Saturday 2.10pm footy no more from 2011

[Reality Bus 17]

the afl have outdone themselves yet again. herald sun article is stating that as of next year, the 2.10pm saturday game will make way for a monday night fixture. there will be a saturday arvo/twilight game that will run straight into the host broadcaster's news coverage.

surely not a smart move.

what about kids? if i had kids, i wouldnt take them out on a school night. hell, it's hard enough to get myself up the next morning. after a night game, you spend an age trying to get to the train station, and then waiting for a train, and then getting from the station to your home. depending on how far out you live, it can be after midnight easily.

what about tourists/interstate/country visitors? people come to melbourne for the weekend. they arrive friday arvo, and leave sunday arvo. they aren't going to miss two days of work (monday and tuesday in transit) just so they can see a footy game. i dont tink the afl appreciates how many people outside of melbourne come to games.

this doesn't affect us directly, but games can now only effectively be played early on sundays at kardinia park. fridays are out, as are saturdays, sunday twilight and mondays, as they have no lights. however, lights are being planned (possible they will be rejected).

also it's tradition. nothing like an overpriced beer and a meat pie on a saturday arvo at the g. obviously the afl administration couldn't give a [censored] about that though.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/monday-night-football-to-be-regular-fixture-in-afl-broadcast-rights-deal/story-e6frf9jf-1225896288966

[e25 5]

Isn't there more money in tv rights than getting people to actually attend matches, and that is the driving force?

Not sure how you get that money to the clubs though.

Monday night football could be commercial suicide for the clubs participating.

[MadAsHell 4,089]

I was going to say I hope Melbourne don't ask to take part in it.

This is just another example of the AFL being obsessed with trying to copy the NFL and everything that happens in the USA instead of doing our own thing. They've shown they're more interested in TV rights then they are in the fans. When it's not school holidays crowds will be well down as they already are for sunday twilight matches and all I can say is that I hope this blows up in the AFL's face.

Let Gold Coast and GWS play all the monday night matches I say!

Edited July 23, 2010 by Tall Defence

[ucanchoose 1,807]

Once again a [censored] article from the little paper.

1. There will be no discussion on the anti siphoning list until after the election so how can they put that they will show the games live on their second channel?

2.Ten HD doesn't exist....... It's One HD doofus.

3. Don't see the problem pushing it out an hour really. Then they can show it live, which is what everybody wants

Been planning this "article" for weeks probably and just waiting for enough column space to run it.

Nothing new, just dribble.

Edited July 23, 2010 by ucanchoose

[Gorgoroth 12,447]

If true and absolute disgrace and just another example of vlad and andertwat worrying more about $$$$ than the state of the game and or the fans.

I hope Monday night football is a flop.

I think Friday night to Sunday night is a long enough period to play the sport over.

[Rhino Richards 1,467]

surely not a smart move.

what about kids? if i had kids, i wouldnt take them out on a school night. hell, it's hard enough to get myself up the next morning. after a night game, you spend an age trying to get to the train station, and then waiting for a train, and then getting from the station to your home. depending on how far out you live, it can be after midnight easily.

what about tourists/interstate/country visitors? people come to melbourne for the weekend. they arrive friday arvo, and leave sunday arvo. they aren't going to miss two days of work (monday and tuesday in transit) just so they can see a footy game. i dont tink the afl appreciates how many people outside of melbourne come to games.

You watch the game on TV.

The games will be at Etihad and its easy to make the ground look near full with 10,000 people.

Its all about the value of TV rights and providing content in prime TV land.

I understand why the AFL do it but I would prefer Sat afternoon football. Might have to go out to Casey to see a game on Saturday.

[Grandson of a gun 276]

I don't have a problem with the AFL doing Monday night football. I think it is better than Thursday night.

I have a huge problem with the lack of Sat arvo 2.10pm games. That is an indictment.

With the AFL demanding all games be shown live, the broadcaster simply doesn't want to have to pad out their footy coverage or fill in with a show between 5.00 and 6.00.

All clubs benefit from the extra TV rights money but it shouldn't be at the expense of the fans.

[ucanchoose 1,807]

No Saturday afternoon games in the NRL anymore. Because they believe they would get nobody to the timeslot. More importantly, nobody on TV would watch it.

Saturday afternoon isn't the sparkling timeslot it once was.

Edited July 23, 2010 by ucanchoose

[Gorgoroth 12,447]

Sat arvo is still my fav time to watch football by far!

[jayceebee31 692]

Sat arvo is still my fav time to watch football by far!

Sat arvo is mine also- Monday night is crap .Hope the Dees do not play many if any.

[mauriesy 6,920]

I would prefer Sat afternoon football.

Coming from some distance away, I prefer the 1.10 Saturday (or Sunday) games. Then I can get home before it gets too late in the dead of winter.

[45HG 1,539]

I feel ill.

[e25 5]

As unappealing as Monday night games seem to us supporters, they could potentially be the best thing possible for a club like MFC.

I'm not sure what viewing numbers would be like, but I'm sure they'd be better than late Sunday arvo and the matches would attract more exposure for a club yearning for new members.

With the new stadium deals I think Monday night games could be the next best thing to Friday or Saturday night games for us.

[Sydney Dee 1]

The decision to move a game to Monday night would be fantastic in terms of watching at home on TV. The more days of watching football the better.

However, in terms of attendances to games, it would be a major disaster. I can't imagine anybody wanting to go out on a Monday night to watch footy, the Saturday afternoon slot is much better.

The NRL up here in Sydney have been highly criticised for the decision, due to waning attendances, poor matches being given the time slot and quick turnarounds for some clubs playing on a Saturday the next week.

Keep the Saturday slot I say

[Jaded No More 60,161]

I hate this organization.

If it wasn't for our club I'd never bother watching another game ever again.

[titan_uranus 23,250]

I can't imagine this is a result of the polling the AFL did of fans to see what we wanted. I just cannot imagine there was any support for Monday night football, but I can imagine Saturday afternoon football being a popular timeslot.

It's not like the AFL is going broke. For mine, it's well within its rights to schedule matches whenever it wants, but this might be a terrible move and I certainly don't want us to be playing lots of Monday night football.

FWIW, I don't think it will catch on. Even though I'm sure it'll be populated by bigger clubs, which will mean the TV ratings are high, the novelty will wear off sooner or later and the clubs will begin to complain about having no one at the ground and more 6 day breaks.

3.10 on a Saturday stinks.

[Steamin Demon 370]

I hate this organization.

If it wasn't for our club I'd never bother watching another game ever again.

I've said the same Jaded, Infact if Melbourne fc didn't play here I'd move interstate.

[gOLLy 401]

I've said the same Jaded, Infact if Melbourne fc didn't play here I'd move interstate.

Me too.

[Salems Lot 2,406]

This is just like when Fonzie jumped the shark!

[digby wolf 1]

I can't imagine this is a result of the polling the AFL did of fans to see what we wanted. I just cannot imagine there was any support for Monday night football, but I can imagine Saturday afternoon football being a popular timeslot.

It's not like the AFL is going broke. For mine, it's well within its rights to schedule matches whenever it wants, but this might be a terrible move and I certainly don't want us to be playing lots of Monday night football.

FWIW, I don't think it will catch on. Even though I'm sure it'll be populated by bigger clubs, which will mean the TV ratings are high, the novelty will wear off sooner or later and the clubs will begin to complain about having no one at the ground and more 6 day breaks.

3.10 on a Saturday stinks.

Are you kidding ? The AFL don't care what the fans think, they care what the corpoRATs think and after them the TV moguls. They know quiet well that the fans will follow football wherever they take it because most fans live in the past when football was about the community. Lets face it we are the suckers they take us for.