BDA

Summary of a HUN article detailing AFL club losses. Sydney had a loss of $6.1m which is pretty severe and we're next at $2.9m. Not sure why St Kilda managed a loss of $1m. I would have thought they are comparable to us in terms of size and scale. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- St Kilda has announced an almost $1 million loss for the last financial year. The net loss of $963,106 follows the devastating financial impact of COVID-19 and comes despite the Saints’ record-breaking membership of 48,775. The club’s overall debt increased by about $1.7 million, in part because of the decision to defer the first instalment of 2021 membership subscriptions. Melbourne also announced an operating loss of $2.9 million for the year, but eliminated its debt and retained almost $1.7 million in cash reserves to remain an “unassisted” AFL club. The financial hit owed to a dramatic $17.9 million decline in revenue as a result of COVID-19. Sydney has recorded a $6.1 million loss because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and Swans chairman Andrew Pridham says it could have been worse. The Swans have revealed the “severe impact” on the club’s bottom line, citing the absence of home matches at the SCG and crowds for the 2020 season contributing to more than half of the big loss for the financial year. The Swans’ membership of 48,322 was well down from 61,912 the previous year while the club reduced operating expenses by 38 per cent in an attempt to “ensure the club’s survival”. Sydney wasn’t the only club hit hard, with Collingwood announcing a net operating loss of $1.8 million and Geelong posting a $2.6 million loss. Earlier this month Richmond revealed it took $10 million in JobKeeper funds before declaring a small profit, well down on the profit of over $4 million in the previous two seasons.

It’s not unusual for key position forwards to bulk up. I’ve heard commentators advising Weiderman to hit the gym and get bigger. The extra bulk helps when crashing the pack, outbodying opponents or protecting the drop zone. I think TMac’s problems started with his foot injury. If the foot is ok then he might be able to get back to a reasonable level of performance. Fingers crossed.

Would Burgess have made the decision though? I would have thought the decision to bulk up was made by the coaching group with Burgess then instructed accordingly.

I think it all depends on keeping rates of infection low as i don't think a vaccine roll-out will be sufficiently progressed to make a difference for this year. If there's a major outbreak, particularly in Melbourne, then it'll be hubs and a revised fixture I reckon.

20 letters. Longest name i could think of.

Hopefully the Oliver contract renewal doesn’t turn into a saga and he signs before the season starts. We don’t want any distractions. I reckon he’ll sign on for another 2 years which will take him to FA.

You are correct. I wonder how much of the line of credit has been used/drawndown?

Depends how financially secure the AFL is. They took out a big loan early in the covid crisis for $500m which was secured against Marvel Stadium. That needs to be repaid and i'd love to know the rate of interest they were charged. HQ was gutted and all the "make work" roles were done away with (which was most of them). Player payments reduced as well. Gill was looking very nervous there for a while but i think the bubble meant a financial crisis was avoided for now. I wouldn't like to be relying on the AFL. Much prefer we retain our financial independence and can make our own decisions.

TMac on the wing! I've heard it all now. I'd play Rosman before i'd play him. He's forward depth. Very expensive forward depth.

I think he’s a long shot and nothing more. If he didn’t have the Farmer name I doubt we’d be giving him a trial. It would be great to see a Farmer running around in the red and blue but I won’t be holding my breath.

No point changing the habit of a lifetime ?

https://resources.melbournefc.com.au/aflc-melb/document/2019/12/16/392d79e2-bd8d-46b4-8db1-57f764504f4d/MFC_Financial-Report_2019_Digital.pdf The above link is to the 2019 financial statements.The sale was accounted for in the 2018 financial year. Looks like the proceeds on sale were $10.65m – see cashflow statement 2018 comparative - Proceeds from sale of discontinued operations. The money was banked. In 2019 some of the funds were re-invested – see $7.6m financial investment on 2019 statement of financial position ($1m + $6.6m) We incurred a loss in the 2019 year of approx. $2m which accounts the majority of the remainder of the Leighoaks proceeds (used to cover the losses). Alternatively you could look at the 2019 cashflow statement which details components of the decrease in the bank account of $10.2m.

The club liquidated the investment of $6.6m which was the wash-up from the Leighoak sale. $2m when to pay-down debt and $3m to fund the operating loss. The remainder is in the bank account. The debt was in the form of commercial bills which can be expensive. Interest expenses was greater than the interest earned on the investment hence made sense to pay down the debt. They are not pretty numbers but we were lucky to have the leighoak proceeds to tide us over. Another year like this year and we’ll either have to tap the AFL, drawdown on the commercial bill facility again or sell the Bentleigh Club and live off the proceeds. Note 2b outlines the basis on which the directors are satisfied to sign off the statements on a going concern basis. I note the auditors haven't included a reference in their audit report to going concern which is positive. Suggests no immediate reasons to be concerned about the financial situation. I’d be interested to see what sponsorship and membership are looking like for 2021. Are we renewing at the same rates or is there a drop-off? I hope the vaccines are effective and we can get back to full crowds again and relative normality otherwise it’ll be another round of wage cuts, reduced list sizes and austerity.

As someone who is highly critical of Goodwin I would much prefer to be proven wrong than right.

I’m pencilling us in for 17 wins and a top 4 finish. Drop games against Richmond, bulldogs (Marvel game win the return at the G), Geelong (last round), Port and West Coast. Get stuffed MFCSS.

I think its great we’ve drawn an inter-state side and don’t have to share a ticket allocation. Hopefully we can keep a lid on Covid infections and get 25,000 Dees supporters into the G for the game.

We agree on one thing at least ?

Challenging first up test for the Dees. Freo are well coached with some excellent young players. They'll be no push-over. I reckon we will atone for the Cairns debacle. Saturday afternoon at the G. Can’t wait.

Ordinary at the best of times. Covid cut-backs make things worse again.. outside of the club itself dland is the best source of info

Melbourne city have moved to Casey because they have no supporters. They said as much in their press release. Manchester City may have bought some titles but they have no supporters. I’m curious on what basis you say that they have. Qatar petro dollars is not all that alluring it would seem. Now if you had said Barcelona, Real Madrid, Bayern or Juventus I might entertain your argument. But City??

I hear you Deegirl I had to stop watching mid-way through 2019. Wasn’t fair on the family to put up with my outbursts and grumpiness. I was so expectant after 2018 and then….devastation. Disappointment is the lot of most fans but the life of a dees supporter is a tough road. But having said that, when we eventually come good, and we will (hopefully I’ll be alive) it will be all the sweeter for having travelled that road. Go dees!

It's common knowledge. city have no supporters either in Manchester or in Melbourne. A more apt comparison would be Gawn v Jamieson (Melb city captain apparently, i had to look it up). A-league is a shambles and has been for years. No competition to the AFL whatsoever. Newer migrants gravitate to soccer. Second generation to other sports. I wouldn't be surprised to see an influx of African talent to the AFL over the next few years. No reason why, with a proper recruitment strategy second generation talent can't be attracted to the AFL

Fraser Rosman has the potential to be an absolute beast. He has a similar physique to Paddy Cripps.

To be fair to Eddie he did put his heart and soul into the job and turned things around for the pies when they were in real trouble. Kudos for that. I don’t think it’s a good idea to have a club president that is a media personality as well. Port just about get away with Kochie and even he puts his foot in it too often. But hosting breakfast programs and commenting on matters affecting other clubs is fraught and left Eddie open to the charge of hypocrisy too often. Plus Collingwood issues were magnified because he was always asked for a comment when the better course of action was to lie low. I prefer the Bartlett model of media engagement. Stay in the background and only speak in public on rare occasions e.g. the spray he gave the team post the Port abomination this year. He hit the right tone at the right time. Over do the media exposure and his words lose impact.