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March 11, 2007
The Money Game
Have you ever listened to the cries of some interstate
“Get rid of the poorer clubs in Vic” ,
“It’s the AFL ,not the VFL and there are too many teams in Vic”
“Why do we have to subsidise clubs in a flooded market”
Today its North Melbourne , sorry Kangaroos. “They are broke they always will be”, so move them to the promised land in Queensland say the experts. Hey Queensland may well be a good area and for the individual wealth of the Roos it may well be the right choice but don’t be under any illusion. Moving the Roos will not remove us of cash strapped clubs. No matter if the Roos move or even merge, no matter if we get 100’s extra millions in TV rights down the track, there will always be a bottom side on the wealth ladder and we there will always be a need to subsidise them.
The subject of enough money is like a “Catch 22” situation. The more money that is generated, the more money that is spent so there is never enough money for the clubs at the bottom. No matter how efficient or streamlined the club, no matter the model they copy, either from other codes/sports or as is the popular thing to do is to attempt to run them along business lines which isn't realistic.
A sporting competition cant really compare to the world of business, not because its weaker but because what we have in the AFL is an artificial environment. Just like Government Authorities that are set up to run because of a percieved public need rather than a business created to make a profit from supplying goods. For example, the routes on which we have public transport. If we tried to make public transport run as lean and as purposeful as a capitalistic business it would supply transport only on routes where there was enough patronage to supply a profit, therefore public transport will always have its fair share of socialistic parameters. The transport supplied is a political balance between supplying a service and trying to run at a reasonable cost. Telstra is another for they subsidise services for the country regions, else they would have to pay exorbitant amounts for the type of services city people get a cheep rate. It gets down to deciding if you want the service because the more business like you are, the more the service dry’s up
In the AFL /VFL and probably every other sporting comp there has always been the strong and the weak, not just on the field but in the bank as well. For most of the time that the VFL had 12 teams, they relied on it being a privilege to play for a VFL side, they kept costs low and they all got by. In those days champion players like Bob Rose finished well before their time to coach/play country football for a lot more money. But after the sixties and the seventies, transfers, brown bags, the 10 year rule and raiding ambitious clubs raised the cost of running the game. The game was growing but the costs were growing quicker and quicker. The cry went up “The comp is trouble”, “the VFL is going to go broke", so change happened.
The Swans to Sydney were the first casualty but eventually in the mid eighties 8 out the 12 clubs were broke. The draft and the cap are introduced and they expand the comp, they brought in WC and Brisbane and on it went until it expanded with the Crows and the Dockers and Port. Playing on Fri night, all day Sat, all day Sunday all over the country. But no matter the amount of the extra dollars pulled in, the costs kept going up. Player payments elevated because they are due a just amount, the staff, the business of running the club, the drafting, all this created a bill of 20M+ a year probably double that for the clubs with cash to spend and each year the costs keep going up as the pressure to be the best compounds the situation. So after all the extra money the comp is now getting compared to decades ago, where are we? We have clubs on top and some struggling. There are those who say the weak clubs are in trouble , the AFL will go broke supporting them and the solution is that they should move, relocate or even merge.
Its one big perpetual spiral because there was not enough money for 12 clubs years ago and there is not enough money for 16 now. Even with TV rights of 150M a year its not enough. With playing games on all days with all the extra streams of revenue, there is not enough. The reason is it’s a bottomless bucket, it’s a pee in the ocean, no matter what the game earns there will always be clubs-some stronger, some weaker and some in trouble. If not controlled, the collective will always try to spend more than they earn, remember nobody ever thinks they will be the ones in the accident but the wreakers are full of wrecked cars. Even if we had an 8 team comp there would be weak and strong, imagine a comp with 4 teams in Vic, 3M people divided into 4 teams, The MCG sold out every weak. How long before the WA team starts asking how can we compete with the numbers in Melbourne, its unfair etc and they would be right.
The thing that all supporters have to accept is there is no pre ordained perfect setup, no secret formula that will prevent some clubs being weaker than others. Every clubs strives to win, this effort raises intensity and the willingness to go the extra. While we want this, it some thing we must protect ourselves from. We must realize that in business, if Coke drives Pepsi out of business then Coke wins, people will still drink a cola and they will drink Coke. In football, its not so. Although we are competitors on the field, we really are all in this together. The AFL is our brand of football.
The strength of the AFL is the diversity born from tribalism and this includes all the Vic clubs. The service that all clubs provide is this diversity, without it we would all be much poor and the comp would lose something.
Control the costs too much and ones kill that competitive edge, the comp becomes a façade and there is no comp, unleash the dog and clubs go broke and there is no comp, Catch 22. I have no answer but less teams , mergers, moves will not solve the problem. Lets say the Roos move to Queensland and they become the strongest side in the AFL it only means the club that was second poorest to the Roos would now be the one under pressure. Moving the Swans has not solved it, merging the Lions has not solved it,introducing teams from WA and SA have not solved it and moving the Roos will not solve it. There will always be poor and there will always be some clubs more comfortable than others. Moves or mergers wont change that, they never have and never will.
Posted by Turbocat at March 11, 2007 11:57 AM
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