Prediction Will the AFL’s richest clubs form a coalition

[AsterixTheGaul]

Is this the end for the VaFL as we know it? In times of crisis, the rich get richer.

Herald Sun with Michael Warner leading with an article

No Cookies | Herald Sun

No Cookies

www.heraldsun.com.au

It's on a pay wall but here is a taster and the flavour:-

Five of footy’s richest clubs have held talks amid fears they could be forced to shoulder the burden of the industry’s mega cost cuts.
Collingwood, West Coast, Richmond, Hawthorn and Essendon have formed a loose coalition ahead of a proposed post-COVID reshaping of the AFL’s equalisation system.

The gang of five want the AFL to guarantee annual distributions for all clubs equivalent to the full salary cap next year and beyond - and not just to the competition’s cash-strapped teams, as has been the position over the last decade.

Gillon McLachlan informed club chiefs that there were competing arguments around cash distributions during the tense meeting. Picture: Michael Willson/AFL Photos

The league believes its capacity to pay dividends equal to total player payments will depend on the outcome of pay negotiations with the AFL Players’ Association set to reach a climax next week.

The AFL wants player wages to fall from $14.5 million per club next season to no more than $12 million.


Are we likely to see this addressed for a change in the AFL?
Will we finally see the strugglers in Victoria forced to merge or go for good.
Can St Kilda, Doggies, Norf and Melbourne justify their franchise status?
Will we see GWS and Suns continue with massive bleeding?

The Vic centric nature of the competition is holding us back.



My favourite is to have 12 teams - 6 in VicTas, 2 in each of WA and SA, and 1 each in Qld and NSW with it being a fair competition where we play each other twice in H&A?

Vic
Collingwood
Carlton and Norf merger (might as well follow up on John Elliot's idea in the 90's)
Essendon and Doggies merger
Hawthorn and Saints merger (might as well since Hawks taking over Dingley)
Richmond and Melbourne
Geelong

 

[Here2tellyouwhy]

 

[kane249]

Good luck with the 12 teams in the comp.

Expect a lot of cries if some of those Victorian welfare teams have to merge or fold

 

[DanWCE]

One of the Swans head honchos was throwing some weight around saying good businesses review every 5 years or so and the AFL haven't reviewed in 27 years. He suggests with the fluidity of 2020 and how dynamic the comp has had to become, they should take that momentum and look at all aspects of the business, including things like fair fixtures.

I don't mind it. Feels like the tide is turning a little bit. Can't wait to get the Vic slanted opinions shoved down my throat as they fight it every step of the way.

 

[KERRPOW]

Dont bother with the merging, just fold 2 of the poor beggar vic teams.

saints & norf.

 

[Altum Volantes]

Good.

This league is built to survive not prosper - and there is no real incentive to being a well run business - you get less and have to curb your spending in the name of ‘equalisation’.

The best thing we can do is align with the strong clubs and use that power to stop being treated like the cash reserve that props up the rest of the clubs.

 

[Monocle]

One of the Swans head honchos was throwing some weight around saying good businesses review every 5 years or so and the AFL haven't reviewed in 27 years. He suggests with the fluidity of 2020 and how dynamic the comp has had to become, they should take that momentum and look at all aspects of the business, including things like fair fixtures.

I don't mind it. Feels like the tide is turning a little bit. Can't wait to get the Vic slanted opinions shoved down my throat as they fight it every step of the way.

That was their Chairman Andrew Pridham.






Pridham has been a very vocal and outspoken critic of what he calls " the excessive voice of Melbourne Clubs ".
Not a big fan of Eddie Everywhere and the Collingwood influence at AFL House.




He want's and has called for an Independent Review of:

• AFL Competition
• The AFL Commission
• Second Tier Competitions
• AFL Management
• The AFL Players Association
• Media Deals
• Player Agents
• Fixturing

While his proposal is extreme, it's IMO not without merit.

Economically the current model is financially unsustainable with the Covid-19 economic woes the AFL are facing.

 

[JohnW]

Relegate a couple of the vic teams to the vfl and give them the right to win into the pool of the vic based afl teams.

Worst vic based team can be relegated or something

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

 

[ziad]

That was their Chairman Andrew Pridham.



View attachment 986807


Pridham has been a very vocal and outspoken critic of what he calls " the excessive voice of Melbourne Clubs ".
Not a big fan of Eddie Everywhere and the Collingwood influence at AFL House.

View attachment 986810


He want's and has called for an Independent Review of:

• AFL Competition
• The AFL Commission
• Second Tier Competitions
• AFL Management
• The AFL Players Association
• Media Deals
• Player Agents
• Fixturing

While his proposal is extreme, it's IMO not without merit.

Economically the current model is financially unsustainable with the Covid-19 economic woes the AFL are facing.

The AFL will never support this as the outcomes are so obvious. The Vic culture is one of cover up and mates rates and the AFL is right in trhe middle of it

 

[Nuke Fremantle]

AFL's biggest priortiy, as always, is their media deal. They will do almost anything to keep 9 games a week on television and therefore 18 teams in the comp.

 

[06Premiers]

AFL's biggest priortiy, as always, is their media deal. They will do almost anything to keep 9 games a week on television and therefore 18 teams in the comp.

Ok then, let's Nuke Fremantle and replace them with the Beagles.
Won't fix much but will make me happier!

 

[Yamumluvsbigcox]

Relegate a couple of the vic teams to the vfl and give them the right to win into the pool of the vic based afl teams.

Worst vic based team can be relegated or something

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

That would basically kill any vic based team that was relegated.

I like it

 

[Yamumluvsbigcox]

AFL's biggest priortiy, as always, is their media deal. They will do almost anything to keep 9 games a week on television and therefore 18 teams in the comp.

Yep they want all these teams because it makes the afl money yet they make the richer clubs pay for it and call it equalisation

 

[Dale Doback]

Jeff Kennet was on one of Sam Newman's podcasts recently talking about the AFL Commission. He was pointing out, rightfully so as Hawthorn president, how the commission has zero accountability to the clubs or the football public as they have never, ever, since the AFL commission was created after the VFL, produced a profit and loss statement. No evidence to prove how many 100s of millions of league revenue was lost creating Demetriou's expansion teams.

They have no accountability to any of the clubs at all. And they are unchallenged because they hold the team licensing rights including names and colours for all clubs bar 2. Don Scott pointed that out to Kennet who agreed. A massive club like Hawthorn's operating licence is technically owned by the AFL. The clubs are snookered.

The SANFL caved in with Port's and Adelaide's licences to get some money for the Adelaide Oval upgrade so they're screwed. West Coast and Fremantle football clubs are the only team licenses still owned by an external party, the WA Football Commission. That's why they wanted to take our licences before they would give us any money towards Perth Stadium. The state government wisely resisted.

What it means is that as long as we have 9 out of 18 teams that are broke/insolvent living year to year on AFL handouts, the league holds the upper hand and will remain unchallenged at a commission level. And they guaranteed that when they introduced Gold Coast and GWS. Those two, added to Brisbane, Sydney, Western Bulldogs, Melbourne, North Melbourne, St Kilda and currently Carlton, means the broke clubs hold sway.

They all rely on AFL welfare to exist, so they're in no position to raise a voice with the clubs operating on a profit year in year out, who might question how the league spends its revenue. The league needs a massive shakeup. Clarity around expenditure vs revenue. Kennet said exactly that. I'm no Conservative, Kennet's a w***er, but as a former small businesses operator and club treasurer it's obvious what needs to happen.

 

[Wedgetailed Westerner]

Agreed, get funding from Twiggy or another wealthy person and all teams should agree to move away from the AFL and start another comp.
Then have either CLub presidents or CEO's as the members of the comp commission

 

[Jupes]

AFL's biggest priortiy, as always, is their media deal. They will do almost anything to keep 9 games a week on television and therefore 18 teams in the comp.

my idea is to cull a few minnows down to a 14 team comp and make a 26 round season where you play everyone home and away. that'd come out to 182 games per season vs the current 198. a 16 game shortfall. i believe a full curtain raiser ressies comp could generate enough revenue in their own 182 game season to make up that 16 game shortfall.

 

[Yamumluvsbigcox]

my idea is to cull a few minnows down to a 14 team comp and make a 26 round season where you play everyone home and away. that'd come out to 182 games per season vs the current 198. a 16 game shortfall. i believe a full curtain raiser ressies comp could generate enough revenue in their own 182 game season to make up that 16 game shortfall.

26 games + finals is a bloody lot of football .

 

[Jupes]

26 games + finals is a bloody lot of football .

yep it is. a full extra month. and would require a total reworking of the trade and free agency landscape, list sizes and management etc. you'd need a free agent pool you could sign top up players on very short term contracts (like 3-5 games) to plug list holes.
if we're looking at a 12 club, 22 round comp that's a 66 game shortfall compared to what we have now and probably a bridge too far.

 

[WCE_phil]

yep it is. a full extra month. and would require a total reworking of the trade and free agency landscape, list sizes and management etc. you'd need a free agent pool you could sign top up players on very short term contracts (like 3-5 games) to plug list holes.
if we're looking at a 12 club, 22 round comp that's a 66 game shortfall compared to what we have now and probably a bridge too far.

If you drop 4 clubs you drop 160+ players. If clubs had lists of 50 with 5 rookies it wouldn't matter. Same amount of players on lists, just much better depth. Would also allow teams to play ready to go men whilst their younger players developed and only got games on merit.

 

[ukurrie]

The AFL will never support this as the outcomes are so obvious. The Vic culture is one of cover up and mates rates and the AFL is right in trhe middle of it

The AFL will never support it, true.

But it's got nothing to do with "Vic culture", whatever that is supposed to mean.

 

[WCErevival]

If you drop 4 clubs you drop 160+ players. If clubs had lists of 50 with 5 rookies it wouldn't matter. Same amount of players on lists, just much better depth. Would also allow teams to play ready to go men whilst their younger players developed and only got games on merit.

The 55th player on a team would never have a chance of playing.

 

[kranky al]

outstanding!!


lets move ahead with this please

 

[WCE_phil]

The 55th player on a team would never have a chance of playing.

Teams would be able to have a best 22, developed players up to list spot 30, 10 juniors coming through the ranks and space for project players. Would also allow all sides to field a reserves team.

 

[dinnaz]

IMO it was the correct call to have footy each week in NSW & QLD, they are 2 of the larger states and I think in the long run will prove to be viable. The AFL should have relocated North as was originally planned!
Clubs should be run properly as a business and if not- see ya later. Relocation seems better than merging or folding. Imagine the absolute chaos of forming 4 super teams in the short term future :O

 

[dinnaz]

Teams would be able to have a best 22, developed players up to list spot 30, 10 juniors coming through the ranks and space for project players. Would also allow all sides to field a reserves team.

We would all love to see a national reserves but doing the maths, for interstate teams it would be another 1 mill in flights alone on top of player payments, staffing etc and still require plundering the WAFL for top up players.