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Let's get this back on track... The club had a poker machine venue at Leighoak, that has been sold. The club retains the Bentleigh club machines until 2022 ( I think). In the current circumstances, neither is producing any revenue for us or the new owners. At least the club has the proceeds from the sale of Leighoak "in the bank". All clubs have the same problem. In the interview Pert and Bartlett talk about the loss of 6-10 $M . In the Age today, St.Kilda ( who have poker machines) are expecting an increase in their debt by $8M to about $20M, as a similar example. Pert and Bartlett emphasise this is because of the loss of gate receipts, sponsorship, AFL distributions and membership. What can be done about it? not much!. In the short term perhaps...membership. 13K members from last year haven't re-signed. That is why they are asking those people to come on board again, even if it is only an armchair type membership. But membership is only a minor matter and revenue raiser, the other losses are more concerning. Even if all 13K signed up it would only add $1-2M to the bottom line. A sponsor can put in that much alone. AFL distributions contribute 10 times as much. Gate receipts will be non-existent for everyone this year. The sponsors are in their own financial downturn. Hertz has already filed for Chapter 11 in the USA. With a non-existent tourism market in this country, something similar can be expected here, and these types of companies have got better things to do with their money now and in the near future, than advertising through football clubs. Sponsorship will be the on-going concern as it is dependant upon the well-being of the economy, and we should all remember what happened around our sponsorships post GFC. It cost about $1M per month to run an AFL club. The club has already "trimmed its cloth" and like most AFL clubs will be in "AFL assistance" during this period. Probably 12-14 of the 18 clubs will be in the same boat. This only means we can borrow from the AFL, but only if the club complies with certain guidelines. If you borrow from the bank, they would be expecting something similar. At least the AFL has an interest in the club surviving and it will be interesting to know if the AFL are charging interest....

I signed up 3 weeks ago thanks. Even signed up my 6 month fella also. Again, we were and still are going through a family turmoil at the time. Money was needed elsewhere. Partner unfortunately laid off from her job due to Covid 19, which means supporting her financially as well. Don't dictate how people should spend their money. Life right now is tough for everyone. If they can't afford memberships then that's understandable. Far bigger worries in the world going on right now.

With regard to the pokies debate that has flared up - I don't think it takes an anthropologist to point out that the greater the proportion of people and social institutions reject a behaviour and openly state it shouldn't be normal and acceptable, the greater the pressure on those who still do it. So every person, business and football club which says no, matters, and brings us one step closer to containing the problem. Same principle for drugs, domestic violence, underpaying staff, spitting on people, political lying, and so on. Social change isn't achieved by the F'ing Avengers. It is a +1 +1 +1 +1 +1 effort that is maddeningly slow. I'm glad the Melbourne Football Club is now on the positive side of that balance, rather than embracing a status as a toxic parasite. As for the finances, really, it isn't going to be a key factor. Not least because a huge portion of football club funding, both recurrent and special items, is drawn from reputation. Add together the small gains in membership, the small gains in sponsor appeal, the small gains in attendances and viewers, and the little extra boost to our grant applications when we launch development proposals. The club's reputation is its key asset. Everyone is still setting their benchmark to Richmond - how much funding did they secure for redevelopments and for marketing programs, by bundling those developments and programs in with community-benefit? It was a massive amount and a major part in turning the club around F' the pokies. Reputation is worth more.

I know Petty was recruited as a backman, but for me Petty is a forward all day everyday. Weed gets first crack at CHF, if he doesn't perform Petty is next in line.

Would there be members discounts? Asking for a friend.

Since when did taking a genuinely moral stance on a serious public health issue get reduced to this term “virtue signalling”? If everybody adopted the attitude of “Well it won’t make a difference if I take a stand on this, everyone else will still do it”, we’d probably still be living in a feudalist society Virtue-signalling, if we must examine this Tucker Carlson/Andrew Bolt-esque term, is generally reserved for people who talk big and do little. Sacrificing a significant amount of revenue because you’ve decided to take a moral stance, should never be reduced to such a pithy buzz-term. And all the people here saying the club has shown some kind of libtard weakness by taking such a stand make me sick

See @Cards13 Pert obviously read my post yesterday ?

Very true.... take North... it's major asset is leasehold improvements on its ground at Arden Street. At its simplest that is a zero or low value asset from a resale or borrowing viewpoint. It does have some value to North as it saves them renting admin and gym space etc. Collingwood has hard income producing investments through its future fund. Hawks have bricks and mortar entertainment venues with poker machine licences. MFC has solid assets in the form of $8M in cash and the Bentleigh club at a 2011 valuation of $8.7M (presumably worth around $11-12M now). If we can minimise our 2019-2020 loss and come out strongly in following years we could go okay. The temptation is to do a North and invest in training facilities which would deplete our asset base. (Difficult decisions which frankly the Board needs to share with members because once this load of cash goes its hard to see where the next lot comes from.)

Noticed that they were getting better as the weekend wore on with matching the crowd noise to the tempo of the game. It could become quite scientific with multiple overlays. Of course NRL has an advantage in that most of the coverage excludes the stands so it is not as obvious. The cardboard cut outs are so lame but I suppose some like them. Cannot see them lasting beyond the first few weeks unless they become a cult thing with peoples pets etc. Perhaps sending dead relatives to the footy will become a thing this year. (I quite like the European idea of having the photo of people on their graves.)

A study done in Japan of the distribution of saliva droplets in a dining context showed that the sound "th" was particularly bad. Accordingly Hawthorn should be banned until there is a vaccine.

I agree... I thought that it's not so different to the canned laughter used in TV comedies; it does actually affect your involvement in the action as a viewer.

Saw some rugby league with artificial crowd noise. It totally works.

I've had the fortune of meeting Neita on a charity event for mnd. Believe me he bleeds red and blue.

People advocating for poker machines are the type that know the price of everything and the value of nothing.

Never a better time to be thankful we got rid of the pokies. Patting ourselves on the back whilst we profit from addicts during a recession is hardly what a football should be. We’ll find the money elsewhere.

Garry Lyon commentating Demons v Hawks 'forget about a pinpoint drop punt, just bomb it in, bring it to ground'

In 98 North beat us by about five goals in the preliminary final, as I remember, and I thought that was about right. They were simply the better side. They should have won the premiership that year. Adelaide winning was a joke.

Side note, channel 9 news tonight has flagged tht the MFC have made fixture requests. Details to follow in 20 mins. No idea if this is related to this year, or whether it will be next years Qb and Anzac Eve games. Tune in.

A couple of things here... Being critical of capitalism doesn’t automatically make a person a lover of handouts, or a believer in any other kind of commie-centric ideals. Any economic system that has produced 1% of the world’s population controlling over half of the world’s wealth is not deserving of a big pat on the back. And it seems you’re suggesting I can’t be a supporter of a certain football team, while simultaneously having an issue with unchecked capitalism. I’m not sure I really need to say a anything about that, except that I don’t see it that way. I was merely addressing a certain poster’s attitude that morality shouldn’t affect bottom line, which even you must admit is a pretty prevalent and unfortunate tenet of modern-day capitalism (and one which depresses the [censored] out of me). It’s this particular attitude that has kids making your clothes and oceans full of plastic. I would rather be talking about football, but the nature of the topic we’re discussing here requires us to express certain beliefs that go beyond the game. I’m glad we don’t rely on gambling for profit. I have many reasons for this, which I think are valid. And I refuse to accept this line of argument that selling off the pokies (or other highly-questionable source of revenue) was poor management and direct threat to the club’s survival.

We need the younger generation to look at our club and think “far out they’re super groovy and hip.”

society isn't declining because of late stage capitalism. Market economies are perhaps at historically their strongest ever (with more slowly transitioning out of mass poverty every day). let's not give a free pass to the degeneration public discourse; the obscene nature modern "progressive" politics; and the amplification of fractured nationalism. I don't think any of those are a result of capitaliam. Interesting you would be critical of capitalism, though, given Melbourne's biggest problem over the past 5 decades has arguably been both its lack of market competitiveness and its inept business tact. Decades of handouts and -- surprise surprise -- we're still garbage. How shockingly dense and weirdly confident the club was to ditch a known (and legal) revenue generator, all for the sake of some feel good "woke" PR. But hey I guess our "morality" is in check. Right alongside our $10 million debt and few (strong) assets to ride the bump.

Nice post. At least it puts reason behind the action. That's something that makes sense. Thanks.

Playing well and having integrity aren’t mutually exclusive concepts. If they were I’d have to re-evaluate my feelings for the game itself.

Aesthetically, football was much better 20 years ago. As a spectacle, I find today's football utter rubbish.

some very interesting reading there we are not in that bad of shape when you look at some of the other clubs Liabilities sure not just a number and you need to look at assets some borrowing is needed to increase assets as long as we can pay to off

People weren't happy in the Electrifying 80s either. Whinging about the quality of footy is the second biggest national sport.

it's easy to watch highlight games and go 'wow, footy was so much better back then!' show me a dour slog between fitzroy and melbourne in the early 80s and tell me football was better yes, football has evolved, and become increasingly defensively-focused, but that is typical of the evolution of nearly every sport worldwide cricket is one of the few games that now favours attacking (batting side) over defense (fielding side) with the evolution of bats >>>>>> non-evolution of bowling and the ball

Not sure if you were intending to summarise the decline of society during late-stage capitalism in one sentence, but well done.

I’d be happy for the NRA to sponsor us if it brought in millions of dollars. Better than being poor and folding.

The aim of the game back then was just to get the ball forward and score. You hardly saw any of your best players on the bench unless injured. Players weren’t afraid to use both feet and used to great effect, players these days run arcs to get on their dominant side. Skills were so much better, clean pick ups, one grab marks etc etc.

Actually, you have zero idea of what i know. I left my first wife because she had a pokie addiction which sent me broke. These things are LEGAL, and an AFL club having them will not change the public benefit or harm one iota. There are a set amount of licences that are sold, and anyone who thinks it makes a difference who holds the licence is beyond reasoning with. ANY move to divest from an AFL club is nothing more than virtue signalling, and I could not g.a.f about being the most virtuous club on death row. I just want the club to survive.

Interchange makes a mockery of the argument that the players are fitter today than ever. If so why do they need to rest so often. I am exaggerating to make a point but if all AFL players had to be replaced today and 700 odd new players came in, how many would we miss for their run, their leading, their marking ability, or do the spectacular?

I'd hope by the end of his career with us that Steven May would feature somewhere in that list.

Everyone is entitled to their opinions but it amazes me some rate Davey higher than Farmer. Farmer dominated finals and came close to winning us a premiership off his own boot. Davey was a Good kick, revolunised the way forwards play with intense pressure but he was no Farmer.

Will we be allowed to sing? A few MFC-supporting mates and I have actually been working on a bit of a 'welcome back celebration' for the boys at our first MCG match when fans are allowed back in to games.

Gonzo is right though Cards Sometimes the obvious 'ask' needs to be aggressively pursued. It can't be assumed that the Pies & Tigers won't push for both games to be their home fixtures. The comp is just as aggressive off the field. We need to push hard and fight for everything that we can get. I'd also be pushing for a round 1 home game against the Cats and 5 years worth of home games against the Bombers. Maybe 10 years worth to square the ledger.

maybe by your logic we should start buying up brothels ?

First thing I would be doing finance wise is getting the AFL to guarantee we host Anzac Eve and Queens Birthday next year. Get on the front foot about it. Hopefully crowds are allowed back by then.

I reckon the West Coast cutouts would still boo.

Pitty the backman who ends up manning that combination rotating trough the forward line!

Which would've made $0.00 since mid March and possibly $0.00 until September. Meanwhile, the money from their sale can be used NOW to help save the club

My guess is in - Jones Salem and Weideman. Out - Spargo Brown and Bedford. That’s how I think the club will go. I’d probably keep Bedford in for ANB. But he’s a favourite and the coaches rate his pressure.

Yes, let's have fake crowd noise. It will add to the experience just as much as when a comedy show has canned laughter. So enhance! Why stop there? Why have a stadium at all? Play everything at Casey or Gosch's and the TV people can superimpose the stands, and the crowds, and the noise. How much easier for the advertisers. The "crowds" can spontaneously hold up placards, en masse, with stirring messages such as "prices are DOWN this week at Coles". Hamish's half time interviews with the kiddies will not be so cringe-inducing when they're scripted with a CGI kidlet (focus group tested for maximum cuteness) who never fails to mention that he's going with his dad for a sausage at Bunnings, where prices are everyday low. The dumbing down of society seems to be accelerating. Do we really need our ears filled to enjoy the spectacle in front of us? Nothing beats the electric atmosphere of a huge crowd on edge -- the players feed on it too, and the event as a whole feeds on itself. But we don't need the artifice when that's not the reality. What happened when the Southern Stand was demolished and games were played at the G? Were huge tarps with a fake stand painted on erected to make it look like there weren't piles of dirt and steel girders everywhere? No, because that's what really happened. In this virus era, no crowds. That's what's really happening. If we're going to fake everything for the audience, we might as well be living in American Idol or The X Factor. (So, that's a no from me.)

That's a silly and ignorant thing to say. I spent 4 years with the Salvation Army Major in charge of Southern Australia, their financial advisor and 2 Psychologists from Gamblers' Help assisting problem gamblers. Poker machines account for over 80% of problem gamblers, I have seen the damage they cause. You may not care but fortunately some people do.

Our doing? Collingwood basically let us have the queen's birthday game as a home game for 20 years. I don't disagree with you but other clubs have it just as bad or worse than us. Something needs to be done about the AFLs unfair policies that discriminate against the smaller clubs. I've thought this for 20 odd years, but multiple MFC administration's have not wanted to rock the boat, the last one who stood up for us was Gutnick. I don't want to get back into the politics around his administration but the fact is we've kowtowed to the AFL and the big clubs for 20-30 years. To expect them to turn around and do "the right thing" by us now that the competition is facing an economic crisis is fanciful. It's going to be every club for themselves for the next few years.

Clubs should insist on a revenue sharing model if the AFL insists on revenue maximisation policies that favour some clubs over others. The big clubs want their cake and eat it too and the AFL plays along. The small clubs don't speak out because they're reliant on the whims of the AFL. They've had decades to raise a protest and do something about it but they've refused. If they don't stand up for themselves now they never will.

I’m going to boo and shout twice as loud now.

Jeff Farmer is way out in front. Then Davey and Matty Whelan. Then others all have claims. But Jeffy was on top.