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There can be no doubt the AFL contributes greatly to the public through various community-based programs.
The AFL has also taken a lead in many important social issues over the years including racism, multiculturalism, drugs and the treatment of women.
Both the AFL and its clubs operate on a non-profit basis, so all the revenue earned is put back into the game, including money spent on various community programs.
However, in the past two decades AFL clubs have looked increasingly towards expanding their revenues in non-football areas, in particular through the use of pokies.
AFL clubs have started purchasing venues and gaming licences to run lucrative enterprises, and pokies revenue for nine Victorian clubs has reached in excess of $100 million.
Carlton, Hawthorn, Collingwood, Geelong and Essendon cashed in on losses of more than $10 million at venues connected to their clubs in 2013.
Last year only five AFL clubs profited without pokies. Carlton made a total profit of just over $500,000 last year. Their pokies business made a profit of $2.7 million.
For anti-poker machine lobbyists critical of the AFL clubs increasing reliance on pokies revenue, it’s not just the amount of revenue they are concerned about but also the areas where AFL clubs are running their venues from.
The western suburbs certainly have never seen so many AFL clubs directly involved in their communities than they have in the past decade.
Essendon runs a venue in the satellite suburb of Melton, Carlton has venues in one of Victoria’s poorest suburbs in Laverton. Hawthorn and Collingwood run venues in Caroline Springs and Geelong in Point Cook.
Are these clubs trying to simply increase their geographical spread to increase support base or they aware that these areas usually spend more on pokies than other areas?
Do the local communities where these venues are located benefit from pokies revenue?
Clubs operated by AFL teams must use a minimum of 8.3 per cent of their revenue to benefit the community to receive a tax break.
However, a loophole in the law allows clubs to claim operating expenses as a community benefit.
Maybe the AFL clubs can take a lesson from their rival code the NRL. NRL clubs, through their Leagues Clubs. have been operating electronic gaming machines since the mid-1950s. For many clubs pokies revenue makes up over 80 per cent of total revenue.
The NRL and its clubs came out in force against pokie reforms, launching an extensive campaign through the media. NRL clubs have for so long relied on pokies revenue that they now cannot see any other alternative.
In 2007 South Sydney’s new owners declared that they would no longer operate pokie machines. A year later members overwhelmingly voted against the banning. In January last year South Sydney announced a multi-million dollar deal with Sydney’s Star City casino, the biggest holder of pokies licences in the country.
The lesson for AFL clubs is as pokies revenue grows it becomes more difficult to consider alternatives and the more precarious its survival may become by relying on one stream of revenue.
AFL clubs should look on their own doorstep. The Sydney Swans do not operate any pokie machines. North Melbourne does not operate pokies venues, yet still posted a $1.2 million profit last year.
The two Western Australian clubs also do not operate pokies, as pokies are banned in their state.
In its 2010 report on gambling, the Productivity Commission stated that data from counselling services indicated that the proportion of people experiencing problems with gaming machines in Western Australia was 22 per cent, as access was confined to one casino.
In NSW, Victoria and Northern Territory this figure was over 75 per cent.
For an organisation that has prided itself on providing leadership in important social issues, it’s going to be a delicate balancing act for the AFL in the next decade.
The last few years has seen the AFL and some of its clubs entering into sponsorship deals with betting organisations. In the next decade as clubs’ revenues further increase from gaming machines it’s going to be difficult for the AFL to defend itself against anti-gambling critics without seeming hypocritical.
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