Saints Pledge to Quit Pokies

[mordiboyz]

In an interesting article on the front page of todays Moorabbin Leader (6/2/2019)

Saints Pokies Pledge

Club says long term aim is quit gaming income.

They have discussed this with the AFL and are working to identify other revenue streams.


Great news for everyone concerned. Pokies are no good for anyone.

[shanegrambeau]

This scares me a little.
I am not a gambler. Gambling scares me. I have written about the damage done by Crown Casino before, but if St Kilda is hell bent on raising its credentials as a 'community-responsible' club, I think they should take a good look at the 'Family Club' Hawthorn, who I am led to believe are extremely successful and extremely aggressive with pokies. Didn't they even get called out for it by some authority or another?

I am just worried that our 'Social Responsibility Agenda' and I write that in Capitals to show it is 'brand', PR, political and has nothing whatsover to do with being reasonable and fair human beings and everything to do with media profiling, insurance against attack from opportunistic media moral frenzy stirrers - the last is a necessary evil for us but it shouldn't drive us to be proactive. Being proactive only makes it looks worse when one of our staff or players gets caught for something (and they will) because we have the high moral ground.

Jeff Kennet, Hawthorn and Crown have been successful. I hate pokies and don't wanna encourage them, but if we start making political 'gestures' I wonder about our bottom line - winning games.

I admit I have just read the 'mongrel punt' article and I am seething a bit about Paddy and wondering if our club is being 'too nice' again.

[sunsaint]

well you just lost your complimentary ticket to ride on the clubs' float entry in the Sydney G&L Mardi Gras this year

The board might just have been watching one of those Gambling helpline ads on TV and thought it a good idea
reality is i think we will be riding the pokey gravy train for a while to come yet

[The Fireman]

not the first time we've allowed other clubs to gain the advantage.

[Cairnsman]

In an interesting article on the front page of todays Moorabbin Leader (6/2/2019)

Saints Pokies Pledge

Club says long term aim is quit gaming income.

They have discussed this with the AFL and are working to identify other revenue streams.


Great news for everyone concerned. Pokies are no good for anyone.

Sell more alcohol...the social problems caused by alcohol eclipse problems caused gambling significantly I'm led to believe and is also an awesome revenue earner for government but for some reason alcohol is cool, in fact I'm drinking a vodka and soda with a squeeze of lime this very post.

I think the legalisation of weed isn't far off, so being the progressive club we are maybe we should be looking into the industry as a replacement revenue source.

[shanegrambeau]

In an interesting article on the front page of todays Moorabbin Leader (6/2/2019)

Saints Pokies Pledge

Club says long term aim is quit gaming income.

They have discussed this with the AFL and are working to identify other revenue streams.


Great news for everyone concerned. Pokies are no good for anyone.

Sell more alcohol...

As long as there is no Moorabbin meth lab. Our captain already bears an uncanny resemblance to Jesse Pinkman from the hit TV series 'Breaking Bad'.

[Cairnsman]

In an interesting article on the front page of todays Moorabbin Leader (6/2/2019)

Saints Pokies Pledge

Club says long term aim is quit gaming income.

They have discussed this with the AFL and are working to identify other revenue streams.


Great news for everyone concerned. Pokies are no good for anyone.

Sell more alcohol...

As long as there is no Moorabbin meth lab. Our captain already bears an uncanny resemblance to Jesse Pinkman from the hit TV series 'Breaking Bad'.

He does too, and here I was thinking he had natural speed.

[Jacks Back]

In an interesting article on the front page of todays Moorabbin Leader (6/2/2019)

Saints Pokies Pledge

Club says long term aim is quit gaming income.

They have discussed this with the AFL and are working to identify other revenue streams.


Great news for everyone concerned. Pokies are no good for anyone.

I think the legalisation of weed isn't far off, so being the progressive club we are maybe we should be looking into the industry as a replacement revenue source.

.....anyhow have a St Kilda Spliff

[Enrico_Misso]

1) Hawthorn #1 for pokie revenue.
2) Kennett (was) president of Beyond Blue.
1) + 2) = Hypocrite

[sunsaint]

In an interesting article on the front page of todays Moorabbin Leader (6/2/2019)

Saints Pokies Pledge

Club says long term aim is quit gaming income.

They have discussed this with the AFL and are working to identify other revenue streams.


Great news for everyone concerned. Pokies are no good for anyone.

Sell more alcohol...

As long as there is no Moorabbin meth lab. Our captain already bears an uncanny resemblance to Jesse Pinkman from the hit TV series 'Breaking Bad'.

this crowd could be our new sponsor?
BlowMeFirst

[tedtheodorelogan2018]

Bad move. We need $'s unfortunately.

[bigcarl]

Bad move. We need $'s unfortunately.

Exactly. Now they’ll go and lose their money at the TAB rather than StK FC

[tedtheodorelogan2018]

Bad move. We need $'s unfortunately.

Exactly. Now they’ll go and lose their money at the TAB rather than StK FC

Yep. Or more like they will gamble at pokie joints within a 5km radius. I personally don't play or care about pokies but the clubs possible future stance makes little sense.

Why does everything offend everyone these days?
Next there will be a problem that Reflex Paper sponsors our chick side because they aren't environmentally friendly or their supplier accidently killed a couple of orangutans in an Indonesian forest when felling trees.

[skeptic]

Sell more alcohol...the social problems caused by alcohol eclipse problems caused gambling significantly I'm led to believe

This is correct.

I work with depressed, suicidal and psychotic ppl every day. I frequently encounter alcoholism... and only sometimes come across gambling addiction. Will add this though, a gambler that’s lost everything is way more likely to commit suicide then someone who depressed and drunk.

[skeptic]

Bad move. We need $'s unfortunately.

Exactly. Now they’ll go and lose their money at the TAB rather than StK FC

Yep. Or more like they will gamble at pokie joints within a 5km radius. I personally don't play or care about pokies but the clubs possible future stance makes little sense.

Why does everything offend everyone these days?
Next there will be a problem that Reflex Paper sponsors our chick side because they aren't environmentally friendly or their supplier accidently killed a couple of orangutans in an Indonesian forest when felling trees.

I guess it’s just a matter of how you look at it...
I would argue that the deeper morality of the issue does matter even if the club’s stance on its own as an isolated example doesn’t make an immediate difference.

Instead of gambling at Moorabbin now, someone gambles away money at a TAB down the round. But the money that goes into the Saints profit margin isn’t connected to the suicide of a man that had a problem and lost it all... or the breakdown of a family that fell apart by losing it all.

Personally, I do think that’s admirable and suggest that it’s when ppl stop caring that these things become bigger problems

[shanegrambeau]

Did the Seaford move have a little wiff of Pokies iabout it? With the Moorabbin, or Kingston (whatever it is called now) council? Like, we wanted more machines but couldn't have them so we went to Seaford....not the main reason, but one factor?

[SydneySainter]

Bad move. We need $'s unfortunately.

Exactly. Now they’ll go and lose their money at the TAB rather than StK FC

Yep. Or more like they will gamble at pokie joints within a 5km radius. I personally don't play or care about pokies but the clubs possible future stance makes little sense.

Why does everything offend everyone these days?
Next there will be a problem that Reflex Paper sponsors our chick side because they aren't environmentally friendly or their supplier accidently killed a couple of orangutans in an Indonesian forest when felling trees.

I don’t think it’s so much a question of why everything offends, but more as to why everyone offends so easily these days.

I mean, this forum did have to put a ban notice in place to stop Richo being called a bad name..

[degruch]

Bad move. We need $'s unfortunately.

Exactly. Now they’ll go and lose their money at the TAB rather than StK FC

Yep. Or more like they will gamble at pokie joints within a 5km radius. I personally don't play or care about pokies but the clubs possible future stance makes little sense.

Why does everything offend everyone these days?
Next there will be a problem that Reflex Paper sponsors our chick side because they aren't environmentally friendly or their supplier accidently killed a couple of orangutans in an Indonesian forest when felling trees.

Offend? What has being offended got to do with the club's stance on chronic gambling? The club is looking into alternative revenue streams, as if they'd actually drop pokies without viable replacement, and it's about time too.

Next you'll be offended by the abbreviation of someone's name.

[Sainter_Dad]

Flame me if you want - but:

I have been known to spend $10 in the pokies - and the club is not going to make a fortune from me this way - but I firmly believe that we need to provide the service - if not us - then people will just go elsewhere and we will miss out on the revenue stream.

I understand the blight that Pokies can be on society - but surely it is up to legislators and lobbyists to approach the regulation of the industry - to my mind we are being negligent to the members of the club if we ignore this lucrative income stream.

I also seem to remember that one of the reasons we left Moorabbin in the first place was that our Pokie Licenses were being cut back - only to be given to South Side Six.

To be quite frank - I can see both sides of the issue - but feel that a football club has no right being a social justice warrior - and not only on this issue.

[shanegrambeau]

I also seem to remember that one of the reasons we left Moorabbin in the first place was that our Pokie Licenses were being cut back - only to be given to South Side Six.

Thought so too.

So that makes me think it might be political posturing by our club. Maybe they made a deal that they would say something like this as part of ten “back to Moorabbin” thing.

Hawthorn can get away with all their pokies and call themselves the Family Club!,,,
Is it their rich demographic?

[sunsaint]

if the club put its hand out to recv public money with intention to build a community focused sport venue
then it shouldnt be a pokie palace

I get the but I only put in a tenner - but I would be petty sure the same people would be complaining like hell if you were putting in a tenner next to a person smoking at the next bandit

Not that theres anything wrong with sainter_dad putting in a tenner
just as Im sure theres nothing wrong with having a deep long drag as the bandit takes that last $1

bloody hell thats just given me an idea - what if the govt combined a $1mill lottery ticket with a packet of smokes...
instant $revenue$

[shanegrambeau]

Just realized that this whole pokie thing media story played out in the first part of last season. Lots of coverage. Teams ranked on pokie revenue, Collingwood pulling out of Pokie announcement etc., etc., So now too late and kinda no big deal, except some teams will find a way to extract the $$ somehow, anyway.

[The Fireman]

let's take the high moral ground and slip into obscurity. we can then all follow the skunks and have pics taken with Joffa

[Dave McNamara]

I also seem to remember that one of the reasons we left Moorabbin in the first place was that our Pokie Licenses were being cut back - only to be given to South Side Six.

Hi SD, my understanding (and I'm pretty damn confident that I have this right) is...

We wanted to move our existing pokie bandits from the obscurity of a Moorabbin side street, to the prominence of a main road. In this case, move them to the Moorabbin Bowlo' on South Road. We weren't asking for any more pokies, just to move our existing ones a few hundred metres.

The issue was that the Kingston Council of the day was run by several ardent anti-pokie councillors. (Floppsy Toppsy being arguably the best known.) Council refused to back our move, which would have (somehow, I don't know the exact mechanism) have put our licenses at risk, if we'd then moved the machines without council backing.

The irony (read hypocrisy) of this move by the council, was that only about 6 months earlier they'd approved extra poker machines for the South Side Six blood barn!

Then. Our BOM of the day, instead of realising that councillors come and go , allowed Archie Bloody Fraser to move us to the obscurity and absurdity of far flung Seafolly. We all know how that worked out.

More irony (read stupidity)... despite all this, those pokies never moved from their Linton Street location! So why the bloody hell did we move away from Moorabbin, let in the bulldozers, and thereby remove any chance of playing boutique home games at Moorabbin, which would have offset some of the cost of our unbelievably lousy daylight robbery arrangement to play at DocktheSaintsLand???????

Defies belief! And we're still paying (very dearly) for this incompetents to this very day!!!

Thought so too.

So that makes me think it might be political posturing by our club. Maybe they made a deal that they would say something like this as part of ten “back to Moorabbin” thing.

Hawthorn can get away with all their pokies and call themselves the Family Club!,,,
Is it their rich demographic?

Hi SG, the thing is, the non-Family Club do not gouge pokie money ($21 million p.a.) from any rich demographic. Their one-buttoned bandits are cynically in low socio-economic areas... where people can least afford the hit.

Their jumper design isn't the only thing that stinks. Whilst undeniably (very) well run in financial terms, that 'club' is morally bankrupt IMHO!

[Dave McNamara]

Pokie revenue:
For me, this is the thing. We only 'make' (as in gross) $2 mil. Who knows how much (little) we actually net. I'd suspect this net amount would be covered under the accounting term... SFA.

Yet the pokies have cost us (net) millions. They are why we bulldozed Moorabbin, and then made that stooopid move to Seafolly. The have cost us dearly in overall (net) terms.


Nuff Nuff, despite having no supporters, and displaying even less charisma, have cleared their multi-million debt - sans having a single pokie! I'm no fan of that club, but gotta give them huge kudos for that.

The small (in footy club overall turnover terms) income from our pokies is simply not worth it! (And that's before one looks at any moral issues.) Despite the fact that we would not be able to have pokies there, we would make way more $$$ by moving to the JO. (The amazing Doc Spaceman is working on it, even as you read this very post.)


Moral issues (yes, they do matter!):
I suspect that we are actually doing minimal damage (c/f certain other clubs)... eg; Carlscum, Skunks and Dawks come to mind. Yes, the Dawks have made mega dollars outta the pokies. But, they are ripping off $21 million a year from low socio-economic areas. In other words, they are doing real harm to those communities. I totally agree with Enrico's comment re: Kennett + Kennett heading up 'Beyond Blue' + Kennett's Dawks' pokie takings = hypocrisy

But...,

One of the things that I'm most proud of re out wonderful maverick club, is its fantastic social outreach work.
Certainly has a very good name back 'home' in St Kilda. Getting rid of the pokies is a logical step, and is in keeping with our club's outreach ethos.

And to those who say "Oh, but pokies are legal." Well, so is running a brothel. We could also put in a tender to run some prisons. Speaking of which, we could also have a shot at running an off-shore detention centre.

And to those who say "If they don't blow their money with us, they'll just blow the same money at another pokie venue." This argument is like an ice dealer saying, that addicts would just go to another dealer and get their ice hit...


Btw, Puddy tats, and (amazingly) even the Skunks, are also looking to get out of pokies. The Skunks! taking the high moral ground from us? Surely that can't be allowed to happen!




Summary:
For our club, getting rid of the pokies is the right thing to do... morally and also... economically.