Diamond_Jim

Anyone have Foxtel Go and can comment on the present set up. 6 of 9 may be exclusive to Foxtel in Melbourne but not Australia wide. In the example above the Adelaide game, the Sydney game and the Brisbane game would also be broadcast by Ch 7 FTA into home markets. That would make 6 of 9 with Channel 7 coverage

Heated debate now on the Whirlpool site about whether the Kayo AFL coverage will be either; what Foxtel show ie: Foxtel commentary and HD picture with no ads; or what Foxtel Go shows: ie Channel 7 commentary and standard definition with ads. Seems no one is sure and Kayo support is giving conflicting answers. O well we'll know soon. Still no sign of the television app.

amazing growth by that company. A giant logistics machine which has sufficient power to become a price maker to its sellers, warehousers, trucking companies you name it. Similar on a much larger scale to what the two big supermarkets in Australia did to the farmers. You have to wonder if it will fall foul of the anti trust rules in the US as it increases its dominance. Their deal of free delivery in the US for a fixed annual fee (think it's around US$20) is the best loyalty scheme any online seller has ever devised.

keep a watch as many have recently been bought in by a quarter. The pace of the roll out really picked up in the second half of 2018

NBN should be fully rolled out by end of 2019 save for those premises deemed difficult which should all be finished by end 2020. Aussie Broadband is the favourite provider these days because it limits it subscribers and in most cases you get the speed that you pay for. It has a $55 a month for 100 Gbs a month with a speed of 25mbs and unlimited at $69 a month also with 25mbs speed. A bit more than $40 but it will allow streaming at the highest level. The GB cap could be an issue as streaming in standard definition eats up about 1Gb an hour whereas streaming in HD eats up about 3GB per hour as I understand it. From the Kayo thread on Whirlpool they were saying if I recall you needed a minimum speed of around 7-8 mbs to run it.My ADSL is closer to 3mbs and thus it's no go for me at present.

Are you on the NBN RBG? I'm still on ADSL so kayo is not for me at present. Should have NBN by the second half of this year at which time the product definitely interests me.

An interesting perspective Jako as Foxtel are trying desperately to ensure that this new product does not canibalise their existing Foxtel brand. I suspect that even if they are moderately successful it will mean the end of any growth in Foxtel as most of their new subscribers would have been gained as a result of their sports broadcasts. The Kayo product will not be as good as the foxtel product simply because Foxtel are hamstrung with the deal they have done to share digital rights with Telstra. It will make for a very robust negotiation next time the rights are up for grabs. One also must ask if this product is extremely successful will the FTA stations continue to engage in their unholy partnership with pay TV that has now pervaded cricket, soccer (A League) and football. As they say we live in "interesting times."

Just thought I would bump this thread and mention a couple of things being discussed on the whirlpool forum (link in post above) now at 170 pages. Still no android app for your television so one needs to use a device to stream it to your TV. (It was suggested that the TV app would be out by the end of 2018.) On the AFL coverage it seems that it will be the coverage that was available on Foxtel Now and not the Foxtel set top box coverage. This means when Channel 7 shows a match you get their feed and I assume the replay is delayed. Lots of talk about connectivity but in the main most seem happy with the streaming quality. A few complaints about the What's on capability and how it can be difficult to browse between the multiple offerings.

One has to wonder about how close the club is to the wheels of power. This plan had pipe dream written all over it from day 1. Can't think of one group that came out in favour. Politics 101... perception and short term perception is where it's at. The best spin is that it was an ambit claim and that we are now going for option B but you really have to wonder.

not many children in those shoe boxes in the cbd and even then North Melbourne is probably closer to many. Southbank is relatively well serviced by Port Melbourne ovals

not meaning to be facetious but I suspect there aren't that many children in the immediate area. The nearest concentration would probably be at the Collingwood and Richmond high rise areas. Heard on the radio this morning that the Bulldogs got another $5M today to upgrade the Whitten oval. Cannot find a link

A somewhat apposite article about the members of a golf club adjoining the Wimbledon tennis complex selling out: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/dec/13/wimbledon-to-expand-after-golf-club-members-vote-to-sell-for-65m "Debate over the merits of the takeover had fractured the peace and tranquillity of the golf club’s fairways, laid out on parkland created by Capability Brown in the 18th century. “It’s like Brexit,” Devons, said. “You are either for it or against it. The offer split members and put decades-long golf partnerships on the rocks.” mind you each of the members picked up a cool $170K or thereabouts

great if we can get it. Has a resident summer cricket team and is also used by the Port Melbourne Colts. The Council (City of Port Phillip) did a master plan in 2014 or thereabouts. Worth an ask. The trees around the boundary would be under some kind of preservation order which could present a problem. The admin centre/gym would need to include a major community facility of some kind to give the Council impetus.

Somewhat on point are the arguments presently raging in NSW about the funding of the new NRL stadium. The Labour opposition have said they won't fund the stadium rebuild and in response the NRL have said they may take the finals out of Sydney. Echoes of some of the more famous stadium wars between big American cities and their NFL teams. "On Monday, Daley reiterated his promise not to fund the new stadium and called on the government not to demolish it before the election. “If I’m elected premier I will give the corporate entities, the trust, and others a loan to rebuild and refurbish it,” he said. “Football fans will get the refurbished stadium, but taxpayers will not get screwed for 100% of the costs. “The majority of people who live in NSW will never, ever step foot in one of these stadiums but they’re being asked to pay for the lot … if you think people are angry in Sydney you should go and speak to people in the bush and in the regions, they are absolutely white hot on this.” https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/dec/03/nsw-labor-leader-michael-daley-says-he-will-not-be-bullied-by-nrl-over-sydney-stadiums

the old contract will probably be scrapped as the new one will include a pay rise etc. So in that sense I am agreeing wit you... 4 years ending at the end of season 2022

A very reasoned post Ernie... 4 years sounds about right... allows you to extend at the end of year 3 if all are happy. I do think that this list may be the last roll of our dice for a while so I want to see sustained success. A flag if possible but deep into the finals is the minimum. The last ten plus years has ripped the life out of the club and its base membership is I suspect getting out of balance age wise. We need to bring on a new generation. While we can point to the Pies and Tigers as examples of how you can turn it around we can also point to the Bulldogs for flash in the pan success. We desperately need sustained success.

Thought this comment on an article about the never ending Harry Potter spin offs and "special editions" in the Guardian might tickle your senses: "So I took my kids to The Potter Factory in LA, I spent close to $500 on Dumble Brunch and $80 on wands that light up, but do not kill traffic cops when your car is being towed from a legal parking spot. We spent two nights at the Grindleward Inn, hauntings and visitations were extra, yeah, $100 per severed head and a mental $250 for something called a Budgeon-Fo-Killer-[censored], some kind of spell, basically helium is leaked into your room via the air-con so everyone speaks like mice for an hour or until your $250 runs out. Pathetic! Anyway, I shan't be going back. Eff you, Harry Potter and all your big-eared stupid, hairy mates. " https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/nov/28/harry-potter-and-the-56-anniversary-editions-endless-tie-ins-are-diluting-the-magic

Good points Pitmaster. IIRC a lot of the money for the Western Oval came from the federal government under a grant scheme they had running at the time. It was sold as a major upgrade of public facilities in the western suburbs. "After the appointment of Campbell Rose as Chief Executive of the football club in 2002, discussions commenced on a redevelopment of Whitten Oval. In September 2004, the club secured a deal for a $19.5m redevelopment, with contributions from the Federal Government ($8.0m),[12][13] Western Bulldogs Forever Foundation ($5.5m), State Government ($3.0m),[14][15] AFL ($1.5m) and the City of Maribyrnong ($1.0m).[16] Construction commenced in 2005,[17] and was completed in 2009. The renovated ground includes a 120 place childcare centre, a conference and convention centre and a state-of-the-art sports, medical, and health care centre for the Bulldogs to use as a training base " https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitten_Oval

4 years sounds about right... allows a further extension at the end of year 3 if all is going well. I think coaches of the future will be looking for sabbaticals in their contracts (even for half a season). Year on year it's a very tough gig especially on the family front.

I get the feeling it will be the new arms race. One thing protecting us perhaps is that with the soft cap on the football department spend the mega facility can become uneconomic in that the bigger the facility the more staff you need to employ to maximise the utility of the facility. For those in the know what goes under this cap. For example the groundskeepers and the cleaners would be outside the cap but are the dieticians and the kitchen staff within?

this is the new West Coast facility https://thewest.com.au/sport/west-coast-eagles/eagles-show-off-plans-for-new-home-at-lathlain-bc-5557316662001 There is obviously a big push by the powerhouses to take their facilities to another level. Adelaide spent $16M on their facility at AAMI park in 2008. Freo train in a facility that cost $109M http://www.fremantlefc.com.au/news/2018-07-19/fremantle-dockers-training-facility-tours- Getting back to our own facility we clearly don't have the money to match the powerhouses. Compromise is needed but we need to get a wriggle on.

to do that we would need to pay commercial value for the land... East Melbourne is amongst the highest value per square foot in Melbourne. Woop woop as you call it will not get any cheaper and it will get further out the longer we wait.

All about future proofing Binman... The Yarra park solution is better than we have (almost nothing) but it will be miles behind what the big clubs develop in the near future. EFC have an enormous indoor facility in which you can kick a football for example. Collingwood have spent big money on the old pool site but I suspect the architectural constraints of the place have limited them. If they had their time over again I think they would be elsewhere. Richmond is the unknown. Good facilities at Punt road but not really 21st century facilities. Richmond with their success and membership base (especially if they can hook their members onto the pre reserved seats merry go round) will soon be rolling in money. Social clubs are dead unless you can think of a use for them on the other 340 days of the year. Here's a site showing the training grounds for the EPL clubs. Not suggesting we have the money they have but the most recently built training facility is for Tottenham. Worth a look. It's about 30k from their home ground. http://www.footballtraininggrounds.com/tottenham.html

I think in all of this we are missing overall costs. Would love to know the cost of the Bomber's development. I suspect we are effectively asking for the land for free and we pick up the development costs. As an aside the new Perth stadium has the highest cost per seat (a measure of stadium costs) in the world. $227k on a feasibility study is small these days and I suspect it would also include lobbying and preliminary submissions etc. I have no personal knowledge but I suspect that even when you mention something being built over a rail line the planning costs soars. (Have a look at what the NBN is charging for individual connections if you want FTTP as against their standard offering.)

On Whirlpool there's a hundred page thread on this topic which only started 2.5 weeks ago (shades of the Hogan thread !!). My head started hurting after 20 or so pages. Most of the discussion seems to be about the difficulties of chromecasting but overall the product is welcomed and gets high marks for content. Lots of discussion about whether it's 4k or HD. Apparently there will be TV apps by the end of the year so I will check back in then. Here's the thread if anyone is interested: https://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-replies.cfm?t=2763582&p=1