The 2013 AFL report card

So we’ve concluded yet another AFL season, with many ups and a few downs that overshadowed the highs. Bear with me as we run through the league performance this year, particularly with what the league refers to as its key performance indicators.

Attendances
Theres no question that the AFL remains the premier league in Australia in so far as people going to matches are concerned. The AFL remained the fourth best attended league for average crowds in the world.

An average of 32,163 attended games this year (up from 31,509) – up 2.1% on last year.

The finals were also well attended with an average of 62,004, up 3.3% on last year.

Overall, the league had 6.92 million attendees in 2013, up from 6.7 million in 2012 and the fourth highest on record.

For the expansion teams, Greater Western Sydney’s crowd average continued to drop, down almost 10% on last season as it fell from 10,825 to 9,701 and thus proving just how much work remains to be done there.

On the Gold Coast, crowds rose ever so slightly from 13,645 to 13,907.

For the established sides, founding club Melbourne found itself unsurprisingly down with average crowds dropping by almost 7,000 per game.

Collingwood’s crowds dropped by over 4,000, while Saints crowds also declined by over 3,700.

Despite their year, Essendon’s home crowds actually rose by 1,500.

A rejuvenated Tigers outfit proved to be a crowd pleaser rising more than 9,500 per game over last season, while a resurrected Port Adelaide also climbed out of the abyss averaged more than 7,000 more than the same time last year.

Memberships
As other leagues are discovering memberships are part of the lifeblood of most clubs. 2013 appears to have been a successful year for memberships as only two clubs will report negative growth (Melbourne and St Kilda both dropped more than 2,000 members).

On the whole the leagues memberships rose by 6.88% to 756,717, an increase of more than 48,000 on 2012.

For the expansion teams, both increased their memberships with Gold Coast increasing its members by almost 10% rising to 12,502 from 11,204, while GWS actually outsold its older sibling climbing nearly 20% to 12,681 from 10,241.

For the established clubs, the Swans memberships rose 21.7% giving them the biggest increase for the year.

Essendon were second rising 17.7% as the faithful rallied, while Brisbane made some big gains rising 16%. Other big movers were Port Adelaide and Richmond, both up 12%, while Carlton also experienced double digit growth in the membership department.

Of course, Collingwood remain top of the heap for members with 78,427, while Richmond (60,000) and Hawthorn (63,000) fight it out for second and third. West Coast at 58,000, Essendon at 56,000 and Carlton at 50,000 make up the upper echelon.

It should be noted that figures aren’t final until the AFL annual report is released next March.

TV Ratings
It was a big year for the league when it came to its TV ratings. Total ratings for the year came to 102,000 when adding five city metro ratings to Fox. This equated to a 4.3% rise in metro and Fox combined ratings.

On Foxtel the ratings flattened out after last years meteoric rise, getting a minor bounce up 3.6%, while Seven’s ratings recovered slightly from last years drop up 4.7%.

The AFL and Seven would be a little pleased with ratings recovering in Brisbane where they rose 1.2 million on 2012 (up 40%) and Sydney where they gained over a million viewers on 2012. Gains in Adelaide and Melbourne offset a very small drop in Perth (under 100k over the year).

The grand final rated well for the league, when you consider other figures from similar events with 2.7 million watching in metro areas (the grand final isn’t covered by Fox), and another 900,000 in regional areas. This was down from 2.9 million metro viewers in 2012.

The Fixture
There’s still a number of bewildering issues in the fixture that need to be resolved such as the persistent stand offs with the NRL over ANZ Stadium in Sydney.

The scheduling conflicts with Subiaco in Perth. The somewhat mystifying decision to hold a final in Geelong.

The AFL’s desire to keep a foot in the door at ANZ Stadium means it is continually in conflict come finals time with the NRL who have first use rights at ANZ Stadium should they choose to exercise them.

Throw in the abominable surface and it’s hard to see how the AFL will continue to justify playing matches there when the SCG renovations are complete.

The Swans 2013 derby home game against GWS was played at the SCG and GWS have requested their home game be played at Skoda in 2014.

The State Government of Western Australia have reserved Subiaco for the next three years at a time when one could reasonably expect a final between either of the states AFL sides, with the Dockers premiership window now open and the Eagles never far off the pace.

This is going to come up annually until this issue is done, and the AFL sides will need to finish top four and win in week one of the finals in order to avoid potential disadvantages in week two

The final in Geelong remains a strange decision.

Even Docklands would have been a better option – and was the obvious option after the MCG was filled over all three days of the weekend with finals.

It’s unlikely to happen again unless the stage three developments at Kardinia Park go ahead.

A win for the league was without doubt the 22,000 who showed up to the ANZAC Day clash in Wellington with hotels in the area completely sold out and $8.5 million returned to the local economy.

The Saints recently trumpeted the fact that they have signed a deal to play there on ANZAC Day for the next five years.

Competitive Balance
The fixture remains a blight on the league’s landscape.

An unhappy marriage based entirely on furthering money that will be further used to prop up teams that might no need propping up if the fixture was actually fair.

The number of teams in the league and the number of teams in Melbourne arguably mean that the league cannot ever be truly equal.

However the league has said it’s looking into it.

Results wise, there was less angst over the number of blowouts in 2013, driven in part by a more competitive Gold Coast, and a turnaround by the Bulldogs and Lions towards the end of the year.

Thanks to the Essendon punishment (see below), teams as low as 12th were still in with a shot at the finals right up until the last round which made the end of the season far more exciting than might have usually been the case.

Perhaps theres an argument to be made for increasing the number of teams in the finals series, or the implementation of a wild card series.

Financially, Melbourne and Brisbane remain treading water, with both asking for AFL assistance, and reports suggest that the Saints aren’t going much better.

Port are expected to be marginally better than last year after increases in crowds, members and sponsors, but will likely still generate a loss.

Adelaide’s less than stellar year will probably see them slip into the red as well. Well know soon, as we enter the reporting season for AFL clubs.

Administration
It wasn’t a stellar year for the Commission, with several key decisions leaving the supporters bemused.

The fine against Melbourne for ‘disrepute’ was to many a joke, regardless of the legal reasons behind it, the fact that it came so soon after a decision that Adelaide had not breached the salary cap – but were still fined for ‘disrepute’ – was making the leagues administration a laughing stock.

Then the Essendon thing happened. Leaks flew from HQ like rarely seen before. Demetriou was alluding to – or directly commenting on – things that commissioners generally shouldn’t during an investigation of this nature. The ending left no body satisfied.

Essendon received the largest fine ever levied against a club, as well as draft penalties and the senior coach suspended for 12 months. A raft of officials quit or were fired from the club. The club was dropped from the finals in an unprecedented fashion.

The crime? ‘Disrepute’.

For better or worse the league is coming off looking soft when it comes to punishment.

Conclusion
Overall, despite the Commission fumbling on key decisions, the league looks to be in good shape.

With crowds, memberships and ratings up, the AFL appears more popular than ever.

The equalisation review looks promising and changes to the preseason next year should be interesting to say the least.

Growth in all three categories in New South Wales and Queensland, along with expected growth in participation figures, and the league’s expansion strategy appears to be paying off, although it’s way too early to call it a success.

It is important to note that both clubs in each of NSW and Queensland grew in members, crowds and ratings in 2013.

After all is said and done, I’m giving the league a C grade.

Growth in areas the league is strong in, some improvement, but let down by poor decision making.