A slanging match involving three of the AFL’s highest-profile club presidents has erupted over the league’s plan to narrow the spending gap between rich and poor.
Collingwood president Eddie McGuire has criticised the plan to pump more money into struggling clubs, so they can invest enough in their football departments to be competitive on-field.
McGuire said increasing handouts would leave such clubs too reliant on the AFL “drip” feed and they would be better off “dying on your feet than living on your knees”.
Kennett said that having a high proportion of clubs surviving on handouts was “unsustainable” and made those clubs too frightened to question AFL decisions.
But North Melbourne counterpart James Brayshaw – whose club will be one of the main beneficiaries – hit back angrily, saying helping strugglers will make all clubs better off.
“It’s nice of a couple of the competition fat cats to view their brethren so generously,” Brayshaw said sarcastically of McGuire and Kennett.
“I’m not really sure what Ed and Jeff want. Do they want to end up with a competition where they just play themselves every week?
“I just think it’s a ridiculous premise, to be honest.”
Brayshaw said the financial success of the richer clubs relied heavily on the AFL’s recently-announced $1.25 billion broadcast deal, which would not have occurred without an 18-team competition.
He added the AFL’s increased distributions should not be termed handouts, as they would be conditional on clubs increasing their own revenue sources and supporter numbers.
He said the funding was needed to counter inequities in areas such as the AFL fixture, stadium contracts and match timeslots.
“We can equalise the gate, we can make Friday nights (available for all clubs to) take them in turns, we can make the big nights available to all the clubs one after the other, the marquee days,” Brayshaw said.
“But if we went down that path, you would hear those two start squealing very loudly.”
Brayshaw’s comments came after McGuire compared clubs receiving special AFL assistance to Australia’s indigenous community.
“Have a look at what welfare has done for Aboriginal Australia. It’s been fantastic hasn’t it?” McGuire said on Triple M radio.
“This is what we’re getting with the AFL.
“If you’ve got clubs who think the only way they can prosper is to meekly put their hands out and maybe get a few crumbs off the table of the AFL, they’re never going to fight their way to the top.”
Kennett said the Magpies, Hawks and Geelong – the AFL’s three most recent premiers – had all been close to extinction within the past 15 years, but had fought their own way out with good business models.
“Unfortunately, for a number of years now, many of those businesses have not been run successfully enough to be sustainable, independent of the mother ship, which is the AFL,” he said of less successful rivals.
Kennett expected at least half the AFL’s clubs would receive special assistance next season.
“The chances of them rebounding financially in the next five years is very limited. So we do have an underlying issue. It’s a question of sustainability.”
yournewbestmate
Roar Rookie
This is a very accurate article, I think this is becoming a real problem in AFL. Anyone who can't see it is being naive
Matt F
Guest
I don't think the strugglers are doing nothing. Unlike other industries you can't just steal customers away by charging less for tickets (or something else along those lines.) Sport, whilst continually being integrated with the professional/corporate world is still very unique. Though I can see why the bigger clubs are upset, the bigger picture is that if the league ends up becoming one where only 3-4 clubs can actually win it and the poorer clubs continuously finishing down the bottom then the poorer clubs will most likely lose supporters and revenue which will mean they might fold. This will mean fewer teams therefore fewer games and less TV revenue etc which would mean less interest across the board and less money fr the remaining clubs in the long-term. Of course, it is true that there are probably too many teams in Melbourne which brings relocation into the equation. If a club folds the AFL can always put a new team in a new area but apart from Tasmania and maybe another WA team there don't appear to be too many viable options left (and even those have questions re commercial sustainability.)
Bayman
Guest
Are Eddie and Jeff really saying that some Melbourne teams should just fold and disappear? If so, more power to them. The AFL didn't get the TV rights because there's eighteen teams - they got them because the game is being spread throughout the country, courtesy of the Eagles, Freo, the Crows, Port, Sydney, GWS, the Lions and the Suns. If one or more teams disappeared from Melbourne the rest of the country would not bat an eye - or even notice. It's not surprising that Brayshaw, as the president of a perpetually ailing club, takes an opposite view to Eddie and Jeff. The real surprise is that as a Western Australian, who arrived in Melbourne via South Australia, he really gives a damn.
Shaun
Guest
Thanks FEAF, with you so far. Sooooo, in what business anywhere is there a level playing field? If those clubs work hard to get some extra coin together why should the strugglers get away with sitting back and waiting for a handout?
westie
Guest
I have to agree with James Brayshaw to some extent. The arrogance of McGuire in this issue merely emphasizes why Collingwood are hated so much and Kennett can't keep his gob shut.
Chris
Guest
I have no problem with the AFL assisting clubs in particular situations - e.g. the Suns starting up on the Gold Coast, or GWS in Sydney. But I'm still not sure that there should be nine clubs based in Melbourne. Is that city capable of supporting all of those clubs in a national competition? And is the AFL just shovelling millions of dollars at clubs such as North Melbourne with no hope of success in an overcrowded marketplace? I would rather three of clubs either fold or move to Canberra, Tasmania and (eventually) Darwin - and the AFL provide support for these relocated or new clubs to be competitive in a truly national competition.
Fake ex-AFL fan
Roar Rookie
It can be a bit complicated Shaun, so I'll try to explain. The fact is the AFL as a whole is doing fine. TV rights are sold on a centralised basis (as is the case with most big sporting competitions), meaning that clubs don't directly earn revenue from their most valuable asset - i.e. - the broadcast rights to their matches. The AFL gets the cash then distributes it. So far so even. However this is where the divergence between the rich and poor kicks in. Some clubs, such as Collingwood, West Coast and Hawthorn make multi-million dollar profits on the back of other operating activities such as membership sales, general attendance, merchandise sales etc. Some, such as North Melbourne, Port, Footscray and Melbourne don't. However as Brayshaw points out, the playing field simply isn't even. Those smaller clubs get less TV exposure, leading to less sponsorship revenue, fewer opportunities to grow their support base etc. Over the past decade or so this has led to a vicious or virtuous circle depending on which club we're talking about. Whilst Jeff and Eddie's point about the need for the poorer clubs to develop sustainable business models is valid, the comparison between welfare and AFL handouts is fundamentally unsound. The majority of the AFL's revenue comes from selling the TV rights - which is generated by ALL 18 clubs, not just the Magpies and Hawks. Calling this money a 'handout' is completely incorrect - the money rightfully belongs to the clubs, not to AFL HQ.
The Cattery
Roar Guru
It's the difference between those clubs with $45+ million in annual revenue (Collingwood is at around $70 million per annum revenue), and those clubs around the $30 million mark. That's a lot of trips to Arizona.
Shaun
Guest
I don't understand....I thought that the streets of the AFL were paved with gold...why are there strugglers? Why are clubs struggling or going broke? Surely in the environment where a billion dollar plus TV deal can be signed then AFL clubs shouldn't be struggling????