Can we stay in the AFL if 2009 is as bad as 2008?

[Wolfmother 182]

I think we will stay at the G and from what I hear it will be a good move... They are going to redevelop the Southern stand with a state of the art Gym and large indoor training area plus it can house our admin area. The MCC 1 Mil includes reduced rent etc. The major problem with this is it lacks a real supporters area/pokies like they have at Windy Hill etc. Training at Goosh Paddock is no big deal as it is a 500m walk all the gear is kept in the brick building there so they can run the training without having to return to the G except for Gym etc etc. (We may get one session a week one the G)

I think from a football department view training at Casey would be much better, we run the area and with the new gym and pool going up it would be great but splitting the club up is the major issue and moving to casey for the admin is unviable because

1. Media issues as stated

2. Melbournes membership department is based out of the Dome which means the membership manager needs to travel one or twice a week to the dome which loses at least three hours per trip out of her work week. That doesn't include travel costs which now need to be factors in

3. Meeting with sponsers etc would most likely occur in the city thus staff are losing viable work time travelling.

4. There is no facilities at Casey to house the staff (although this could be fixed)

5. Even board members stopping at the club, they all work in the city and its easy to finish at 6pm in the city and get to the board meeting at 6.30 but if they have to go to Caesy then they would need to leave at 4:30 (meaning we can lose important board members because of time restraints) Yes the board coudl meet in the city then the admin staff need to get to melbourne see point 3... amongst a whole lot more

Although I don't really have an issue with Melbourne based at Casey because we can't have our way at the G. We need to be a complete club not split which has occured for too long. The commerical world revolves around Melbourne and we need our commerical arm to be near the action which forces the football department to be close to the city.

[Little Goffy 13,598]

Next year we would be doing poorly if we failed to break even due to a couple of short term benefits -

Player payments were close to 100%, including two highly paid veteran status players. Now we are right on the minimum limit (around 92%).

Save approximately 750k.

CEO is now, presumably, stable. Sacking Harris and then MacNamee and then going through the two recruiting rounds is an expensive process, despite Peter Spargo's magnificent effort of filling in as CEO for free while the search for Schwab was on. Throw in the numerous incidental costs of the massive changing of the guard at board level.

Save as much as 500k. (not kidding)

Note that the financial loss for the year included a write down of asset values at the 'associated venues'. This $1mil is not recurring.

I'm not sure exactly what is going on with the Debt Status, presumably it went down to $2mil and has now stepped up again a little? Whatever the exact situation, Debt servicing costs will drop a bit for the future.

Save 100k, as a conservative estimate.

Continued changeover and recrutiment costs of new football department staff (recruting manager, multiple assistant coaches, massive change in fitness and preparation staff) will begin to stabilise as the new panel sets off on it's big adventure together. Also might as well inlcude the costs of negotiating the Casey Fields arrangements, which as we all know has taken a massive amount of effort.

Call it 100k, again conservatively.

The increased funding from AFL/MCC is a significant boost. Discounting the existing funding arrangements, the $2mil is still a big sum.

Let's call it an increase of $1mil, because that gives a nice round number of -

$2.5 million improvement in financial position.

Minus the Waverly funding and other issues as mentioned.

So, we can reasonably expect to hold it steady on the turn next year, with hard work.

Longer term, the club is doing important work. It is already noticable that our media relations have/are improving.

The effort going into Casey Fields is going to be MASSIVE and MASSIVELY WORTH IT over the next few years, for example -

How much difference are things like the Demon Heartland project going to make? Well, if one donation gets ten people in, that is effectively adding one extra person in the crowd to every home game for the season. If 1,000 people donate, there will be 1000 kids at every home game, just through Demon Heartland! How quickly do you think that will start to influence the football culture down in Casey?

Other than that, an extra 4,000 members at this time of year, of which 2,000 are new members, can't be all bad.

At this stage the success/fail for the year off-field hinges on the major sponsor, and starting to build up a collection of minor sponsors.

And, of course, a bit of improvemnt on field wouldn't hurt... At least we know we can't go backwards in that respect.

[John Dee 443]

Note that the financial loss for the year included a write down of asset values at the 'associated venues'. This $1mil is not recurring.

This one is huge. The cynic in me says they wrote off so much to get a nice comfortable loss that would not get people up in arms about the AFL and the MCC chipping in $1M apiece. This write off will not happen again next year which puts us $1M in front before we start.

I have no problem with your other figures, and agree that some are conservative. the proof is going to be in the pudding as they say, but I don't think we are nearly as bad off as some might think.

[montasaurus 0]

This one is huge. The cynic in me says they wrote off so much to get a nice comfortable loss that would not get people up in arms about the AFL and the MCC chipping in $1M apiece. This write off will not happen again next year which puts us $1M in front before we start.

I have no problem with your other figures, and agree that some are conservative. the proof is going to be in the pudding as they say, but I don't think we are nearly as bad off as some might think.

Fair call but the fact we have no major sponsor for me is still a major concern. Also we are still relyant on hand outs to survive be it AFL, MCC or debt demolition. As soon as these issues can be resolved we will be in a much healthier position.

[Little Goffy 13,598]

Yeah, it's not a satisfactory situation, but it can be changed.

We will be viable next year (oops, it's this year now) substanitally because of the AFL/MCC support. So we have that time to set things right.

The sponsor shortage is of course critical, at both the major and minor sponsor levels. Really, with first-rate corporate salesmanship we should be able to get a total of 2 million a year more than we are at the moment (adjust as you see fit for the 'Global Economic Crisis of Doom').

It's the consistent growth in visiblity of the Red and Blue, resilience and community among the supporters, and simply the bulk acquisition of supporters (Hi Casey! You have no idea how happy we are to welcome you!) that are going to make the long-term difference.

And for anyone playing with figures in their heads, I find the round numbers of $10 per attendance and $100 per membership to be a pretty good match for the figures. Although in small crowds each extra person is worth more; as much as double.

[52k2 0]

Concerning sponsorship for the club and lack of a major sponsor, we have one of sorts......US. The real owners of the DEES, we were here

before primus, Toohys, Drake and all the rest. We are the traditional owners of the club.

We are starting to pull our weight in respect to the finances of the club, we are becoming a bigger part of the club not just barrackers.

The debt demolition showed what can be done once, but we can do smaller things every year to increase the bottom line of the club.

1. Buy more than one membership, even if your second one is a childs one.

2. Direct debit $10 a month every month.

3. Sponsor a heartland Casey kid.

4. GO TO THE GAMES IF YOU CAN, if its raining tuf. get wet, the boys are.

5. Support the team with never a negative comment in company, as you dont know if somebody in the group listening MIGHT be

thinking of joining.

6. Stuff what anybody else thinks its our game and we sometimes let them play.

ONE CITY.........ONE TEAM..........ONE PASSION.

[Demon trucker 1,800]

that is a short term fix, we need new a support base new members we need to move everything to casey fields, training admin all year round we need the kids that want to follow the dees, i dont wont other fans from other clubs buying our membership, they will buy one year but that's it, whats the point in that, don't buy anyone a membership unless you do it every year, otherwise there is no point in this strategy. But if you are a millionaire then buy ten memberships and do it forever. just wait and see what happens at the kagas will they get 36k member this year if they don't then they are staffed, all that did was give them a false sense of security they will panic because they will budget for more membership money, so they increase there footy spending thinking they will be makeing y but only get x,then they will be in worse shape then last year.

[Roost It 1,434]

All good stuff. We can't move away from the MCG on a permanent basis. Casey is great for summer but we need to stake a presence at th MCG, our survival depends on it. I hope the club forgets about Bubbledome and waits until the Southern Stand is redeveloped. Having our admin and football dept. together during the season is a must. The club needs to push the MCG to allow us 1 training session a month on the ground. On these occasions they can gather as many supporters/interested people/Casey juniors/disadvantaged kids/the media as possible to come down and watch. CC, Jim Stynes, Schwab and Dean Bailey could each give a short talk to all of us about what the club's upto and some ex players/legends could come down and really make us all feel part of this great club. They could talk some history, some funny stories, who cares just come and get us involved. It's gotta be the MCG. For f$$ks sake it's basically built on the club's back.

[Dee*ceiving 1,369]

Not too mention the interest incurred on a debt of $2M will be a lot less than on a debt of $5M.

That in itself will reduce operating costs substantially and they are more likely to bite into the principal with their standard repayments

[Sir Why You Little 35,763]

Sounds easy & simple i know, but we just have to give everything towards winning games while keeping costs down. This year we may not have a sponsor, who knows. but if that Happens our healthy meembership will have to dig deep in the pocket. Passion for this club has been in recess in a lot of ways, that time is now over.

A few wins in a ro would do wonders this year. I have great Faith in our new Board. We will be one of the Big Victorian Clubs again. Patience and to everyone just do your bit.

[Dee*ceiving 1,369]

I am sure its more a case of choosing the best sponsor at the moment as opposed for scratching around for A sponsor