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High costs eating in AFL clubs’ new earnings at Adelaide Oval

MICHELANGELO RUCCI CHIEF FOOTBALL WRITER
The Advertiser
May 09, 2014 4:03PM

ADELAIDE Oval’s new deal for its AFL tenants is already under fire for not delivering the “pots of gold” the SANFL claims are on offer to the Crows and Power.

New AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan will chair a review of the AFL clubs’ deal with the Adelaide Oval Stadium Management Authority in July. The meeting was originally set for June 1.

But already the Crows and Power feel they are being short-changed in the $12 million uplift

projected by the SANFL because of significant cost increases in hosting AFL games at the Oval when compared to Football Park.

Port Adelaide Football Club president David Koch yesterday was forthright in calling for the stadium deal at the Oval to be changed.

“It needs to be looked at because it is not the gold mine that we are being told it is,” Koch said at the Oval. “Some of the costs are way more than AAMI Stadium and way more than we expected — and it’s not just us. It’s the Crows as well.”

These cost increases are in booking stadium rooms, security, cleaning and in managing the traffic around the Oval.

Adelaide Football Club chairman Rob Chapman said his first glance at the receipts from the Oval show “we are incurring increases in our expenses”.

“But I have no axe to grind just yet and I want to see more figures, say from 12 weeks of attendances, revenues and costs to test the stadium model,” Chapman told The Advertiser yesterday.

“And I want to make sure the uplift that comes from Adelaide Oval does indeed go to where it was originally intended — the two AFL clubs.”

SANFL president John Olsen, the new SMA chairman, last month raised the ire of the AFL clubs by saying they would together claim a $12 million increase stadium return by the move to the redeveloped Adelaide Oval when compared to takings at AAMI Stadium.

But the two AFL clubs say that Olsen has ignored the extra costs they are incurring in putting on games at the Oval. Port expects its net benefit to be at $3.9m. Adelaide is expecting a $3m net benefit. The combined $6.9m is far short of Olsen’s $12m prediction.

Koch yesterday acknowledged Port’s net benefit could exceed the $3.9m projection because the Power’s attendances at the Oval are greater than expected.

“We were thinking we would get an average of 32,000-35,000 at Adelaide Oval and we are tracking at well mover 40,000 (44,545) at the moment,” Koch said.

“But forget about the numbers of people turning up. It is what we earn out of the stadium that will determine what we make (as a profit or loss this season).

“Yes, (Adelaide Oval) is a significant benefit to us — there is no doubt about that) — but there have been some surprises (in the costs). The stadium deal is better, but it is not as good as some of the numbers that have been bandied about.”

One of the additional costs encountered by the clubs is having to pay for road closures, a fee understood to be around $15,000 they never encountered at Football Park.

monotonehell wrote:How could these "bills" be a shock? They would have worked out these costs during planning.

ml69 wrote:I'm an avid Aussie Rules supporter but I'm going to be blunt here ... its very rich for the 2 AFL clubs to be complaining about inadequate financial returns when half a billion dollars of taxpayers money has been spent building them a new stadium!

They should be thanking their lucky stars!! Who the heck do they think they are???

SRW wrote:

ml69 wrote:I'm an avid Aussie Rules supporter but I'm going to be blunt here ... its very rich for the 2 AFL clubs to be complaining about inadequate financial returns when half a billion dollars of taxpayers money has been spent building them a new stadium!

They should be thanking their lucky stars!! Who the heck do they think they are???

+100

Phantom wrote:

SRW wrote:

ml69 wrote:I'm an avid Aussie Rules supporter but I'm going to be blunt here ... its very rich for the 2 AFL clubs to be complaining about inadequate financial returns when half a billion dollars of taxpayers money has been spent building them a new stadium!

They should be thanking their lucky stars!! Who the heck do they think they are???

+100

The key to them both turning a profit this season is that they need to be making a high number of sales of merchandise and season passes and that it won't be affected by crowd numbers?

I call bullshit.

Waewick wrote:I think you'll notice that the Crows have only mentioned not making as much....

I don't think they are feeling the pinch, it is business as usual I would suggest.