Greystache
23-02-2013, 11:21 AM
http://images.theage.com.au/2013/02/22/4055356/dan-20130222200036491276-620x349.jpg
THE Western Bulldogs have proposed that the AFL use the proceeds of club poker machines for a ''luxury tax,'' one of a range of measures the club has put forward with the hope of creating a more even competition.
In their formal submission to the AFL on equalisation, the Bulldogs also made the novel suggestion that the AFL fund a specific ratio of the football department budget that is not spent on player payments. The club said, for example, that if the salary cap was $10 million and the agreed ratio for non-player payment spending was 50 per cent, then each and every club would receive $15 million in a new arrangement.
The Bulldogs' submission - titled ''catch up footy'' - called for the sharing of stadium revenues and costs - in effect, centralising the costs and revenues from the different match-day venues. ''The overarching concept,'' said the club, ''should be that it doesn't matter who you play, where you play, when you play, you will receive the same net return on match returns as the other 17 clubs in the competition.''
The Bulldogs argue that the competition will do better commercially - in attendances and in generating money and interest - if the competition is more equalised than it is today and their submission comes as the AFL considers various ways of equalising the divide, including different pricing of different matches.
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''Both history and economics suggest that there are significant advantages to be enjoyed from an even and strong competition - in which the four smallest franchises can and do regularly participate in the last two weeks of the finals.''
But the Bulldogs were opposed to caps on spending in football departments, because this would stymie innovation and creativity. Equalisation, they said, should be about ''underpinning a minimum rather than enforcing a maximum; on raising a general standard rather than reining in excellence''.
But perhaps the most novel concept in the submission was that poker machine revenues be redistributed into a central pool, once they reach ''a certain proportion of gross club revenue''. The club noted the growth in poker machine revenue - and the growing gap between smaller and larger Victorian clubs in this area, developments which ''have been to the detriment of the competition''.
The club said a poker machine ''luxury tax'' might have the additional benefit of reducing the incentive of clubs to increase their own dependence and their fans exposure to poker machine use.
President Peter Gordon said the Bulldogs generated about $300,000 from poker machines, ''about 10 per cent'' of what the larger clubs made from pokies in Victoria.
In ''catch up footy'', the Dogs point out that America's National Football League - the biggest sporting competition in the world - shares 70 per cent of all income, thereby building a competition in which ''every game is a potential blockbuster''.
The Bulldogs said it would be best for the game, if the ''next 100,000 new football fans in Victoria electing to become club members chose smaller franchises rather than larger. There are only so many fans who can get to a Collingwood or Essendon game each week.''
The aim, their submission said, should be to ''reach or approach capacity in as many games as possible''.
The Dogs said success in the AFL should be determined ''by how smart you are and how hard you work, and the emphasis should fall on equality of opportunity rather than equality of outcome''.
''Catch up footy'' - authored by Gordon, chief executive Simon Garlick and executives Wayne Tattersall, Shannon Rees, Gary Kent, with help from author/journalist Gideon Haigh - also argued that the AFL now had a different kind of supporter - ''the two-eyed fan'' who followed his own club, but also watched other games regularly and wished to see a close and exciting competition.
''Catch up footy'' said that the Etihad Stadium tenants suffered from the money that went into the coffers of the ground's private ownership. In effect, Etihad tenants were ''paying off the stadium on behalf of all clubs''.
Link (http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/bulldogs-want-catchup-footy-20130222-2ex36.html)
THE Western Bulldogs have proposed that the AFL use the proceeds of club poker machines for a ''luxury tax,'' one of a range of measures the club has put forward with the hope of creating a more even competition.
In their formal submission to the AFL on equalisation, the Bulldogs also made the novel suggestion that the AFL fund a specific ratio of the football department budget that is not spent on player payments. The club said, for example, that if the salary cap was $10 million and the agreed ratio for non-player payment spending was 50 per cent, then each and every club would receive $15 million in a new arrangement.
The Bulldogs' submission - titled ''catch up footy'' - called for the sharing of stadium revenues and costs - in effect, centralising the costs and revenues from the different match-day venues. ''The overarching concept,'' said the club, ''should be that it doesn't matter who you play, where you play, when you play, you will receive the same net return on match returns as the other 17 clubs in the competition.''
The Bulldogs argue that the competition will do better commercially - in attendances and in generating money and interest - if the competition is more equalised than it is today and their submission comes as the AFL considers various ways of equalising the divide, including different pricing of different matches.
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''Both history and economics suggest that there are significant advantages to be enjoyed from an even and strong competition - in which the four smallest franchises can and do regularly participate in the last two weeks of the finals.''
But the Bulldogs were opposed to caps on spending in football departments, because this would stymie innovation and creativity. Equalisation, they said, should be about ''underpinning a minimum rather than enforcing a maximum; on raising a general standard rather than reining in excellence''.
But perhaps the most novel concept in the submission was that poker machine revenues be redistributed into a central pool, once they reach ''a certain proportion of gross club revenue''. The club noted the growth in poker machine revenue - and the growing gap between smaller and larger Victorian clubs in this area, developments which ''have been to the detriment of the competition''.
The club said a poker machine ''luxury tax'' might have the additional benefit of reducing the incentive of clubs to increase their own dependence and their fans exposure to poker machine use.
President Peter Gordon said the Bulldogs generated about $300,000 from poker machines, ''about 10 per cent'' of what the larger clubs made from pokies in Victoria.
In ''catch up footy'', the Dogs point out that America's National Football League - the biggest sporting competition in the world - shares 70 per cent of all income, thereby building a competition in which ''every game is a potential blockbuster''.
The Bulldogs said it would be best for the game, if the ''next 100,000 new football fans in Victoria electing to become club members chose smaller franchises rather than larger. There are only so many fans who can get to a Collingwood or Essendon game each week.''
The aim, their submission said, should be to ''reach or approach capacity in as many games as possible''.
The Dogs said success in the AFL should be determined ''by how smart you are and how hard you work, and the emphasis should fall on equality of opportunity rather than equality of outcome''.
''Catch up footy'' - authored by Gordon, chief executive Simon Garlick and executives Wayne Tattersall, Shannon Rees, Gary Kent, with help from author/journalist Gideon Haigh - also argued that the AFL now had a different kind of supporter - ''the two-eyed fan'' who followed his own club, but also watched other games regularly and wished to see a close and exciting competition.
''Catch up footy'' said that the Etihad Stadium tenants suffered from the money that went into the coffers of the ground's private ownership. In effect, Etihad tenants were ''paying off the stadium on behalf of all clubs''.
Link (http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/bulldogs-want-catchup-footy-20130222-2ex36.html)