Training facilities upgrade

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Where they got the money from is an interesting question. The new facility will probably come with naming rights but that can't be worth too much. Perhaps the Lions have been given a significant donation by somebody.
 

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From the article on the Lions website:

"The Lions have also undertaken a number of focus groups involving members over the past month as part of the Club’s review of current offerings."

Oh hell, the focus groups have been consulted again. I hope its not the same focus group that Bowers and Kelly cobbled together for the Paddlepop fiasco.
 
adey115 said:
From the article on the Lions website:

"The Lions have also undertaken a number of focus groups involving members over the past month as part of the Club’s review of current offerings."

Oh hell, the focus groups have been consulted again. I hope its not the same focus group that Bowers and Kelly cobbled together for the Paddlepop fiasco.
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I am certain the member/supporter input on the Members' Charter, that many here contributed to, would be the primary focus group.
 
adey115 said:
From the article on the Lions website:

"The Lions have also undertaken a number of focus groups involving members over the past month as part of the Club’s review of current offerings."

Oh hell, the focus groups have been consulted again. I hope its not the same focus group that Bowers and Kelly cobbled together for the Paddlepop fiasco.
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I got 'hand picked' for a membership survey recently, as did a friend of mine so perhaps there is more consultation going on.
 
GabbaGirl said:
I got 'hand picked' for a membership survey recently, as did a friend of mine so perhaps there is more consultation going on.
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Oooh - and you said you didn't win the lottery! :p

What did they ask?
 
Re: New Lions Den?

Personally I would like to see them develop top shelf facilities that could be shared with the Roar and maybe the new NRL Bombers franchise. Spread the cost that way and more likely to get funding going forward from a variety of organisations.
 
Re: New Lions Den?

Quigley said:
Personally I would like to see them develop top shelf facilities that could be shared with the Roar and maybe the new NRL Bombers franchise. Spread the cost that way and more likely to get funding going forward from a variety of organisations.
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Good call Quigs. Probably a bit early for the Bombers, given that their existence isn't guaranteed but the Roar are a possibility.

The other way to do it is to find a couple of lesser known sports that require facilities and who have a bit of pull in government.
 
Re: New Lions Den?

POBT said:
The other way to do it is to find a couple of lesser known sports that require facilities and who have a bit of pull in government.
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Cricket?







*ducks*
 

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GingerGreatness said:
Oooh - and you said you didn't win the lottery! :p

What did they ask?
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Haha well it would appear I didn't win the shop voucher they were offering -mind you, that could have something to do with my answer that I wouldn't be buying any merchandise with the paddle pop on it! :eek:

Ok so they asked a bunch of things and I really wish now I had kept more note of it!

Some of the things I can remember are along the lines of:
How long have you been a member
How likely are you to renew next year
Why did you join? (multiple choice)
How important are the things you get as a member - eg lanyard, hat/scarf, guest passes, voting rights etc
Some questions about match day experience - ie the stuff in the park, Lions TV I do remember them asking if I liked the music after the goals!
Do you have merchandise and how much are you likely to spend on it
There might have been something about my level of knowledge of the game and whether I felt I had learnt stuff by watching live but I could be making that up!
There were questions about communication from the club and if it had improved and I think if I use the website and social media.

I have to head out now but will see if I can remember more... :)
 
I did the same survey. Didn't realise it was not for all members to fill out. Have done pretty much the same survey the last few years... wonder if it's always been on a "selected" basis! Weird!
 
POBT said:
It is great news but geez $30M seems like a lot of money to make a football side more competitive. Don't get me wrong - the expenditure is necessary but the fact remains that $30M is a big budget item for a football club.

There is a culture of "race to the top" in terms of football spending amongst AFL clubs. No-one aims for "adequate" - "state of the art" is the minimum benchmark. Unfortunately, with the direct correlation between football dept spend and positive results, there is a genuine motivation for spending this sort of cash.

But I query - is it sustainable for clubs to keep reaching in terms of their expenditure? I mean, what if Collingwoodspend $100M on their next upgrade, just because they can? All of a sudden, our "state of the art" facility is middle of the pack. Once other clubs replicate the big spenders, we're back down the bottom, necessitating us to match the expenditure of the big clubs. We look like we can afford $30M but where is the next development in footy spend going to take us?

I know that there will be a point of saturation - where the expenditure has a marginal impact on footy results. The sooner we get there, the better in my view. Because, I am starting to get a little concerned that clubs are going to start to over-reach their financial capacity because the industry demands "state of the art". I am sure the Board has done its homework on this project but I'd love to see a levelling out of expenditure, as opposed to the race to the top mentality that exists. Unfortunately, the experiences in the US and Europe suggests that we have some way to go to reach that levelling out stage.
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I agree with this analysis. It also applies to football department spending in general. Where will it stop?

Any way you cut it, the poor clubs like the Lions are worse off and that is going to continue to be the case and it could get worse given the huge disparity in financial outcomes (Collingwood with 70k members vs. us with 20k = how the hell can we ever possibly compete???).

The only slight ray of light is that there must be decreasing marginal returns to football department spending. Although we haven't got there yet. Just look at the current fitness of Collingwood players to play out a game vs. everyone else.

What are the AFL going to do about this race to the top on facilities and football department spending - there is no way they can keep bankrolling it given the huge cost pressures they now face (with half the comp losing money; two new teams having to be substantially propped up for at least the next decade and the Players Association's huge wage claim). I am very surprised that they are helping rich clubs like Essendon at all.
 
jackess said:
Where they got the money from is an interesting question. The new facility will probably come with naming rights but that can't be worth too much. Perhaps the Lions have been given a significant donation by somebody.
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TheBrownDog said:
The AFL clearly has our back in this. We are being rewarded for smiling politely while the AFL set up a competitor down the road.
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At least we have acknowledged this is an important issue. However, it is going to be incredibly hard for us to find funding for a $30m completely new state of the art facility

After reading the article and what is on our website, the issue of where the money will come from is not clear at all.

I have read a bit about the Bomber's new $30m facilities that they are going to build.
http://www.bigfooty.com/forum/showthread.php?t=850659
Their money is apparently going to come from:
- $10m from the Club itself through donations, corporate sponsorship, etc.
- $5m from debt
- $6m from the Federal Government, with the facility being used for the Australian Paralympic Committee as well
http://www.billshorten.com.au/press/index.cfm?Fuseaction=pressreleases_full&ID=2370
- $4m from the State Government - which has not committed to this funding; and
- $5m from the AFL (as the residual that I have worked out)

But how could the Lions possibly match that $30m of funding?
- we would be lucky to raise $3m from members and corporate sponsorship
- I am unsure of our ability to go into debt given we are already running at a substantial loss year after year;
- will the State and Federal Government's offer us anything given the comparative lack of popularity of the AFL in Queensland? Obviously it would have to be tied to co-locating some community facilities like it has been elsewhere. Perhaps we could get $5m at a stretch;
- even if the AFL put in double what they are for the Bombers = $10m, that would still leave a substantial short fall.

And as I said before, the AFL are about to find themselves in a situation of huge cost pressures despite the record TV rights deals:
- Port, Brisbane, Sydney, North, Bulldogs, Melbourne, Gold Coast, GWS will all need to be subsidised - and in some cases very substantially - virtually on an ongoing basis until they are very successful onfield. (Let alone clubs like Adelaide - who the AFL are giving extra funding as part of the Adelaide oval deal; or the likes of St.Kilda and Richmond who are hardly rich)
- obviously Gold Coast and GWS will need to be propped up considerably for quite a number of years (Gold Coast only had 11k match day members this year, next year it won't be much more, GWS will be even lower. Compare that to the top clubs??? It is unsustainable without huge ongoing assistance)
- the Players Association huge wage claims which could eat up all of the extra money already allocated by the AFL for GWS and Gold Coast
- and finally, funding Club facility upgrades
 
Obviously $$ is the big issue, but the way i've read it so far is that it could cost upto 30m depending on if we go and set up and entirely new place or just redevelop somewhere. I think this decision is going to be largely influenced by who we can get to approve and pay for what.

This quote ("We want to have the No.1 training and administration centre, that also caters for community needs, not just in the AFL but any code in the country.") says to me that they will be looking at the Government to cover a big chunk as it will be used for a lot more than an AFL team. This is how they will get around this being an AFL facility which isn't important in QLD.

It's a big figure, but i think they can make it happen.
 
A few things in this thread are surprising me...

First, i'm not sure how a project like this wouldn't cost upwards of 20 to 30 million. Real estate prices in our capital cities is insane. Labour costs, contractors, analysts, design in Australia all come at a massive cost. There is no cheap option in this.

Secondly, Brisbane don't have a choice in this. They can't afford NOT to upgrade. AFL clubs cannot fall behind in these areas, despite the costs. They will go into further debt, but the consequences for being behind the 8-ball in these areas are disastrous. Whatever the supposed benefits of these better facilities, equipment, etc are to clubs, whether it's 3% to 10% extra fitness, , injury recovery (collingwood anyone?) or whatever, Brisbane need to spend these bucks that they don't have or risk falling behind.
 
Re: New Lions Den?

whatboutbob said:
Cricket?







*ducks*
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You know this isn't as out there as it sounds.

Albion park which has been guessed at as a base for the proposed Brisbane Bombers would be a likely target. If the bombers got the go ahead not only would they be able to share the facilities and space but also Allan Border field and the CA centre of excellence is right next door.

A combined effort between CA, QLD cricket, Lions and the new Brisbane Bombers could certainly turn that entire precinct into a multisport venue for the three organisations, with separate cricket, afl and league fields and a pretty massive combined training and admin centres.

certainly has the space for it and with the three codes combining would no doubt entice a fair bit from the state and possibly federal govt as well.

Could in theory get the roar there too or the firebirds but may be a little too many people and facilities to put in there. Borthers Junior rugby league is right there next to it as well, enable them to use some facilities or a slight upgrade as well, further enhances the community aspect.

off the top of my head the other spot i can think of is the murrarie recreational ground on wynnum road. massive amount of space doing absolutely nothing at the moment, an admin centre and field would barely take up half of it.
 
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