By Luke D’Anello
KEY football figures have rejected suggestions the AFL’s $1.253 billion TV rights deal will hurt crowd numbers at suburban games, but local clubs are singing a different tune.
From 2012, Foxtel will show all nine games live each week, while Channel 7 will broadcast three games live and one on delay.
With so much AFL on TV, there is potential for the casual local observer to opt for an afternoon on the couch. This would be bad news for suburban clubs, who generate a significant portion of their revenue on match days.
But Western Region Football League (WRFL) CEO Bob Tregear said there is no reason why fans can’t still get their local and AFL footy fix.
“I don’t think it’s going to have any impact on community football attendances,” Tregear said.
“Everybody was worried when they started televising Saturday and Sunday games that it was going to upset community football, but what’s actually happened is they’ve spread it over Friday night, Saturday afternoon, Saturday night, Sunday and Monday.
“It’s actually been the best thing that’s ever happened to us. You don’t have to make a choice between AFL and community football anymore.”
Essendon District Football League (EDFL) general manager Marc Turri said the blockbuster AFL games do impact on crowds, citing the clash between traditional rivals Essendon and Carlton on 16 April as the most recent example.
“Other than that, attendances have been pretty good in the current AFL climate and I don’t expect that to change significantly once the new rights deal begins, simply because there is more live football,” Turri said.
“The impact will come more from who is scheduled to play in the Saturday afternoon timeslot, rather than the fact that there is a game.
“At present, Foxtel will be the only broadcaster showing live Saturday afternoon football and only about 30 per cent of households have Foxtel.”
Turri said local leagues will hope the AFL continues to schedule big-drawing matches on Friday and Saturday nights.
Spotswood president Chris Murphy conceded the rights deal will have “some impact” on crowds and called for a deal to be established allowing local clubs to have Foxtel installed in their clubrooms at a cheaper rate.
Wyndhamvale president John Willaton also claimed it will have an impact, while North Footscray president Warwick Lucas conceded times had simply changed.
“It’s not like the old days where there was footy on a Saturday afternoon and if you didn’t go to AFL, you went to local footy. These days, there is just too much on,” Lucas said.
But Deer Park president Mark McGoldrick is confident crowds will continue to flock to suburban games.
“I don’t think it will have an impact. The AFL is doing us a favour by charging $10 for a beer and $8 for a pie. We charge $4 for a beer and $3 for a pie,” he said.
“Our revenue has certainly tripled in the last four years … we’ve grown as a club as well, but a lot of people are coming back to local footy.”
Williamstown general manager Brendan Curry said the new agreement will not affect VFL crowd numbers, and that the Seagulls did not rely heavily on revenue from the gate.
AFL Victoria general manager Grant Williams said: “Despite all AFL matches being available live on TV, the trend of supporters venturing out and cheering on their local team should continue.”
He added that the money gained from the TV rights was expected to be invested in Auskick, multicultural, schools, female, Indigenous and other programs.
