I dunno SK, you are suggesting that the AFL has some ulterior and/or sinister motive to radically change the way clubs operate and take over the day to day operations of its member clubs. Today's letter from Andrew Bassat is instructive:Secret Kiel wrote: ↑Thu 09 Apr 2020 2:20pm
So why does BackFromUSA say we can avoid the AFL gaining full control of our club if we manage our finances through a donation system. What is he concerned about to make such a suggestion. And I think you've missed the fact that there will be a different set of rules, a different regime if you like after this crisis, if we are forced into it, most of what you wrote is based on the old rules and old regime.
The situation we find ourselves in is similar to why the fed government changed last week the rules on foreign ownership to scrutinise foreign countries swooping in like vultures to exploit our stressed economy.
If there are clubs 4 clubs (possibly 6) allowed to break away and form thier own rules and tell the AFL to get stuffed then we should be forming an alliance with the other clubs and seeking an independent loan from a bank.
If the old rules and the old regime was working ok then why the need to change it, why can't the AFL keep propping up the clubs under the old system, the AFL was a highly, highly profitable business before the crisis, why do they need full control, they should be able to secure loan without then need to take full control of the clubs.
And another thing, anyone know how much of a pay cut executive managers have taken?
"I write to you today as part of our commitment to provide regular updates as we confront one of the biggest challenges in St Kilda’s history.
This is a fight we all face: our administration, coaches, players, Board, and you, our loyal members.
We need the support of our members now more than ever if we are to emerge from this period as a competitive force in the AFL.
The club has been required to take unprecedented steps to navigate the financial impact of this global pandemic.
The vast majority of our workforce has been stood down, while a skeleton staff remain working on significantly reduced wages.
Our players have committed to a minimum 50 per cent pay cut for the remainder of the season, even when games resume, and a 70 per cent cut if the shut-down period extends beyond 31 May.
They are currently staying connected via regular online video calls and working hard to remain fit and healthy to ensure they are ready to go when the season restarts.
We have recently completed discussions with the AFL regarding the league’s COVID-19 crisis financial support model for clubs.
The AFL has moved swiftly to leverage the strength of its balance sheet to provide security to the 18 clubs, all of which will be massively affected by this crisis.
As part of the model to secure the competition, all clubs will now receive the same base distribution from the AFL – an amount which will cover the majority of each club’s player payment costs.
Previously agreed distributions allocated to clubs like St Kilda based on competitive balance principles (such as the fixture and stadium deals) will no longer be allocated beyond amounts already received.
And for the remainder of 2020, clubs requiring additional financial support from the AFL will need to acquire those funds in the form of a loan, rather than a distribution.
At the risk of making this email a little longer than I would ordinarily write, I want to provide a clear picture of what this means for your club.
Our player payments essentially account for approximately one third of our annual costs.
Then there are the payments for our coaches, broader football staff, commercial operations, administration and operating expenses covering a host of things from travel and player uniforms to IT licences and building maintenance.
Most of these expenses are set from the start of the year and then we rely upon income from membership, sponsorship, match receipts and the like, which is centred on the AFL season.
St Kilda already operates one of the leanest cost bases in the AFL, and this base will significantly reduce via the forced staffing changes referred to above.
But the reality is that without matches being played, we are now more reliant than ever before on our members to ensure our club is not forced to extend our AFL debt to new heights.
We would all prefer that we didn’t have $12m debt (roughly half of which is with the AFL and the other half with our bank) going into this current crisis.
But broadly maintaining, rather than shrinking, this debt over the past 4 years, was the result of the club prioritising returning home and building world-class headquarters in Moorabbin.
The position of strength that RSEA Park provides for the next 30 years is just starting to be realised. We recruited extremely well in the off-season, signed several new partners and were reconnecting with our community in St Kilda’s heartland.
It seems likes years ago now, but it has only been a matter of weeks since we came together for our first ever AFLW match and our pre-season men’s game at RSEA Park. They were special moments as thousands of you packed into the ground to cheer on our team and loudly sing our song.
The club had also secured the support of 43,000 members in record speed and was marching towards 50,000 for the first time in our history.
We had grounds for optimism, before the crisis hit, that we would start to emerge as a competitive force on the field and become significantly stronger financially which would allow us to pay down our debt.
Things have obviously changed but we can fight back. The extent to which we receive continued support from our members will now largely determine how we emerge from this crisis.
My sincere thanks go out to the many of you who have already offered to assist the club, and sent in thousands of messages of support.
The sense of belonging and connection that binds us as St Kilda people is certainly alive and well.
The club also acknowledges that there will be members facing significant financial hardship and we will support you, as you have supported us in the past. Our membership team is available to discuss this with you should you require.
But I want to reiterate that by maintaining your membership (and I’m aware that our monthly instalments program is still operating as scheduled) you will be directly shaping our future.
The focus of us all must be ensuring we do far more than just survive.
Simply surviving to make up the numbers isn’t what any of us want for St Kilda.
We need to emerge in a position to compete, to recapture our momentum and return to regular finals football with an eye firmly on the prize of our second premiership.
That is the job in front of us all, to continue the legacy of strength through loyalty.
We believe that 2020 still offers so much for our footy club. Our players and coaches remain as committed as ever, and the experience and smarts within our football department will be an advantage as we confront a very different football season.
Together, I am certain we will rise to this challenge."
Whilst full particulars have yet to be spelt out my take on this information is that the AFL is tightening the fiscal strings in an endeavour for clubs to do more with less - I recently saw a grab on TV of the Essendon coaches box and there would have been 20 or more support staff sitting there manning screens and laptops not unlike Mission Control at Cape Canaveral launching a spacecraft to the moon!
The devil is going to be in the detail but I contend it will not be in the AFL's interest to make any radical decisions that would risk clubs going to the wall, quite the opposite, but the days of the gravy trains are now over and all clubs will have to be lean and mean.
