On 14/11/2024 at 10:06, No. 31 said:

AFL, Ian Collins, financial situation funding Princes Park redevelopments  .. a confluence of events. Sad times but probably unavoidable in those circumstances and to some degree self-inflicted.

Ah yeah Ian Collins, former Carlton player, CEO and President at the time. Hardly think it's being "railroaded" when your President was the one pushing for it.

  On 14/11/2024 at 21:43, D4Life said:

Looks like a great draw, playing Tigers twice would have been an improvement, perhaps Saints at the G and an interstate team in Alice.

Looks like we are set up for a very good year:

- Trac, Oliver and Petty full pre season

- longer preseason for all

- JVR another pre season will have a big year

- two early picks, expecting at least one to be in top 23 for the season

- administration distractions out of the way

- finally very good draw

Go Demons!!

The down side is that we can't make good money against teams like the Cats, Bombers & Blues (no home games against those teams) but it should be remembered that we've still previously posted profits when given similar fixtures in the past (often with poorly performed outfits)

But when comparing those different times, the talent levels of the list of players available is like chalk & cheese

Previously, hardly an A Grade player to be seen but right now we have Gawn, Petracca, Oliver, Rivers, Kozzie, May, Viney, Lever, Langdon all being capable of A grade performances

Add on players like Salem, McVee, Windsor, Tholstrup, Fritsch, Petty, JVR & the 2 top 10 draft picks and we are in good shape to make a run at it

Replacing ANB & Gus won't be easy which is why I believe the club made a concerted effort to get another top 10 pick in the draft

But it's always been about talent levels and with the fixture that we've been given, we're every chance

Just need a reasonably good run with injuries

And I reckon we've got a far better chance of drawing reasonable home crowds against interstate teams when the games are played during the day

 

Some interesting fixturing for teams 'we love to hate' 😁:

afl-fixture-2025-clubbyclub

Carlton:  "...an incredibly favourable fixture. They’ve drawn a good straw in the form of double-ups ...The club’s first month of fixtures are all in prime time ...atwo nine-day breaks (plus the bye) in their first 15 rounds. The cherry on top? No five-day breaks in the first half of their season!"

One would assume they have lots of 6 day breaks and a few back to back? @No. 31

Coll:  "...six of its final eight fixtures at the MCG... between Round 10-17 where they only play at the MCG or Marvel Stadium — a stretch that also includes their second bye....a five-day break in between a Round 8 home match and a Round 9 trip to Perth to play the Dockers.

They'll need the rest from little travel late in the season - they are an old team.

Ess:  "... arguably the face of prime time in 2025, for reasons somewhat unbeknownst given their recent form.  ... have two five-day breaks (one followed by a bye), a nine-day break and a monster 10-day break in the first 15 rounds. They’ll play Richmond twice in what fans would perceive as a positive but will on the contrary need to face Carlton and Sydney a second time also..."

May they crash and burn!

Geelong:   "It’s all about getting a good rest for Geelong in the first 15 rounds of their fixture; and they’ll be absolutely loving it. The Cats do need to bare one five-day break before July, but in return, they’ve managed to snag a nine-day break, 10-day break, and wait for it... an 11-day break!"

Good luck to them, they aren't exactly a youthful team!

Hawks:  "...Lions are among the sides Hawthorn will play twice next year. The Hawks will receive two nine-day breaks between games in the first 16 weeks of the season, but they have also been handed a five-day break in between a Sunday MCG fixture in Round 9 and a Thursday night match in Darwin in Round 10. They will be prime-time kings in 2025...."

A recent addition to my 'love to hate' teams   Will 'death ride' the new AFL darlings down the ladder! 

 

I'm still very happy with our fixture!  Go Dees!!! ❤️💙

Edited November 14, 2024Nov 14 by Lucifers Hero

  On 14/11/2024 at 22:11, DeeZee said:

GWS at the G is not a great opener .

Theyll be right into us re crowds and supporters not turning up from day one.

Trac will love playing in front of 20,000 adoring fans again.

We once got 37,000 to a GWS game at the G (hard to fathom but true).

The fan base is capable of 30K+ for the opener.

If we get 16K on a 24 degree mid March afternoon, then we can starting get used to Marvel as a part time venue going forward, while the likes of Carlton, Essendon and St Kilda try to get into the G for more home games. We've already been punished with our first home game at Marvel since 2016, probably as a result of those 16K crowds against Port and GWS.

 

Summaries and club reactions who-has-the-toughest-draw-we-break-down-your-clubs-fixture

MFC Says:

"A strong MCG fixture is always the highest priority for us, so we're pleased to have 12 games at our spiritual home in 2025. We will host a strong schedule of blockbuster matches, including the annual Anzac Day Eve game against Richmond and King's Birthday clash with Collingwood, as well as contests against Hawthorn, Sydney and Carlton. This is also a very family friend fixture, with 10 of the confirmed matches – seven of which are in Victoria – to be played in an afternoon timeslot. We hope to see many of our junior Dees filling the stands at home and away. This is a great draw for our members and supporters, and we look forward to welcoming the Demon faithful back for an exciting 2025 AFL season." – CEO Gary Pert

Like most clubs we avoid focusing on any disappoints.

 

Anyone know where the players and demon army stay at Alice Springs?

Looking to book flights and accom.

Fortunately missed last yr with Bonza tickets

  On 14/11/2024 at 05:43, Jaded No More said:

Carlton with the third easiest draw. The AFL is desperate to get them a flag. 

They want them top 4 for $'s.   Funny if they really crash and burn next season with that draw.

  On 14/11/2024 at 22:01, binman said:

Our fixture is not great from a financial perspective or for our sponsors in terms of the lack of free to air Friday and Sat night games

Mitigating that a bit is we have heaps of Sunday 3.20 games, which are actually ok as they are live free to air and i susslect rate well because they run into the news.

And to be honest, dees fans don't always  turn up in great numbers for night games, so we won't lose too much in crowd revenue 

Making finals on the back of an easy draw would also mitigate the impact of less 'high commercial gain' games.

Kings birthday and ANZAC eave are home games this year, so that helps the financial situation. Plus, we will probably pick up some night games later in the year if we are still in finals contention.

  On 14/11/2024 at 19:58, Lucifers Hero said:

Thanks.

Adjusted chart

Are Saturday night games on free to air next year? I thought they were all on pay TV?

 

  On 15/11/2024 at 03:09, Fat Tony said:

Are Saturday night games on free to air next year? I thought they were all on pay TV?

Good question - I don't know

I'm still trying to work out this home game against WC at Marvel...

There's only one game at the G that weekend.

Including our game there will be 3 at Marvel.

I can only assume its due to some contractural arrangement with Marvel?

Otherwise I can't understand why its not at the G...

 

  On 15/11/2024 at 03:24, Lucifers Hero said:

Good question - I don't know

For the last 8 rounds Saturday nights are on FTA

  On 14/11/2024 at 10:58, No. 31 said:

I like wearing MFC polo tops as casual wear when on holidays abroad. Some people like to wear say NY Yankees or Real Madrid apparel. I like Demons polo tops, authentically Melbourne, my home town.

Well No.31 that is why we warmed to you in the first place you obviously associate with our colours and wish you had been born into a demon family Or have strong links to Ronald Dale Barassi .😁

  On 15/11/2024 at 03:07, Fat Tony said:

ANZAC eave

Are we playing under the roof?

  On 15/11/2024 at 03:24, The Stigga said:

I'm still trying to work out this home game against WC at Marvel...

There's only one game at the G that weekend.

Including our game there will be 3 at Marvel.

I can only assume its due to some contractural arrangement with Marvel?

Otherwise I can't understand why its not at the G...

 

I think the Dogs, St Kilda and extra Carlton home games meant the AFL had no choice but to send us to Marvel to make up the numbers.

Pert was trumpeting to the members at the end of 2020 that we'd increased our MFC home game schedule to 10 for the first time since 2010 (according to my research).

It was seen as an achievement at the time - that we were the only MCG tenant that didn't host a game at Marvel.

A bit of comms would be good to explain why we're back at Marvel.

Travel times 2025            
                

  On 15/11/2024 at 06:51, Whispering_Jack said:

Travel times 2025            
                

That can't be correct for West Coast

  On 14/11/2024 at 22:54, Dr. Gonzo said:

Ah yeah Ian Collins, former Carlton player, CEO and President at the time. Hardly think it's being "railroaded" when your President was the one pushing for it.

The differing commercial in confidence (secret) stadium deals are an interesting subject. The AFL owns Docklands and as the competition organiser decides which venue a team will play at in a given week. It's a highly conflicted market to say the least. Could do with a little more sunshine

  On 15/11/2024 at 06:51, Whispering_Jack said:

Travel times 2025            
                

I can’t remember a season that we travelled just one less time than Collingwood. 

  On 15/11/2024 at 03:25, The Stigga said:

For the last 8 rounds Saturday nights are on FTA

And no FTA footy on Saturdays for the first 15 rounds is going to be a shock for those who don't have cable or streaming

But I read somewhere that Ch7 can broadcast Saturday games but on a 2 hour delay! (Back to the 90's!!) 

It means that a high viewership game like the Collingwood/Geelong round 8 Saturday night fixture won't be on FTA

Edited November 15, 2024Nov 15 by Macca

  On 15/11/2024 at 01:42, defuture15 said:

Anyone know where the players and demon army stay at Alice Springs?

Looking to book flights and accom.

Fortunately missed last yr with Bonza tickets

Mercure Resort, we stayed there in 2022, the team stayed there as well but that was a fluke not planned. They have a great restaurant as well. It was a great stay.👍

  On 14/11/2024 at 22:54, Dr. Gonzo said:

Ah yeah Ian Collins, former Carlton player, CEO and President at the time. Hardly think it's being "railroaded" when your President was the one pushing for it.

Ian Collins was the Chief Executive of Colonial Stadium (as it was known then) at that. Quite clearly a conflict of interest. 

  On 14/11/2024 at 22:30, The heart beats true said:

As an aside @No. 31…

How do the reserved seat memberships work for Blues fans? Do you get visibility on both MCG and Docklands seats as part of your membership, or a reserved seat at one ground, and a ‘section’ at another?

I just have a general admission Carlton membership so I don't know. Might look into upgrading to a reserved seat package as two of my Carlton supporting cousins have reserved seats and it would be nice to sit with them. Will keep you posted.