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Three teams under threat, says Elliott
Paul Millar | January 12, 2009
THE AFL's expansion plans for west Sydney look doomed to fail, while the long-term future of North Melbourne, the Western Bulldogs and Melbourne is under a cloud, according to former Carlton chairman John Elliott.
He said that subsidies to the three clubs could dry up in tough economic times and they would have to seriously consider their options.
"If we are right in speculating that the next lot of TV rights might go down a bit, then the money floating around for clubs to be subsidised will disappear," he said on 3AW.
Elliott, who was president of the Blues for 20 years, questioned the AFL's expansion policy but said it was clear that there were too many teams in Melbourne, especially in a struggling economy.
"I do think the Gold Coast will work, but I'm terribly worried about west Sydney. Nobody is interested in the game out there, they are just not interested in it," he said.
Elliott said it would cost the AFL millions to promote the game in rugby league's heartland in west Sydney, while the Tasmanian Government was prepared to underwrite moving a side there.
"Tasmania is keen to get a team in the AFL," he said.
He believed the AFL wanted a continued presence in Melbourne's west and that ruled out the Bulldogs moving to Tasmania.
"One of these three clubs will have to go down to Tassie. I do not think it would be the Bulldogs and I think it would be very difficult to rout Melbourne out of Melbourne, so it does appear to me that it will eventually be North Melbourne," he said.
Paul Millar | January 12, 2009
THE AFL's expansion plans for west Sydney look doomed to fail, while the long-term future of North Melbourne, the Western Bulldogs and Melbourne is under a cloud, according to former Carlton chairman John Elliott.
He said that subsidies to the three clubs could dry up in tough economic times and they would have to seriously consider their options.
"If we are right in speculating that the next lot of TV rights might go down a bit, then the money floating around for clubs to be subsidised will disappear," he said on 3AW.
Elliott, who was president of the Blues for 20 years, questioned the AFL's expansion policy but said it was clear that there were too many teams in Melbourne, especially in a struggling economy.
"I do think the Gold Coast will work, but I'm terribly worried about west Sydney. Nobody is interested in the game out there, they are just not interested in it," he said.
Elliott said it would cost the AFL millions to promote the game in rugby league's heartland in west Sydney, while the Tasmanian Government was prepared to underwrite moving a side there.
"Tasmania is keen to get a team in the AFL," he said.
He believed the AFL wanted a continued presence in Melbourne's west and that ruled out the Bulldogs moving to Tasmania.
"One of these three clubs will have to go down to Tassie. I do not think it would be the Bulldogs and I think it would be very difficult to rout Melbourne out of Melbourne, so it does appear to me that it will eventually be North Melbourne," he said.
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