The Western Bulldogs could reap about $750,000 if they play home games in Geelong

[Eastdog]

What proportion of our members would live in the west?

Pretty easy trip for them.

I live in the eastern suburbs myself but that would be interesting to know how many members live in the traditional heartland. Do you reckon we have an even spread of members around the city?

[LostDoggy]

What proportion of our members would live in the west?

Pretty easy trip for them.

Is it though?

I'd say a very high percentage of fans love the convenience of the tram/train network of inner Melbourne delivering them to the door step of Etihad stadium.
Couple that with the thought of going to an indoor arena in the middle of a cold Vic winter and the Docklans set up is quite attractive to the average punter. That's not even mentioning the blow in crowd that are visiting Melb CBD.
Take these away, add a 50 - 60min drive and a (let's hope this isn't the case) poor performing Bulldogs and I can't see much over 10k showing up. Especially if it coincides with the Cats playing in Melbourne.
I know we still are better off financially running with 10,000 spectators down there, but drawing crowds like that would be very depressing.

[Ghost Dog]

Is it though?

I'd say a very high percentage of fans love the convenience of the tram/train network of inner Melbourne delivering them to the door step of Etihad stadium.
Couple that with the thought of going to an indoor arena in the middle of a cold Vic winter and the Docklans set up is quite attractive to the average punter. That's not even mentioning the blow in crowd that are visiting Melb CBD.
Take these away, add a 50 - 60min drive and a (let's hope this isn't the case) poor performing Bulldogs and I can't see much over 10k showing up. Especially if it coincides with the Cats playing in Melbourne.
I know we still are better off financially running with 10,000 spectators down there, but drawing crowds like that would be very depressing.

Should we worry about that? Long term it won't kill us. Do it for a few years, pocket the cash and be done with it. We've played in Darwin and Canberra to much smaller crowds.

[ratsmac]

The only real solution is for the AFL to buy Eithad. The current owners want $250 million, which the AFL says is too much. All this discussion on boutique stadiums, Geelong games are tactics to try and get the price down. I think the AFL will work out a deal and buy the stadium.

$250 million, the bulldogs should buy it at that price. We would pay it off in no time

[1eyedog]

I'm not so keen on that. Kardinia Park only holds 22,000 and there'd be quite a lot of people locked out. That game is probably one of the few we can draw a good crowd and make money out of Etihad from. I'd be more inclined to just play 4 interstate teams there, sure we'll probably only get 15,000 there which isn't a great look, but at least we'd make money.

I think you're underestimating the footy hungry footy fan down there.I grew up in Geelong and they are hungry for footy. I reckon a lot of local Geelong supporters would get alongt to enjoy a good afternoon of AFL footy.

[jeemak]

Is it though?

I'd say a very high percentage of fans love the convenience of the tram/train network of inner Melbourne delivering them to the door step of Etihad stadium.
Couple that with the thought of going to an indoor arena in the middle of a cold Vic winter and the Docklans set up is quite attractive to the average punter. That's not even mentioning the blow in crowd that are visiting Melb CBD.
Take these away, add a 50 - 60min drive and a (let's hope this isn't the case) poor performing Bulldogs and I can't see much over 10k showing up. Especially if it coincides with the Cats playing in Melbourne.
I know we still are better off financially running with 10,000 spectators down there, but drawing crowds like that would be very depressing.

I think you make some excellent points.

Etihad is an exceptional ground to watch football at, even though I think the ground is too short and narrow for modern AFL football (with the way the game's played these days, more room on the flanks is needed to reduce congestion IMO).

You've nailed the indoor aspect, as well as the driving aspect.

We need as many people as possible attending our games, and having 10,000 people showing up isn't acceptable. That's why it's so important for the AFL to buy Etihad and improve the returns for its tenants.

The fact we are subsidising the paying off of the stadium for naught return is sickenning.

[Nuggety Back Pocket]

I live in the eastern suburbs myself but that would be interesting to know how many members live in the traditional heartland. Do you reckon we have an even spread of members around the city?

As another who lives in the outer Eastern Suburbs, I would have little enthusiasm for moving home games to Geelong. Mantis is right in saying that to have the Southern Cross station on the doorstep of Etihad is a huge attraction. The figures Geelong are throwing about is based on their ability to attract 30,000 to their home games. We would be lucky to attract half of that number at Kardinia Park. We were given an initial bad deal to play at Etihad. Hopefully Peter Gordon's new equalization scheme will gather momentum to ensue our future is secure at Etihad.

[F'scary]

If the AFL is going to look into buying Etihad, it needs to have a serious think about the impact of rising waters. An Article in The Age in 2012 predicted the whole of the Docklands area could be seriously impacted by floods in the near future

GD, you surprise me. I did not think you were a believer in catastrophic anthropogenic global warming.

[mighty_west]

I now live in Brisbane but lived in Mornington for 6 years, I would have had no issues doing the road trip to the cattery, as it was mentioned in this thread as long as it was out of the likes of GWS, Port, Suns or Freo,

[F'scary]

If the finances stack up like the $750k profit and there is 34,000 capacity, I think it would be good to play all home games at Geelong. The Etihad deal is a dud and reduces us to pauper status, which I can't stand.

[Remi Moses]

If the AFL is going to look into buying Etihad, it needs to have a serious think about the impact of rising waters. An Article in The Age in 2012 predicted the whole of the Docklands area could be seriously impacted by floods in the near future

Gee GD I thought you'd subscribe to our expert on all things climate Professor Andrew Bolt.
What on earth would scientists know?

[F'scary]

Gee GD I thought you'd subscribe to our expert on all things climate Professor Andrew Bolt.
What on earth would scientists know?

Yes, what would activist scientists know?

[Mofra]

Yes, what would 97% of scientists know?

Fixed for you

[F'scary]

Fixed for you

Thank you for reprogramming me: 97% of activist scientists.

[The Adelaide Connection]

I don't really like the way we were treated by Carlton FC when we were a co-tenant, or the attitude they take to the rest of the competition in a general sense, but I really rate Princess Park as the second best ground I've watched football at, behind Etihad.

The MCG is fantastic if you have amazing seats however.

I've not been to AAMI Park yet, though I've heard that the way it's been designed makes a game with minimal crowd have a huge impact on the viewing experience due to the atmosphere the accoustics of the place create, complemented by how close you are to the pitch.

I'd love to see a 20-25K capacity ground built on the inner western side of the city designed with these characteristics.

Demetriou flagged the possibility of spending some coin on Punt Road or Princess Park rather than paying overs for taking Etihad early. What sort of coin would it take to get each up to scratch and, if it were to happen, which would be the better option?