non-traditional teams. The point about Demetriou is fair enough, you do need to pay him or any other CEO well, but he has been steering the whole direction of the AFL into a commericial beast...the end product being that he has compromised many aspects of the league.

 

[Gaz_Brownlow]

In the middle of the worst problem pokie gambling area in the country.

The Dogs can run all the community programs they want. The best way for them to help the local community would be to not have pokies.

FWIW - the Hawthorns and Collingwoods setting up pokie joints in the west is even worse.

Absolutely agree. Having lived amongst the worst of it in NSW and the many 'gaming lounges' that were propped up via RSL's and Footy Clubs, i can tell you that they serve no good to anyone - aside from the licensed few who control their operation....which tend to be external operators, who give proportions of their profits to the football clubs for the rights to locate their gaming lounges there. Creates a lot of problems....

Not sure what is worse, the fact that these exist or that clubs feel them necessary to survive.

 

[SweetLeftFoot]

Whoever replaces Demetriou will be make him look like a lamb.

It will get worse before it gets better.

But it will get better.

 

[SweetLeftFoot]

Absolutely agree. Having lived amongst the worst of it in NSW and the many 'gaming lounges' that were propped up via RSL's and Footy Clubs, i can tell you that they serve no good to anyone - aside from the licensed few who control their operation....which tend to be external operators, who give proportions of their profits to the football clubs for the rights to locate their gaming lounges there. Creates a lot of problems....

Not sure what is worse, the fact that these exist or that clubs feel them necessary to survive.

According to some rough calculations I did, every Victorian club bar North (we have no pokies for a variety of reasons) causes about $200k in social harm through their operations.

 

[Gaz_Brownlow]

200K is a conservative estimate i would have thought for the one armed bandits....however North must be commended for their approach.

However, whats even worse is the lapse on Gambling this year. I would be interested to see how much revenue the AFL make out of SportsBet, TAB and other agency promotion this year....its absolutely sickening to go to the MCG or Ethiad and to have constant odds flashed at you at every conceivable opportunity. Its even worse when its broadcast on all football coverage and through associated football shows.