Who's afraid of the AFL, asks Titans boss Michael Searle

[intentcity]

The word from an insider at a major accounting firm who do the books for the AFL suggests they are in deep financial trouble hence the desperate publicity at any cost.

Spending top dollar to diminishing your product into a circus is a bad move.

yep your right, the AFL is going broke, record crowd figures, record TV deals, record club memberships, the game is in an awfull state (pardon the pun), the 200 mill they put aside for the new teams is nothing more than a last ditch attempt to avoid going belly up.:crazy:the sky is falling the sky is falling.

 

[Big Mick]

The AFL is nowhere near going broke.

Having reviewed the financial reports for all sports that are displayed on their websites, there is no way the AFL are broke.

They have millions in reserves. They are fine.

 

[Rockin Ronny]

The AFL is nowhere near going broke.

Having reviewed the financial reports for all sports that are displayed on their websites, there is no way the AFL are broke.

They have millions in reserves. They are fine.

The AFL is in a very powerful position.
They have clubs with minimum 30,000 members paying $200-300 per annum. They have big sposnorship deals with many major Australian companies. They have genuine AFL-loving business people behind club management. They have 30,000 plus people to every game!

Most important - they are not owned by a media company meaning they spend revenue on their game and get decent TV rights deals.

So - let's drop the crap about the AFL. They didn't sell out to News Limited. We did. And that's why our game has been ripped off over the last 11 years.

 

[El Diablo]

The AFL is nowhere near going broke.

Having reviewed the financial reports for all sports that are displayed on their websites, there is no way the AFL are broke.

They have millions in reserves. They are fine.

that's what Lehman brothers said too http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2007/dec/14/creditcrunch.useconomy

Chris O'Meara, the bank's global head of risk management, said: "Although we have not emerged unscathed from the recent market turmoil, we believe we have done a good job in managing our risks."

 

[Noa]

The AFL is in a very powerful position.
They have clubs with minimum 30,000 members paying $200-300 per annum. They have big sposnorship deals with many major Australian companies. They have genuine AFL-loving business people behind club management. They have 30,000 plus people to every game!

Most important - they are not owned by a media company meaning they spend revenue on their game and get decent TV rights deals.

So - let's drop the crap about the AFL. They didn't sell out to News Limited. We did. And that's why our game has been ripped off over the last 11 years.

Not quite, e.g of Essendons 40,000 "members" around 15, 000 are full season paying, the rest is made up of things like 3 game or 5 game packs, pet memberships, non-game memberships etc.

 

[Mad Fish]

Not quite, e.g of Essendons 40,000 "members" around 15, 000 are full season paying, the rest is made up of things like 3 game or 5 game packs, pet memberships, non-game memberships etc.

The AFL do not count pet memberships and non-game day memberships, so while their maybe 15,000 members who have 22 game memberships, the rest is most likely made up of others like 11 or 17 game memberships.

 

[intentcity]

The AFL do not count pet memberships and non-game day memberships, so while their maybe 15,000 members who have 22 game memberships, the rest is most likely made up of others like 11 or 17 game memberships.

i thought they did.

also, AFL clubs give memberships to sponsers, not sure how many though.

 

[Lockyer4President!]

Solid points, but Brisbane only won 3 straight. Plus from what I believe the Lions have formed a reasonably solid supporter base in QLD?

Would they be the biggest club in QLD behind the league clubs? In terms of support?

Also, to Queensland dwellers, what would be the order of support for the codes other than Rugby League which is obviously number 1?

The codes are RL > Daylight > The rest.

The Lions basically live off NRL scraps (sponsors, etc) and they have had trouble selling their corporate boxes ever since they stopped winning premierships (they were still having ads for them late last year lol). That's not a problem the Broncos have ever had and even the Reds, mired in their own filth as cellar dwellers, have never had that problem afaik.

AFL in QLD is on life support from expats (their kids grow up supporting RL). Which is why people think this GC AFL stunt is a bit of a laugh as it'll just cut into the Lions following and decrease the support for them even further. Their CEO has even come out and said this a few times but apparently the ego of certain AFL admin figures doesn't want to listen to the few sane voices in the game.

 

[Mad Fish]

i thought they did.

also, AFL clubs give memberships to sponsers, not sure how many though.

The clubs do, but I believe the AFL does not, this is why often the AFL membership tally for clubs will be lower than what a club has on its own website.

This year is the first year the AFL are counting 3 game memberships in official totals, hence the dramatic rise in membership numbers for some clubs. Collingwood in particular, has sold around 10k 3 game memberships.

The real gauge of an AFL clubs support is how much revenue they make off their memberships though.

 

[intentcity]

The codes are RL > Daylight > The rest.

The Lions basically live off NRL scraps (sponsors, etc) and they have had trouble selling their corporate boxes ever since they stopped winning premierships (they were still having ads for them late last year lol). That's not a problem the Broncos have ever had and even the Reds, mired in their own filth as cellar dwellers, have never had that problem afaik.

AFL in QLD is on life support from expats (their kids grow up supporting RL). Which is why people think this GC AFL stunt is a bit of a laugh as it'll just cut into the Lions following and decrease the support for them even further. Their CEO has even come out and said this a few times but apparently the ego of certain AFL admin figures doesn't want to listen to the few sane voices in the game.

oh dear.

 

[Lockyer4President!]

oh dear.

You can always visit sunny Brisbane sometime and see it for yourself. That's if you ever leave your house and take a break from posting about AFL on a RL forum ;-)

 

[taipan]

i dont watch the offsiders no, but i do read the papers, and if these journos do bag league they rarely put pen to paper if you get my drift.

If you don't watch the Offsiders you fail to get the message.These people usually 4 AFLers on deck and the odd occasion a token rl supporter,continually rip into rl and the NRL and play down AFL incidents.
It is not a case of if these journos bag rl ,They do.You suggest they rarely bag league as they rarely put pen to paper on the subject.You must subscribe to the NY Times or the Washington post..:roll:
Do you listen to the electronic media and AFL shows and Melbourne based comedy shows.Apparently not.When the opportunity arises they serve it up to rl.
Yes there is AFL bashing here,just as there is rl bashing on Big F.....the weighting of media against rl is greater in melbourne than the reverse in sydney.ch9(the supposed rl station) actually leads in with AFL news at 4-30pm weekdays.

 

[$$Poor Boy Blues$$]

that's what Lehman brothers said too http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2007/dec/14/creditcrunch.useconomy

thats right

its not how much you have.....its how much you can keep

I see a LOT of spending from afl in the next few years.

IF they are so good, then why have at least 1 of their clubs at any one time (and often 2) been close to bankruptcy?

They might have more money than us, but dont think they are royalty with endless reserves.
Even Royals need to rein it in.

And thats from clubs with 30k members, etc.

Kangaroos, port adelaide, one of the wa teams.....lets not forget fitzroy.

Money is money, but you dont have any if you spend it. The AFLs two new teams = black holes.

It all evens out. Dont be scared of them. Their road is hard too.

 

[Big Mick]

Another case on QandA last night.

Sheedy saying that AFL EXCLUSIVELY care of the community...and led in community development.

I'm sorry, but that is garbage.

And then the labour minister answered the question of "What do you think of Rugby League"..."oh you know I like AFL"...what the f**k.

Every single agenda out there is ridiculous.

What the f**k does Sheedy have to do with Foreign policy, does he want more boat people to come in so he can recruit them.

He talks about there being 100 contracted players in AFL of indigenous decent.

Sorry Kevin, that's really diverse, so out of squads of 60 that AFL have, with what...18 teams?...they have 100 players. Congrats.

In the NRL, we'd have about 15-20% indigenous, and about 40% Polynesian.

Who is the more diverse league?

 

[trudge]

The indigenous and islanders in RL also get to ply their skills in the UK.

 

[Rockin Ronny]

thats right

its not how much you have.....its how much you can keep

I see a LOT of spending from afl in the next few years.

IF they are so good, then why have at least 1 of their clubs at any one time (and often 2) been close to bankruptcy?

They might have more money than us, but dont think they are royalty with endless reserves.
Even Royals need to rein it in.

And thats from clubs with 30k members, etc.

Kangaroos, port adelaide, one of the wa teams.....lets not forget fitzroy.

Money is money, but you dont have any if you spend it. The AFLs two new teams = black holes.

It all evens out. Dont be scared of them. Their road is hard too.

Pubes

More ignorant rubbish.

The AFL have a massive warchest because they secured decent TV rights deals - and they run their game to benefit the game NOT a media company.

kevin Sheedy said last night that they have $200 million to devote to AFL in Sydney.

Should we be concerned in rugby league? Of course we should. The genius that runs rugby league, David "Murdoch" Gallop won't commit to expansion and wants to maintain a salary cap that is a joke in professional sport. the last Tv rights deal deprived the game of significant cash to expand and better itself. The next shining light genius of rugby league is Michael "Centre of Excellence" Searle - and we'll know more about this in weeks to come.

Paranoia serves no purpose. But simply stating "we have no fear" is just plain dumb.

 

[Big Mick]

Pubes
kevin Sheedy said last night that they have $200 million to devote to AFL in Sydney.

Good.

If I was premier I'd say good...fork over $45m to redevelop Sydney Showground. Otherwise f**k off and play out of ANZ.

Don't care if if it doesn't look good. I'm not wasting another $45m on a code that has just lied to the people of NSW and to the Government.

The Government had already committed $30m to the code's development in Blacktown of which there isn't a firm community committment because the project may be abandoned as well as playing games far out of the way in Homebush.

 

[Rockin Ronny]

Good.

If I was premier I'd say good...fork over $45m to redevelop Sydney Showground. Otherwise f**k off and play out of ANZ.

Don't care if if it doesn't look good. I'm not wasting another $45m on a code that has just lied to the people of NSW and to the Government.

The Government had already committed $30m to the code's development in Blacktown of which there isn't a firm community committment because the project may be abandoned as well as playing games far out of the way in Homebush.

In the NSW Government, it's not called "lying", it's called "doing business".

 

[Mad Fish]

Kangaroos, port adelaide, one of the wa teams.....lets not forget fitzroy.

Money is money, but you dont have any if you spend it. The AFLs two new teams = black holes.

It all evens out. Dont be scared of them. Their road is hard too.

Sorry if your meaning that either Fremantle or West Coast are in debt then I will have to correct you, they are extremely sound clubs financially. West Coast in particular make million dollar profits each year despite having to pay to WAFL something around $2mil a year.

 

[Brutus]

Absolute unadulterated crap.I have read and listened to enough anti rl crap over the years by Victorian media,and AFL people to fill a sporting libarary.
Well I will refresh your memory.Watch the AFL mob on TV and their staright out bagging of rl.Hird,Healey,Walls,Lynch.Caro you are joking,you either don't watch the Offsiders or if you do choose to ignore her anti rl comments for convenience sake.Read Patrick Smith continually bagging the NRL.Read the AFL journos in Sydney ,that have the odd shot at NRL in Sydney papers.
You still don't get it,the NRL didn't poach leading AFL players.NRL journos thus have a duty to return serve.
Rose coloured glasses sale now on.

And imagine what the AFL mob down south would be like if the NRL was muscling in on Melbourne the same way the AFL/GWS is in Sydney.

"NRL signs Bobby Frankenstein for 2nd Melb team"

"Gabby Tablett takes 7mill to sniff bums"

It would be hysteria 24 hrs a day.