The AFL 2011 Annual Report

 
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By , 5 Apr 2012 The_Wookie is a Roar Guru

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    The full Annual Report for 2011 has been released by the AFL, and if you’re into that sort of thing, it makes some fascinating reading.

    While much of it is just numbers to many, there are a few tidbits for the AFL supporter who needs things to argue about pointlessly on a rainy day at the pub with friends.

    Attendance
    Total attendance was 7,488,198 – a new record for the AFL. Even though the average was down, the AFL believes this figure is in the top four in the world.

    • NAB Cup 2011 Attendance was 256,342 (up 12 percent on 2010)
    • NAB Challenge attendance was 92,002 (down 4.2 percent)
    • Finals attendance was 614,783 (down 5.6 percent)
    • 2,536,695 attended the MCG (53,972 ave)
    • 1,575,605 attended Etihad (32,825 ave)

    Subiaco, Docklands and the MCG were the only old stadiums to record slight increases. The Gabba had a 30 percent drop, while Manuka also dropped 28 percent.

    Participation
    According to the report, “The Australian Football participation census is compiled annually and measures participants who play in a structured competition of more than six weeks’ duration.”

    Participation numbers were 790,905 in 2011, with 94,412 female participants. The AFL also announced that participation outside Australia reached more than 100,000 for the first time.

    In 2011, 2537 community clubs participated in competitions across Australia each week in 273 leagues. 17,971 school teams competed as well. Andrew Demtriou notes in the chairman’s report that participation in New South Wales was 36,390 in 1998 – today that figure is over 136,000. School football reported the highest growth in 2011.

    • AFL Auskick 167,080
    • Club Football 314,290
    • School Football 304,485
    • Social Football 4690

    Participation by State

    • Vic – 227,428
    • NSW – 136,438
    • Queensland – 133,200
    • WA – 130,482
    • SA – 116,626
    • Tas – 33,295
    • NT – 22,800

    Membership
    AFL record of 650,373, up 5.9 percent on the previous record in 2010. It was still a record even when you exclude Gold Coast members.

    Players

    • Players earnt a total of $164.83 million in 2011, including 9.2 million in Additional Services Agreements and 1.93 million from marketing arrangements.
    • Two players were paid more than a million dollars
    • One player between 900,000 – 1,000,000
    • Four players between $800 – 900k
    • Most players receive between 100-300k per year.

    The draft

    • 164 players were taken across all drafts
    • Victoria – 51 + 29 Rookies
    • South Australia – 17 + 5 Rookies
    • Western Australia – 15 + 8 rookies
    • NSW/ACT – 12 + 7 Rookies
    • Queensland – 5 + 4 Rookies
    • Tasmania – 3 + 1 rookie
    • Northern Territory – 2 + 2 rookies
    • International – 0 + 2 roookies

    Finance
    The AFL total revenue increase by two percent to $343 million with an operating surplus of $234 million and $159 million paid to clubs. As already reported, The AFL made its first net loss in ten years – 23.6 million, due in part to the extra costs for Gold Coast and GWS, as well as a profit share payment of 10 million to the AFLPA.

    Things to note

    • Between 2007 and 2011 the AFL invested more than $240 million in more than 600 local clubs across Australia.
    • The AFL now wholly owns and operates AFL Victoria as of March 2011 (as well as AFL NSW/Q/NT and reports that all AFL operations in NSW, Queensland, NT and Victoria made a profit in 2011. The report does not say what that profit was.

    Gold Coast and GWS funding

    • Extra Gold Coast funding beyond normal club distributions was 16.8 million as it transitioned to the AFL competition.
    • Establishment funding for GWS was $22 million, but it includes the $10 million paid for Skoda stadium.

    Club Funds
    The AFL has allocated $1.1 billion in funding to the clubs over the next five years from 2012-16 (about 52 percent of total funds), including a $144 million Club Future Fund.

    The Club Future Fund, as defined in the Annual Report:”During 2012-16, the Club Future Fund will be invested into the specific needs of each club to improve viability and improve competitiveness. The investment aims to leave a legacy of improved facilities, reduced debt, more and better resources to grow club revenues, more and better resources to improve on-field performance and to compensate for revenue and cost disadvantages that affect a club’s ability to compete.”

    The major beneficiaries of this over the next five years:

    • Western Bulldogs, North Melbourne – 10.2 million
    • Melbourne – 9.1 million
    • St Kilda – 8.9 million
    • Richmond – 8.0 million
    • Port, Sydney, Brisbane – 7.2 million

    The minimum funding for each club is 3.25 million (Geelong, Hawthorn, Adelaide, Gold Coast and GWS). All other clubs recieve 4.25 million.

    The Club Future fund has been specifically tied to funding needs for clubs, including:

    • $30 million for club facility and stadium developments
    • $6 million for debt reduction grants
    • $21 million for new resource to grow memberships and attendances and other fan initiatives.
    • $8 million for achieving a minimum standard in football departments
    • $25 million in subsidies for clubs with poor stadium deals

    Clubs receiving significant funding will have to meet tougher benchmarks and frameworks.

    Media Rights

    • Radio rights for 2012-16: $23.2 million
    • TV and New Media Broadcast rights for 2012-16: $1.253 Billion

    The Financial Report
    Where the money went:

    • 105 million – Base distribution to all clubs
    • 53 million – in other funds to clubs
    • 109 million – AFL operating expenses
    • 21.9 million – AFLPA funds
    • 30.7 million – Game Development Grants
    • 5.06 million – Ground Improvements
    • 0.16 million – AFL Foundation
    • 6.7 million – Facilities development
    • 1.9 million – Strategic partnership
    • 31.6 million – New Markets

    Its important to note that while the AFL made a loss this year, it was in line with predications, and the AFL believes it will generate profits of at least this much in following years.

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