The stories have been bubbling along over the AFL shutdown period.
It appears that everyone just concedes that it has to happen.
I’m taking about reducing the player numbers and getting rid of all those assistant coaches. That will fix everything, apparently.
But what are we trying to fix? Is it the short-term cash crisis caused by the coronavirus? Or is it the long-term viability of some AFL clubs?
The obvious problem facing the league is the potential shortfall in TV rights this year. But will there be that much of a shortfall if the season gets away in June and we get 17 games and finals?
That is just five lost weeks or about 20 per cent of the season. If the AFL gets 25 per cent less than the expected revenue, does this justify such dramatic changes?
The real question is how is it that one bad season could bankrupt the competition? If this is the case then we need reductions in the current administration, not necessarily players.
(Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)
The long-term viability is a different issue and it involves a number of issues. The reality is that Australia only has 24 million people.
For the AFL to be viable in the long term, the league needs supporters from all over the country, in particular NSW and Queensland.
We don’t have an international competition, so to keep the advertisers funding the game the AFL must be a national competition.
The people who complain about the cost of the financial support the AFL provides to the clubs in the northern states miss this point. This is an investment in the future.
The AFL must have clubs in NSW and Queensland. And if they want full engagement, there must be at least one game played in each state every weekend of the season.
Another key issue not understood in Victoria is that to be a true national competition, at least half the teams need to be located outside Victoria. Why should the non-Victorian sides believe that this is a fair and balanced competition? The unbalanced travel arrangement gives the Victorian clubs an unfair advantage.
A good example is the NRL. Does any Victorian believe that the NRL really want the Melbourne Storm to keep winning grand finals?
The answer is obvious, and harsh. Some Victorian clubs need to merge or fold and new clubs need to be created interstate.
As long as the AFL keep on supporting unprofitable teams in the saturated market of Melbourne, we will never have a national competition
Clubs like the Pies, Tigers, Hawks and Bombers already have a stranglehold on the Melbourne market. For North, Saints and the Dogs to get bigger, they must steal supporters from each other or from the big clubs.
(Photo by Darrian Traynor/Getty Images)
Life for the small clubs in Melbourne is unfair and that is unlikely to change in the future.
Everything has to go right to succeed in the Melbourne market and some of these small clubs have been cursed by history.
The Western Bulldogs – my second favourite team – are trying to sell the red, white and blue British bulldog in the multicultural west of Melbourne.
North are trying to sell the shinboner spirit. How do you sell the idea of being as tough as a kangaroo’s shinbone to today’s kids?
Moving North to Tasmania is not going to help. Add their history of disappointment and you have a two clubs that are really hard to sell. Both of them can’t succeed.
The unfortunate reality is that these clubs need to be merged, repackaged, renamed and focused on their supporter base in the west.
A similar reality faces the Saints and Demons but here the history of Melbourne being the inaugural club makes things much more difficult.
The AFL doesn’t want to reduce the number of teams because this would reduce the broadcast rights. The obvious place for a new team is Perth. The city has nearly two million people and only two clubs.
The Eagles are one of the wealthiest clubs in the AFL so the money is there. Surely one or even two new sides in Perth would work.
To work in Perth, they would need to be new teams, not relocated teams from the east. The new clubs would need to be supported for the immediate short term but in Perth they may become self sufficient.
They certainly won’t become self-sufficient in Melbourne. Imagine four teams in Perth. That is better use of their magnificent stadium. It would also be much more even travel for all clubs.
What about a team in Tasmania? Now that is starting to look like a true national league.
If we have to change, then let’s make sure the change is for the long-term good of the AFL.
Lloyd Malcolm
Guest
An Obvious Solution with Tasmania could be given a Licence any day now, The Most Obscure Options to Merge are……. St. Kilda and North Melbourne Together. Because Both are Small Clubs with Spirodal Histories & Little Success, There clubs would be Scarlet & Black with a Royal Blue Kangaroo.
Michael Smith
Guest
Obviously written by someone from WA, with their usual "WA-aren't-we-special" myopia. Two million people... we are so big and special. Please please please like me, I am from WA. If there were four teams in Perth, I would stop watching footy altogether. I could not stand watching those blow-hard supporters.
Pedro The Fisherman
Roar Rookie
You need to stay closer to the Parklands Rowdy (as opposed to the Burbs).
Rowdy
Roar Rookie
Did you forget WA & SA & Tas & NT are Aussie Rules too! NSW & Qld are 52% Vic, WA & SA are 43% (approx) Yet the AFL get 320k per round And the NRL 120k per round
Rowdy
Roar Rookie
It's Ravioli, Veal Parmigiana territory last time l was there. But that was 7 years ago
Pedro The Fisherman
Roar Rookie
North Adelaide and Prospect could equally be seen as the cucumber sandwich eating heartland. Success has been a bit rare of late though (especially when limited to just 18 players on the ground at any one time).
Naughty's Headband
Roar Rookie
You know it's true...it's good, thanks for asking. I don't miss the cold of Victoria.
Maxy
Roar Rookie
its a tough one pedro ,with you on some points .sides like saints and melbourne havent won a flag since mid 60's thats a bloody long time, a fan might possibly see 1 premiership in there time on the planet if it keeps on that projectory .Everyone plays or watches there teams to win a premiership, we dont play for any other reason .[apart for the money is good but thats a different topic] To me coming second is not good enough.I am a port man living in queensland and cane hear the jungle drums beating down at alberton from here,they are getting louder each night,cant begin to imagine the feelings around those clubs,which leads me to the point ,should 4 teams merge in melbourne and if supporters embraced it they might get success like south melbourne/,sydney fitzroy/lions...success or loyalty?..its a tough one thats for sure
6x6 perkele
Roar Rookie
There it is, creators, custodians, overlords and master's lol how's life in NSW going?
Naughty's Headband
Roar Rookie
That's because the majority of the talent is in Victoria. As the creators and custodians of the game it's in our blood in a way that these interstate ring-ins can never replicate nor appreciate. Victoria is the Zabeel of football factories.
Naughty's Headband
Roar Rookie
Are too
ChuckIt
Roar Rookie
It's very evident that the AFL has still got a long way to go to succeed as a National sport. While it dominates in Victoria they only represent 26% of Australian population. NSW & Qld together make up 52% of Australians. Surely it makes sense to expand the supporter base. The unevenness of teams across Australia, virtually ignoring half of Australia is not a good plan and limits the potential financial benefits. It is time there was a plan to establish AFL as a national competition and I can't understand why AFL supporters wouldn't support this.
Brendon the 1st
Roar Rookie
Adding to that, Norwood is the cucumber sandwich eaters heartland. Unique, nice, still better than Collingwood fans and the increasingly smug Richmond mob :stoked:
Rowdy
Roar Rookie
I hate to say but l agree
Pedro The Fisherman
Roar Rookie
For the life of me I can not understand this fascination with the romantic notion of having an AFL side in Tassie. They do not have the population to support a team at that level and I suspect that they will struggle to generate sufficient sponsorship revenue and a viable supporter base. The Business Model simply will not stack up. I also do not understand the suggestions to relocate the Suns' license to Tassie. Why replace a dubious concept that is based upon growth potential (and an extra televised match) with a dubious concept that has little to no growth potential (but still delivers the additional televised match ... given the GWS experiment is persisted with). We need less teams not more (and Victoria's 10 teams should be the first looked at for cuts). While we are at it, lets make the draw based upon finishing position from the previous year (ie: 1v9th in season opener, 4v6 on Queens Birthday, GF Replay on Anzac Day etc etc). The AFL Draw should not prop up the revenue for selected clubs to the detriment of others.
Pedro The Fisherman
Roar Rookie
Then shift your new Carlton Blues down the Mornington Peninsula and call them ... a small provincial club!
Rowdy
Roar Rookie
I'm not conflating!
Pedro The Fisherman
Roar Rookie
Would hurt Adelaide more than Port. For Port, you either love them or hate them. They have their following which is generally limited to Port Magpie fans and new Power converts. They remain unviable in the national comp due to that lack of broad appeal. There may be a few fans on the edges that would jump to any new side, but not a lot. Port fans are a "unique" group! Adelaide on the other hand has a much bigger following drawn from across the State and from many suburban SANFL clubs (plus new converts and they had a head start on Port in that regard). Any new club in SA at AFL level would likely draw from this supporter base.
Thunder
Guest
It also gets the vast majority of AFL development funds so it should be producing the majority of players.
6x6 perkele
Roar Rookie
Stadium could sell local beer, wine, scotch and gin with cheeses and truffles;)