Melbourne hopes special event will help slash debt

[Weedster 174]

I get sick of repeating this but a large part of Geelongs debt was written off by its bankers (fact). Geelong are able to tap into an extremely profitable stadium arrangement at home but play high drawings games in Melbourne. Brian Cook is a good adminstrator but in reality it took a whole lot of things to happen including success on field to turn Geelong around.

You are comparing Apples with Oranges.

Going forward the MFC needs to wipe its debt as a starting point. Surely people here realise the effect of interest and rates are rising? We then need assets, one of which will be land at Casey but imagine if we got over the 5 million!!

It's all very well to say the debt demolition strategy lacks imagination but I wonder what your suggestion is? <_< It has worked for St Kilda and Richmond in the past. There is no need to become reliant upon it with proper forward planning.

Well said...we have to start now...time for us to help ourselves...too many knockers on this site I'm afraid :angry:

[Real Demon 232]

We don't need a new Chairman to come in and ask it's members to pay off it's debt.

Paul Gardner could have done this years ago but he was against this plan.

As others have said,it lacks imagination.

If we get into debt in the future,do we just ask our members to wipe the debt again???

If so,what's the point of having an administration?

Geelong were $7 Million in debt and Brian Cook came on board and worked extremely hard and wiped it's debt in 3-4 years.

Geelong didn't expect it's members to pay the price for the previous administration's debt blowout.

If the MFC members pay off the debt,Stynesy looks like a hero for doing what? They could have made me Chairman if that's all it takes!!!

You need to work harder than that Stynesy!!!

It's a fair point............you're right.............we can't ask supporters to bail the club out every 5 or so years when we are nearly on our death bed.

I don't have a problem with Stynes coming in, and asking all stakeholders in the MFC to contrubute to wipe the debt, and give his administration a clean slate to work with.

But after that, it's time that long term plans are put in place to make the club profitable, and self sustainable. This yoyo effect with the clubs finances cannot be allowed to keep happening. I know it's not an easy task, but it's not impossible.

Stynes and him team know this, and know that clearing the debt is only the first step in our revival. I have to say, it's impressive that they have convinved Foxtel to cough up $100k to help the club................what's in it for them??????????

[deanox 9,927]

i still believe that if the club is debt free it will have money to spend on making money rather than money to spend on intrest bills. if we can clear a large slab of the debt, we might be able to convince the afl to kick in the CBF for another year which would then be used to either clear the debt completely or to purchase assets that would make us money. hotels, pokies, shares, property etc are all ways we can make money. unfortunately you need to spend money to buy these assets in the first place.

fwiw we made a couple of bad decision (ie the faukner club i believe) which we acquired but were then denied the pokie licence. we need to ensure that whatever buisness decisions we make now, we are spot on. some good decisions over the next 2-3 years could really set us up for a good future, or they could spell the end for us.

[titan_uranus 25,020]

Whatever, you want to call it, its going to be a non tax deductible donation to MFC. The raffle just gives you some chance at a prize. Just give direct if you hate raffles.

Exactly. Think of the cost of the raffle ticket as a donation to the club, only there's a possible prize for donating. A raffle has, and always will be, a method of making money. It gets people to make 'donations' that they might otherwise not make.

[beelzebub 23,378]

There is no doubt we made some less than admirable decisions, indeed on some occasions they were complicated and exasperated byother mitigating circumstances but that doesnt really absolve various persons from taking the rap !!

Make no mistake..what is killing us now is interest..infact interest ON interest just like anyone who has debt. Its all about cashflows. If they are going into non productive areas then you are slowly going down the gurgler. If you can use them to build with, thenyou are getting somewhere. Given that we have even been able to make some steps towards paying off debt to date shows we can do things, we just need to get to the starting line.

The MFC will get to play the 'joker' only once. Jimma has put it on the table and the rest of the hand will now play itself out. If we pull it off we ought to be ok.. If it falls in a heap ..well thats it !!

[52k2 0]

i have posted this idea before but i have done alot of thinking and this can work.

first a membership gets you into the club but an organised ongoing donation gets YOU OWNERSHIP of the club. the simple idea isnt a few coming up with x amount [wont say no to it though] but the many[us] coming up with the small amount reguarly[monthly]

i repeat just $10 a month every month by direct debit organised by the club, every month like clockwork $10, $10, well you have the idea. its us our club so its up to us.

if the club comes on board it can be announced before the last game by NITA on the ground with the microphone and highlights of this year on the scoreboard[no sound] for background vocals i suggest 1998 CD every heart beats true-disc 1 tune 1.

dees supporters its up to us and the good thing about this idea is its ongoing even after the debt is paid off an ongoing asset.

next wednesday as i will be in town i am going down to the G and submit this to the club.

would you like to see no more sold homegames go interstate bugger me if i do, watching the PJ rundown on TV wouldnt be half as good as seeing it in your face as we saw it?

remember EVERY HEART BEATS TRUE lets show 'cant lose this election kennett' and ill put an afl team on mars-A.D. that we aint begun to fight and gat your gribby hand off of our club.

just 2 cups of coffee a month just $10 each and every.

EVERY HEART BEATS TRUE.

[The Emblem 1]

I had a quick word with the marketing and communications manager.

A lot of the ideas coming from demonlanders are well received, both in terms of merit and spirit.

Come October there is a possibility of a 2020 type summit that some supporters may be able to participate in.

[Jumping Jack Clennett 1,799]

I find the plan to beg supporters to reach into their pockets( again) a trifle worrying. On the surface , it does seem a simplistic approach, with the downside being that there's probably only ONE opportunity to utilise this "Save-our-Skins"tactic. i.e., even if we get the 5m. in a month,we're headed for doom with no way out if we can't raise our sponsorship revenue.

Look at it in perspective....it costs 25 to 30 million a year to run an Afl Club . Saving $500,000 a year interest helps, but within a year or two we could be looking down the barrel again if we're not clever, and this time we WON'T be able to have a desperate, last-chance call on benefactors.

So the question is.....Is the situation now so desperate that we have to "play our last Ace"?

But it looks like the current admin. have decided now's the time. So I guess we all have to go at it "full-bore".

On the upside , Jimmy does seem to have raised the interest levels of dormant supporters.The team's poor performances can be tolerated more with the prospect of good draft picks in a good year for recruiting , and a new coach who's beginning to show he knows how to develop young players....i.e. there appears to be some solid grounds for optimism on-field. Perhaps this means it's a good time to capitalise on the momentum of optimism, and go for it.

[Yencks 8]

http://bigpondvideo.com/AFLTV/65651

[Wolfmother 182]

I find the plan to beg supporters to reach into their pockets( again) a trifle worrying. On the surface , it does seem a simplistic approach, with the downside being that there's probably only ONE opportunity to utilise this "Save-our-Skins"tactic. i.e., even if we get the 5m. in a month,we're headed for doom with no way out if we can't raise our sponsorship revenue.

Look at it in perspective....it costs 25 to 30 million a year to run an Afl Club . Saving $500,000 a year interest helps, but within a year or two we could be looking down the barrel again if we're not clever, and this time we WON'T be able to have a desperate, last-chance call on benefactors.

So the question is.....Is the situation now so desperate that we have to "play our last Ace"?

But it looks like the current admin. have decided now's the time. So I guess we all have to go at it "full-bore".

On the upside , Jimmy does seem to have raised the interest levels of dormant supporters.The team's poor performances can be tolerated more with the prospect of good draft picks in a good year for recruiting , and a new coach who's beginning to show he knows how to develop young players....i.e. there appears to be some solid grounds for optimism on-field. Perhaps this means it's a good time to capitalise on the momentum of optimism, and go for it.

Although I'm glad they made the plea to the members and finally said 'our club is struggling' as I believe most people thought we would be okay....

But I agree with the comments... we were only 2-2.5 mil in debt at the start of the year it has blown out by 3 mil because of running costs this year..... That's not interest of 500k??? so where are we going to find the extra 3 mil we have spent this season

[deanox 9,927]

Although I'm glad they made the plea to the members and finally said 'our club is struggling' as I believe most people thought we would be okay....

But I agree with the comments... we were only 2-2.5 mil in debt at the start of the year it has blown out by 3 mil because of running costs this year..... That's not interest of 500k??? so where are we going to find the extra 3 mil we have spent this season

we werent 2 mil in debt at the start of the year. it was more than that. PG was saying it would be around 4, stynes has said it is more like 4.5 - 5. im not sure the exact figure.

[Wolfmother 182]

Over the last few seaons they have inform us that they have reduce the debt to a range of 2-2.5mil.... PG has come out at the start of this year and told us the debt would be 4mil... but what happened to the reduction that has occurred???

[Wolfmother 182]

Just found the article by whispering jack written in March which states:

The Club has recorded four consecutive years of profit and has reduced debt by over 50% from $5.5m to $2.7m since 2004.

http://demonland.ugbox.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=9347

Not sure where he got the figures but that was my understanding as well.... So how did we blow out 2.3mil... it can't be because of interest

[Rogue 585]

Not sure where he got the figures but that was my understanding as well.... So how did we blow out 2.3mil... it can't be because of interest

We've had a huge loss this year.

[deanox 9,927]

wow i stand corrected.

is it a million loss last year and similar again this year that has caused the blow out?

[Rogue 585]

is it a million loss last year and similar again this year that has caused the blow out?

It's a huge loss this year.

[Cards13 9,117]

Well said...we have to start now...time for us to help ourselves...too many knockers on this site I'm afraid :angry:

I don't think he was knocking, he was stating fact. While Geelong was in a very different situation, it is similar. We need long term strategies to not allow us as a club to be continually loosing millions of dollars every year. It is fine to ask the members to help wipe off our debt but we can't afford to throw money into a sinking ship.

What are the strategies going forward to make sure we do not have to be in this siuation again is a valid response.

[Rogue 585]

It is fine to ask the members to help wipe off our debt but we can't afford to throw money into a sinking ship.

What are the strategies going forward to make sure we do not have to be in this siuation again is a valid response.

Yeah, valid response.

[Cards13 9,117]

Yeah, valid response.

I'm sure they have some ideas already and are working on others but it would be interesting to see what they are asking the big donors for and what stragies they have.

Don't be fooled by Foxtel, while it is great they will go $$ for $$ up to $100,000... I'm sure that money is coming out marketing budget.... they will be getting a fair bit of publicity from this now and going forward...

[Jumping Jack Clennett 1,799]

[quote name='Cards13'

"Don't be fooled by Foxtel",

Cards, the reason a sponsor contributes financially is to make its brand name more familiar. So we're not being"fooled" if that's their motive for dubbing in. I say..."Keep it up!!"

[Cards13 9,117]

[quote name='Cards13'

"Don't be fooled by Foxtel",

Cards, the reason a sponsor contributes financially is to make its brand name more familiar. So we're not being"fooled" if that's their motive for dubbing in. I say..."Keep it up!!"

Oh so do I JJC, so do I and I hope more companies jump on board too but people thinking they are doing out of the goodness of there hearts would be incorrect.

It was interesting reading seeing Miller saying the players realise they have to work hard to help the club out as well. Hopefully more than just winning games.

Go Dees!

[Jumping Jack Clennett 1,799]

The lack of interest from Demonlanders in this thread fills me with pessimism for the success of the fund-raising.

To me it's the make or break. Our leaders have decided that the situation has become so desperate , it's time to pull on the purse-strings of the faithful who'ver been as generous as possible for years and years. If this doesn't work.....what's next?

[45HG 1,539]

JJC, i agree with you in part, but it is hard for every supporter to jump on board every single charity event or idea.

I think the hardest part of fundraising is in practically getting people to pay.

I think this happens because a lot of people have the attitude that "my little bit won't make a difference" which is very closely tied to the "if i knew that a thousand members would donate, then i would too" philosophy.

Somehow this needs to be eradicated, and i think (as many have already stated) that this can only be achieved by reaching EVERY member.

People must feel empowered to know that not only is their donation useful, but it is also a part of a large group of change

[Roost It 1,434]

JJC, i agree with you in part, but it is hard for every supporter to jump on board every single charity event or idea.

I think the hardest part of fundraising is in practically getting people to pay.

I think this happens because a lot of people have the attitude that "my little bit won't make a difference" which is very closely tied to the "if i knew that a thousand members would donate, then i would too" philosophy.

Somehow this needs to be eradicated, and i think (as many have already stated) that this can only be achieved by reaching EVERY member.

People must feel empowered to know that not only is their donation useful, but it is also a part of a large group of change

I think you'll find the letter that is to be sent to every member and ex member after the DDDinner in August will get almost everyone chipping in. It's the only way forward. Imagine if as a club we can raise half or more of the money. It'll give us a big boost going into the preseason. I'm still thinking that the club know's someone who is going to wait until the end of August and then chip in a grand sum. It's just a huntch but there's been a few rumours flying.So let's all chip in and take this club forward.

[deesrock 0]

I hope the club is taking into account that a percentage of our members are children.

I don't mind pitching in my $100.00 or whatever but I pay for my 4 kids to be members too - I would suddenly have to pitch in $500.00.

Like many others in this thread, I want to know what plans are in force for this situation not to crop up again in a few years time. We can't simply sit back and expect people to donate all the time.

Asking members for money is nothing new - look at the tin rattlers out at Western Oval. OK the Doggies aren't one of the Powerhouses of the AFL but their members rallied behind the club when it seemed about to fold. Mind you.....didn't work for Fitzroy, did it?