Struggling clubs hit jackpot

[jasopan]

http://www.afl.com.au/news/newsarticle/tabid/208/newsid/124148/default.aspx

A huge plus for us :D
Thoughts anyone?

[GVGjr]

Great news. The footy department will benefit greatly by this.

[LostDoggy]

Sounds all good to me !

[bornadog]

The money can be used for a number of things including debt reduction. I hope we spend the lot on the footy department.

[GVGjr]

The money can be used for a number of things including debt reduction. I hope we spend the lot on the footy department.

We need to plan to spend most of it on the footy department because if we fall back then it will just impact other revenue streams.
A List Manager (already funded?), additional resources in the recruiting department and a specialist coach or two would be money well spent.

[LostDoggy]

Spend some of the money ala Collingwood (employee someone to search for grey areas in the rules to exploit).
Last year it was shepparding the man on the mark, this year practically molest the backman trying to spoil in the goal square.

[G-Mo77]

Spend some of the money ala Collingwood (employee someone to search for grey areas in the rules to exploit).
Last year it was shepparding the man on the mark, this year practically molest the backman trying to spoil in the goal square.

They stopped doing that? Every time I see that long haired toe rag O'Brien near a guy on a mark he's there waiting to pick him off. It shouldn't be happening.

[Topdog]

They stopped doing that? Every time I see that long haired toe rag O'Brien near a guy on a mark he's there waiting to pick him off. It shouldn't be happening.

No but other clubs have cottoned onto it.

[Evel]

Excellent news. I have to admit that over the last few years the afl have made a solid effort to look after clubs like the dogs. We may get no favors in the fixture etc, but this announcement at least attempts to further compensate the club for these inequalities.

[w3design]

Sounds very good for us and all clubs in general. Well done AFL .

[Remi Moses]

Apparently the Big Boys are peeved at the distribution.
Do they want a fair dinkum even comp , or do they want a two tier lopsided one?
Are we going to have a pseudo even comp ? Do we want to go down the path of other major sports?

[Evel]

Apparently the Big Boys are peeved at the distribution.
Do they want a fair dinkum even comp , or do they want a two tier lopsided one?
Are we going to have a pseudo even comp ? Do we want to go down the path of other major sports?

Not surprising the big clubs are complaining. My response would be when they start playing in Perth twice in 5 weeks on a consistent basis, travel to Geelong, give up ANZAC day for themselves and give clubs like the Dogs and Roos greater share of the prime time timeslots and do it for 20 years then maybe we'll share the compensation with them.

[LostDoggy]

I remember it happening, but can someone remind me again why Marko is taking the toss? It wasn't indigenous rnd was it?

[Hotdog60]

I remember it happening, but can someone remind me again why Marko is taking the toss? It wasn't indigenous rnd was it?

Wasn't it the multi-cultural round.

[Throughandthrough]

We need to plan to spend most of it on the footy department because if we fall back then it will just impact other revenue streams.
A List Manager (already funded?), additional resources in the recruiting department and a specialist coach or two would be money well spent.


Wouldnt it make more sense to clear the debts, and then channell the money that was going into debt repayments (P & I) straight into Footy?

[GVGjr]

Wouldnt it make more sense to clear the debts, and then channell the money that was going into debt repayments (P & I) straight into Footy?

Clearing debt is already being worked on and even if we moved the money into clearing debt we would still have debt and also an under resourced footy department.
If we don't become competitive on the field quickly we will have the added burden of a reduced membership base.

[1eyedog]

We must spend the money cloning Kelvin Templeton pre-ACL as soon as possible.

[stefoid]

Wouldnt it make more sense to clear the debts, and then channell the money that was going into debt repayments (P & I) straight into Footy?

I agree. That seems more sustainable, and I reckon you are forced to make more considered better financial decisions when you havent got a big bag of it to splash around all at once.

Id look at putting a bit more into recruitment and physical prep/recovery, however.

[Maddog37]

I think the AFL will give sow strong hints as to where we should apportion the funds. Debt reduction would be top of my list depending on the rate the funds are borrowed at.

[azabob]

I think the AFL will give sow strong hints as to where we should apportion the funds. Debt reduction would be top of my list depending on the rate the funds are borrowed at.


Clearing debt is already being worked on and even if we moved the money into clearing debt we would still have debt and also an under resourced footy department.
If we don't become competitive on the field quickly we will have the added burden of a reduced membership base.


We need to plan to spend most of it on the footy department because if we fall back then it will just impact other revenue streams.
A List Manager (already funded?), additional resources in the recruiting department and a specialist coach or two would be money well spent.

Disagree Maddog 37. I think GVGjr sums it up where the money should be spent.

[Throughandthrough]

Lets say we are paying $750 k pa on debt repayments.

Clearing debt = $750k pa we can spend next year and every year (in theory).

Its the gift that keeps on giving.

[bornadog]

Lets say we are paying $750 k pa on debt repayments.

Clearing debt = $750k pa we can spend next year and every year (in theory).

Its the gift that keeps on giving.

We have not been paying off the debt (ie pre the Bulldoze campaign), we were barely paying the interest bill, ie $500k pa.

[Rocco Jones]

Spend some of the money ala Collingwood (employee someone to search for grey areas in the rules to exploit).
Last year it was shepparding the man on the mark, this year practically molest the backman trying to spoil in the goal square.

So true. I went to the Hawks vs Pies game. The Pies were like footy groupies in the way they handled Gibson.

[Prince Imperial]

Looking at the AFL presentation to the media it indicates that whilst we are predicted to break even financially this year we have close to a $10 million cash debt - see slide 8 of the link below. If this is the case we have by the far the highest debt of any club.

I wondered how this could be given our cash debt last financial report was around the $5m and we have erased about a $1m of it through the Bulldoze the Debt campaign. However we did purchase the Penisula Club in Dromana and associated gaming machine entitlements and we were due to pay for a large number of gaming machine entitlements for Edgewater and Club Leeds (to the tune of $4m) so I can understand how it may have risen to these levels.

Of course, these assets should hopefully give us the ability to repay this debt but I don't think we should underestimate the task. I'm pleased we will be spending more on our football department and our adminstration (though we should be paying our playing group relatively less). However, I still think a significant proportion of the extra $630k we will be receiving each year should go to the debt especially if the Wilkie poker machine changes get through.

http://mm.afl.com.au/portals/0/2011/finals/club_funding_presentation_260911.pdf

[ledge]

We have not been paying off the debt (ie pre the Bulldoze campaign), we were barely paying the interest bill, ie $500k pa.

Actually its interesting because if the bank knows we are getting a load of money havent they got the right to say oi pay up?
And what right has the AFL got to to say to the banks oh no its going on the football side of things?

[bornadog]

Actually its interesting because if the bank knows we are getting a load of money havent they got the right to say oi pay up?
And what right has the AFL got to to say to the banks oh no its going on the football side of things?

Paying back the bank is determined by the terms and conditions of the loan.

[BulldogBelle]

Apparently the Big Boys are peeved at the distribution.
Do they want a fair dinkum even comp , or do they want a two tier lopsided one?
Are we going to have a pseudo even comp ? Do we want to go down the path of other major sports?

Kennett was having a bitch about it on radio today including is in a group of clubs who haven't 'worked hard' to improve their lot......... :mad:

[Greystache]

Actually its interesting because if the bank knows we are getting a load of money havent they got the right to say oi pay up?
And what right has the AFL got to to say to the banks oh no its going on the football side of things?

The last thing a bank wants is a loan to be repayed as quickly as possible. The bank wouldn't even consider demanding immediate repayment, they're in the business of making money from interest charges on money loaned. With the knowledge the Bulldogs have additonal funding the bank is more likely to offer an increased line of credit than to demand payment.

[chef]

We have not been paying off the debt (ie pre the Bulldoze campaign), we were barely paying the interest bill, ie $500k pa.

So we are burning $500,000 a year?

[bornadog]

So we are burning $500,000 a year?

Thats why the debt reduction campaign needs to continue so that this money can be used for other needs.

[stefoid]

We are spending $500K a year interest on a $10mil loan, yet we are breaking even each year.

Get rid of half the debt with $5mil, save $250K in interest a year and we are a slightly profitable club.

From that situation, we can improve year on year, instead of going backwards. baby steps...

[Studentlib]

The cynic in me surfaces whenever the AFL with hand on heart, talk about ensuring the future of struggling clubs. To my mind this poisoned chalice is about ensuring 9 games of footy for tv rights. Nothing more. If it was truly a socialist paradigm (as richer clubs bang on about) there is a range of options available to it, some alluded to in previous replies, that would materially improve future prospects for smaller clubs. Better protection from poaching, better drafting provisions, fairer scheduling, more free to air coverage etc. These things are well known. Bottom line is: smaller clubs = poorer clubs = unsuccessful clubs. All this will do is keep clubs breathing but never truly competitive , ala English soccer.

To quote Demetriou "As long as they operate within their means it shouldn't be an issue. But they do know that if there is any material shift to what has been signed on as the plan there will be consequences."
What really depresses me is that the AFL are arrogant enough to boldly, publicly state that basically these clubs aren now controlled by it. Even decisions to sack staff are to be signed off by it before actioning.
And what is in this plan that the club has signed on for to get the money?

[BulldogBelle]

"As long as they operate within their means it shouldn't be an issue"

The funny thing is, if we want to be competitive, we have to stay with +/- 30% of the spending level of the larger clubs - given that we are reliant on AFL welfare, and that we are told to spend within our means, this is unlikely to happen.

Eg clubs that have not won a premiership in the last say 25 years, should be granted draft concessions (eg limit the number of games a father had to have played for a father/son eligibility down to 25 or 50), better scheduling rules, limits on the number of players we could loose to free agency etc

[Remi Moses]

Kennett was having a bitch about it on radio today including is in a group of clubs who haven't 'worked hard' to improve their lot......... :mad:

So what's he implying that North and The Dogs haven't worked hard to "Improve their lot".:rolleyes: The only question is with so many facets of the sport so important these days, do we want a teams competing with an arm tied behind their back? Perfect example is reading that the Pies have 6 full time recruiting staff and we have two. Basically fans in our code want to be able to win the bloody thing, not a widening gap !

[Studentlib]

Exactly. We will go back to the bad old days of being a nursery for developing players only to be ripped off by rich clubs. Free agency, media control over scheduling etc means well established and supported clubs thrive at the expense of lesser clubs. Collingwood's stated ambition to be the Man U of the AFL emphasises this beggar thy neighbour attitude. I can't imagine young people joining up as doggies supporters if they 1) are rarely on primetime free to air tv; 2)don't win games; 4) don't get media coverage regularly.
Surely the AFL don't think that having 4 successful clubs and 14 also rans is a sustainable model long term. So I come back to the AFL cynically drip feeding smaller Melbourne clubs, providing over the top support for new interstate clubs, with a longer term vision of 6 or so big melbourne clubs and 8 strong interstate clubs. Once we have served our purpose viz a viz tv rights over next 5 years, Whither the Bulldogs?

[LostDoggy]

Exactly. We will go back to the bad old days of being a nursery for developing players only to be ripped off by rich clubs. Free agency, media control over scheduling etc means well established and supported clubs thrive at the expense of lesser clubs. Collingwood's stated ambition to be the Man U of the AFL emphasises this beggar thy neighbour attitude. I can't imagine young people joining up as doggies supporters if they 1) are rarely on primetime free to air tv; 2)don't win games; 4) don't get media coverage regularly.
Surely the AFL don't think that having 4 successful clubs and 14 also rans is a sustainable model long term. So I come back to the AFL cynically drip feeding smaller Melbourne clubs, providing over the top support for new interstate clubs, with a longer term vision of 6 or so big melbourne clubs and 8 strong interstate clubs. Once we have served our purpose viz a viz tv rights over next 5 years, Whither the Bulldogs?

The AFL learnt from both Sydney and Fitzroy that simply moving a Melbourne team interstate is not necessarily the answer to national expansion. I think Footscray changing our name to Western and claiming the west of Melbourne as our homeland, rather than just Footscray (in itself a shrinking suburb), was a bright move that should hopefully serve to secure our place in Melbourne.

What the less-wealthy clubs need is time, not just money. We need time and protection to build a list, build a tilt at the flag and then enjoy the success that comes with that. At the moment, any time some young kid wants to be a Dogs supporter s/he has many telling her/him, “Nah, don't go for the Dogs, they haven't won a thing in 60 years.” It's just as damaging as having lesser TV coverage and we're forever trapped in the vicious circle.

Kennett was totally wrong — give the clubs that time and money and they will turn their fortunes around. If the Dogs can get that premiership monkey off our back we'll enjoy the same success Geelong are having.