http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-06-29/nascar-losing-sponsors-and-money-despite-loyal-supporter-base/5556126

Just thought I would post the link. I was reading this before, although not the slightest bit interested in NASCAR I noticed many parallels to the way the AFL are running footy or some say ruining footy. Fans priced out of games, constant rule changes, trying to appeal to non traditional markets and disenfranchising their constituent market etc...

The wash up is that they are losing fans, sponsors and TV coverage.

I thought it might be of interest to some on Demonland.

A lot of similarities it seems.

FWIW, I'm a supporter of the GC and GWS movements, and I think they're both good for the game long-term.

What I am not a fan of are the constant rule-changes, the use of rules and umpiring to forcibly dictate how the game evolves, the prioritising of the media over the fans, the inequitable fixturing, and the timeslot-choice farce (Thursday, Sunday, Monday nights are all awful, 3.20 sucks, not enough 2.10 games etc. etc. etc.).

The AFL's greed to give every shred of talent to two new teams to buy them premierships ASAP was incredibly shortsighted. We now have about 6 teams in the same position, either starting a rebuild or a year into one, because all the talent was soaked up by expansion clubs over the last 5 years.

It's going to be a long, painful road for us, Saints, Richmond, Brisbane, and probably Carlton and W. Bulldogs.

A lot of similarities it seems.

FWIW, I'm a supporter of the GC and GWS movements, and I think they're both good for the game long-term.

What I am not a fan of are the constant rule-changes, the use of rules and umpiring to forcibly dictate how the game evolves, the prioritising of the media over the fans, the inequitable fixturing, and the timeslot-choice farce (Thursday, Sunday, Monday nights are all awful, 3.20 sucks, not enough 2.10 games etc. etc. etc.).

Totally agree with you on this, as for the expansion moves I'm still on the bench but am concerned about how they have been implemented. It seems the bottom teams have had to take the hit.

A lot of similarities it seems.

FWIW, I'm a supporter of the GC and GWS movements, and I think they're both good for the game long-term.

.

Agree,we were told 30 yeras ago,the game would go national and start preparing for it.

Dont have a problem with expansion,Allen Aylett said 30 years ago that victoria cant service 10 clubs,and he is right.

Whether you like it or not,victoria can only hold 6 clubs at the most.Expansion is good,denial of it is silly.

I agree. I dont think we have the cattle to compete at the highest level yet and we will need a couple of years of uncompromised drafts and some luck to get the required talent into the club. I think GWS will be able to trade for a number of years to come to get early draft picks from there unwanted youngsters. They will eventualy field a team of 18 first round picks.

To regenerate our list we need to do a couple of things. Hang onto required players we have developed (eg Frawley), Find a few more Vinces and Tysons to bolster the list and maybe finally pick the right player in the draft.

We have been put back by the loss of Clark and the injury to Hogan. When Roos came in he would have thought the foward line and back line were in place and all he needed was to add some midfield class and depth. Unfortunately the forwad line is now short at least one quality big goal kicker and will need some time together to operate as a unit. the backline while solid will be shallow if Chip leaves. Very hard to fix each end of the ground and get some class in the midfield with ongoing compromised drafts and a thin talent pool.

As much as a wish to be wrong, I think the pain will continue for a few years to come.

I agree. I dont think we have the cattle to compete at the highest level yet and we will need a couple of years of uncompromised drafts and some luck to get the required talent into the club. I think GWS will be able to trade for a number of years to come to get early draft picks from there unwanted youngsters. They will eventualy field a team of 18 first round picks.

To regenerate our list we need to do a couple of things. Hang onto required players we have developed (eg Frawley), Find a few more Vinces and Tysons to bolster the list and maybe finally pick the right player in the draft.

We have been put back by the loss of Clark and the injury to Hogan. When Roos came in he would have thought the foward line and back line were in place and all he needed was to add some midfield class and depth. Unfortunately the forwad line is now short at least one quality big goal kicker and will need some time together to operate as a unit. the backline while solid will be shallow if Chip leaves. Very hard to fix each end of the ground and get some class in the midfield with ongoing compromised drafts and a thin talent pool.

As much as a wish to be wrong, I think the pain will continue for a few years to come.

We wish - LOL

I agree. I dont think we have the cattle to compete at the highest level yet and we will need a couple of years of uncompromised drafts and some luck to get the required talent into the club. I think GWS will be able to trade for a number of years to come to get early draft picks from there unwanted youngsters. They will eventualy field a team of 18 first round picks.

To regenerate our list we need to do a couple of things. Hang onto required players we have developed (eg Frawley), Find a few more Vinces and Tysons to bolster the list and maybe finally pick the right player in the draft.

We have been put back by the loss of Clark and the injury to Hogan. When Roos came in he would have thought the foward line and back line were in place and all he needed was to add some midfield class and depth. Unfortunately the forwad line is now short at least one quality big goal kicker and will need some time together to operate as a unit. the backline while solid will be shallow if Chip leaves. Very hard to fix each end of the ground and get some class in the midfield with ongoing compromised drafts and a thin talent pool.

As much as a wish to be wrong, I think the pain will continue for a few years to come.

You are not alone BD

Our list is currently bottom four and will need a few years to get to the top eight

Just 40,000 at the 'G last night for Carlton and Collingwood, the lowest crowd they've drawn since 1921 I think they said.

I'm kinda glad that the AFL's unequal distribution of premium fixtures has bitten them on the bum this year, thanks to the poor form of the clubs who were in / around the 8 last year, Carlton, Richmond and Essendon.

Those three clubs have all had Friday night fixtures in the past month, and the crowd sizes have all been well below what might have been anticipated at the start of the year.

Will be interesting to see if and how the league can stop the rot. I can't foresee that the cost of going to the footy is going to fall in any way, in ticket prices, food, memberships etc. The rate of increase may slow, but it won't be by too much, the various players involved are all too greedy for that.

Just 40,000 at the 'G last night for Carlton and Collingwood, the lowest crowd they've drawn since 1921 I think they said.

I'm kinda glad that the AFL's unequal distribution of premium fixtures has bitten them on the bum this year, thanks to the poor form of the clubs who were in / around the 8 last year, Carlton, Richmond and Essendon.

Those three clubs have all had Friday night fixtures in the past month, and the crowd sizes have all been well below what might have been anticipated at the start of the year.

Will be interesting to see if and how the league can stop the rot. I can't foresee that the cost of going to the footy is going to fall in any way, in ticket prices, food, memberships etc. The rate of increase may slow, but it won't be by too much, the various players involved are all too greedy for that.

I think there is a blessing in disguise from all this - the unprecedented backlash from fans will surely be a wake-up call to the AFL on a number of fronts.

Every Friday night and Thursday night game this year features at least one of these six teams - Carlton, Collingwood, Essendon, Richmond, Hawthorn and Geelong. That is, there is not one Friday night game that doesn't involve one of these six.

It's a six-team competition right now, as far as prime time goes, but with Carlton still to play 3 Friday nights and a Thursday night in the last 8 weeks (that's 50% of the remaining fixture), plus possibly one more in Round 23 when they play Essendon, the AFL has learnt that it cannot put all its eggs into a select group of teams' baskets.

I'm confident that there will be a better sharing of the prime time games next year because of the reaction this year.