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GRANT BAKERHerald Sun
THE Western Bulldogs’ barnstorming season will translate into record revenue — and a profit.
In his first interview since taking over as chief executive in August, David Stevenson told the Herald Sun the Dogs would not wait for “equalisation to solve our future” and outlined the club’s strategic aims.
Stevenson said the Bulldogs:
HAD made a bold fixture request to the AFL for six Friday night games in 2016.
WOULD explore trade and free agency as part of an ambition to be a “destination club”.
AIMED to play two matches a season in Ballarat from 2017.
WOULD work with the AFL to get a better deal from Etihad Stadium.
Stevenson said he was confident the club would deliver a “strong profit” on the back of improved membership and crowd numbers.
“To have record membership — over 36,000 — coming off a challenging off-season for us, we’re going to have record revenue this year as well, which is fantastic,” he said.
“But I also feel really proud that we’re building in the right way — we’re making decisions that are in the long-term interests of the club.”
Stevenson said it was a “huge focus” for the club not to rely on AFL competitive balance measures.
He said the club had been lobbying the AFL for a better fixture after being left out of Friday night calculations this season.
“I think they (AFL) have seen the work that we have done on the field. They also see the confidence we are building off the field and they want to play a role,” he said.
Stevenson said it was encouraging that the club was now retaining its best talent on and off the field.
“It’s the confidence for Marcus Bontempelli to sign for four years to 2019, for Jake Stringer, Mitch Wallis, Luke Dahlhaus — there’s a confidence in our future,” he said.
“I think that comes from great work from (coach) Luke (Beveridge) and the coaching team — but also great work from the entire club, whether it be (recently re-signed) Simon Dalrymple in recruiting, Jason (McCartney) in list management.”
He said after turning over 11 players last summer, the club was confident in the trajectory of its list.
“We feel really excited by our current list. We feel confident that if we keep working hard, that we will see strong progression,” he said.
“But also, we want to be a destination club. We know that there are players who want to come and play for the Western Bulldogs who aren’t today — so we will definitely explore those options, but our strategy is not going to rely on trading and five brand new free agents coming.”
After recently inking a multimillion-dollar five-year sponsorship deal with the state government, the Dogs will aim to play two matches a season in Ballarat from 2017.
He said the western corridor was one of Australia’s fastest growing regions.
“I’m really excited by Ballarat because it is the extension of moving from Footscray to the west of Melbourne and then now into the west of Victoria,” Stevenson said.
“What I like is that it strategically aligns with the future of where we are trying to take the club.”
Stevenson said the Dogs “don’t have any plans to grow our gaming business” after recently aborting the Edgewater development were 70 poker machines were to be housed.
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