Along with western Sydney, the Gold Coast has been seen as the go-to market, a growing area that is fertile ground for professional sports competitions.
The land of sun and surf, the Glitter Strip on Queensland’s south-eastern tip was supposed to be the lucrative place of success for Australia’s sports codes.
How wrong that has so far proved to be.
There are, of course, many positive factors about the Gold Coast. It is one of Australia’s fastest-growing cities, with strong interstate migration and a burgeoning population of more than half a million.
It a huge tourism area, pulling in visitors from both overseas and around the country. And it has an enviable climate and lifestyle, devoid of the traffic snarls or close density of other Australian cities, as well as a history of producing world-class athletes. But that’s where the positives stop.
The Gold Coast also has a lot of negatives about it – Queensland’s annual 2010-2011 police report showed it is the state’s crime capital.
In July last year the Queensland Police Union labelled the Gold Coast as Australia’s crime capital.
But the area’s underbelly goes further. Unemployment on the Gold Coast is rife. According to recent data unemployment numbers are growing, though other research disputes this, and unemployment is higher there than the Queensland average. Some reports put the Gold Coast’s unemployment rate at 6.4%, compared to the national rate of 5.2%, and on some parts of the Coast “unemployment is estimated to be as high as 13%”.
Despite it being a kind of mecca for retirees, the Gold Coast also has a large young population. This is estimated as being around 19% of the total population, and its close proximity to the large NSW town of Tweed Heads means there is an overflow.
The Tweed Heads area stretching down to Byron Bay faces a lot of the same issues – high unemployment, restless youth, terrible public transport. There is little for young people to do, and with few job opportunities, some turn to crime, drink and drugs.
But despite all this, a love of sport in the area remains strong. There is an abundance of beaches and fields for the sports mad to follow their passions.
Successful athletes from the Gold Coast (and Tweed area) in recent times include Sam Stosur and Bernard Tomic, Grant Hackett, Sally Pearson, Tommy Oar, James Brown, Sara Carrigan, Ky Hurst, countless NRL players and many, many more.
But this doesn’t mean that professional football, rugby league, AFL and NBL clubs can all prosper on the Coast at the same time. With a large working-class area where cash is tight, unemployment is growing and public transport is woeful, attracting large crowds is always going to be tough. Exorbitant stadium deals hardly help. Just having a rich owner to bankroll the club is not enough. The FFA has found this out the hard way with Clive Palmer.
Success on the Gold Coast needs strong grassroots connections, partnerships with local junior clubs, school programs and affordable ticket prices. It needs support from the local media, especially the Gold Coast Bulletin, and effective marketing. Winning on the field also remains paramount. Even with all that, there are no guarantees.
The news that the Gold Coast Titans are struggling – and could face the axe should come as no surprise. Gold Coast United has been a failure and although a savior may be found, the tough road is only beginning.
Relying on tourists from South East Asia to come to the football regularly is a bit of stretch.
The Gold Coast Suns are being propped up by the AFL’s endless cash coffers. Even with the AFL’s powerful backing, it is still very tough for the Suns. They cannot rely on draft picks, tourists from Victoria coming to games and novelty NRL cross-code players generating interest forever.
The Gold Coast has already seen many sports clubs die over the years. Rugby League’s Giants, Seagulls, Gladiators and Chargers. The NBL’s Cougars and Rollers have also gone under.
The city still has its fair share of top-line sports events with the annual NRL All Stars game, the Magic Millions and Rugby Sevens, not to mention the 2018 Commonwealth Games on the cards. The IndyCars were dropped back in 2008 but there are attempts to revive the event.
Rationalisation and consolidation of the Australian sports market is inevitable. The Gold Coast may be appear to be all golden but it remains a fragile market with hardly the sturdiest foundations.
Any sports body entering the Gold Coast needs to start small, get locals on side, know the city intimately and build slowly, otherwise they are doomed to repeat the failures of the past.
me, I like football
Guest
Ummm.... no they didn't
M-Rod
Guest
Suns were always going to do well with crowds due to the vast numbers of ex-Vic migrants living on the GC. Titans on the other hand need to build brand loyalty by getting more talented RL locals into their top ranks and stop trying to buy a winning team from big name NRL players out of Sydney or wherever... GC is a strong league town and the fact that Titans are looking everywhere but in their own back yard for top-line success is not going unnoticed, especially when, like the theme of the article,a Titan's match is a discretionary spend in a tough economy, and a hard sell for a family spending $80 to support a NRL club that is local in 'name' only...
JVGO
Guest
Whatever turns you on IW. The trouble with the whole Great moments of Administration program is that after all the twists and turns when at the end he's been caught for his crimes and they ask him to reveal why he did it he always says 'I just had to get bigger and I thought screw everything and everyone else'. It's the same every episode. Hardly worth watching really.
The Cattery
Roar Guru
There are good reasons why everyone is after a piece of the Gold Coast. 1. After the five mainland capital cities, it's the next largest population centre, and if there is one thing the AFL and NRL has proved in this country over the course of 100+ years, you go where the people are. 2. Gold Coast shares on important trait with Canberra - internal migration has changed the sporting taste of the population, pretty much over the identical period - while NSWmen were heading to Canberra to swing its tastes to the rugby codes, Southerners were heading to the Gold Coast to swing its tastes towards Australian Football. That last point means the Gold Coast is anyone's, sporting tastes are spread out in all directions. It makes it a bit tougher, that's for sure, but it means it's there for anyone who is prepared to work hard for it. And the AFL has a few advantages. 1. AFL people go to games. 2. That's especially true of retirees, they'll spend their last cent going to the footy, it's the very last thing they give up. 3. Plenty of Southern tourists happy to go to the Gold Coast for a footy trip. All in all, the Suns are well placed to do ok, as we saw in their first season - rock bottom, but still averaged 18k or so in crowds, and turned a profit in their first season.
ItsCalled AussieRules
Roar Rookie
I'd like to see how the AFL arrived at the Suns "profit figure" when they spent 100M setting up the club.
Ian Whitchurch
Guest
Crashy, I'd be glad to see a solid reference on rugby union crowds - my usual go-to site only has League and Australian Rules. In any case ... http://www.theroar.com.au/2011/05/16/tahs-crisis-forum-beware-the-ides-of-may/
Ian Whitchurch
Guest
Kerry, Actually, no. Gold Coast United is Clive Palmer. And thats why a league should only admit clubs who are *clubs*, and who are owned and controlled by their members.
Ian Whitchurch
Guest
JVGO, Sports administration is rather like those yard-eating forwards in league - its boring, its grinding, and it lets all the spectacular things happen. If you dont pay attention to it, you get to whine a lot about how your team, or your code, isnt doing as well as you think it should. Gosh, and who does that passive-aggressive whining so well ? Its a four letter nick, starting with Joint Venture, and then the opposite of Stop.
Timmuh
Roar Guru
Bellerive
Kevin
Guest
Are there any other stadiums in Australia that provide 0. , zilch, nada , SFA in terms of parking ?
JVGO
Guest
I love watching administrators work. It gets me really high too IW. Friday night live Administrators: Demetriou at work, the Gold Coast episode, it's a cracker obviously. I'll have to get it out on DVD. I get a real thrill driving around checking out Coles and Woolworths stores too. Such great business plans! Inspiring stuff.
matt
Guest
Good article. The problem with the gold coast is the same that Las Vegas has in the USA. It is a tourist town, and has a large migrant and seasonal population. Those that do move permanently bring strong club ties to Victorian or NSW teams. All the game administrators see is population growth figures, and want a slice of those numbers, they don't take in to account the fact that they already have these people (or at least some of them). Grass roots is where you get the next generation of fans, that or family ties. A period of consolidation would benefit all codes in Australia. Building stronger clubs (i.e. debt free) in the AFL. Strengthening the NRL independent commission and its powers, AN A-league season without a club folding, or new club. And a super rugby season where developing junior stars come through and bring new blood to the wallabies. All more beneficial to all codes than expansion. The NHL Sun Belt expansion teams should serve as a warning to all.
Swampy
Guest
Gold Coast might have a population of 500k but it so spread and hasn't grown like a normal industrial, trade or business centre. Normal cities grow from the centre outwards. As a result the public infrastructure grows from the centre outwards. You build a stadium near the centre and everyone can get there easily - particularly people knocking off work in the CBD. There is also a concentration of popular bars and restaurants as well as hotels to stay at. It is why Melbourne's stadia work so well and Sydney's (re homebush) doesn't. Now look at the Gold Coast. It is a collection of small beach towns that have merged into one large city. The public infrastructure is ridiculously poor. The only train line is 10km from the main accommodation and area of interest - Surfers. The roads are a maze of upgraded suburban roads. The only freeway is further west than the train line! The Gold Coast has no real business or financial office worker centre (Southport not very significant for a city of half a million) so the majority of 9-5 workers are spread over a 30km strip. The biggest employment industry is the hospitality and service industry where vast numbers of people work Thursday nights, Friday nights and through the weekend. I believe the Titans are way up there in terms of merchandise sales but way down on gate receipts and sponsors (particularly corporate boxes). So regular fans exist but maybe it's just the ability to attend which is the biggest problem -- Comment left via The Roar's iPhone app. Download The Roar's iPhone App in the App Store here.
Crashy
Guest
Ian you are now just lying. Leave the Tahs out of this. The Tahs actually averaged about 23k at home last year. Let it go champ. You sound like a broken record. They are averaging 23.5k this year so far.
Danny Bhoy
Guest
He's talking about when the bears played at Carrara!
Norm
Guest
The Suns get the crowds because it's AFL. Soccer & NRL get lower crowds. That is their problem. Perhaps it will end with just an AFL club? I disagree with the comment that, along with the GC, Western Sydney is the "go-to market". The AFL have formed these 2 clubs because they want to have teams in these 2 areas, currently only served by NRL. The Suns are a catching up on the Bears' establishment 25 years ago, & is long overdue. GWS is an endeavour like nothing else in Australian sport. We shall see in 20 years if it succeeds.
Kerry Taylor
Guest
That's right - and it's a pretty biased response from the Gold Coast Bulletin. I thought the media was supposed to represent it's readers and give fair and unbiased reports. Editors have a right to express personal opinions in their columns, as do readers in letters to the editor etc - "Freedom of Speech", but as a entity a newspaper should put aside it's personal grievances and treat their readers with respect, which I don't feel the Bulletin has. Gold Coast United is NOT Clive Palmer - it's the players and the fans.
stabpass
Guest
I think the GC suns can rely on southern football fans making their way to the GC, for a weekend/holiday week, in a southern winter, they also have quite a good junior grass roots base there, they also have the backing of the Southport football club.
Wal Footrot
Guest
Well the Gold Coast Rugby has a 6 figure debt http://www.goldcoast.com.au/article/2012/03/05/396831_gold-coast-sport.html and the local Grand Final last year was absolutely amateur hour. Lets not forget the 'East Coast Aces' debacle, or the awful Reds crowds when they've taken a game there (albiet when the Reds were spew and before Skilled park)
Ian Whitchurch
Guest
In 1996, the Brisbane Bears averaged a crowd of 18 000 at the Gabba. Thats about 4k better than the Waratahs averaged in NSW last year. http://stats.rleague.com/afl/crowds/1996.html