Football wars

[nobleoz]

Did you see that pathetic winners presentation at the FA cup? The AFL leads soccer for dead.

[Nines]

Did you see that pathetic winners presentation at the FA cup? The AFL leads soccer for dead.

No , but I heard he was wearing his national colours .

[Simmo79]

Is it possible for these two to get any dimmer?

[Adelaide_United_Red]

Is it possible for these two to get any dimmer?

Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former.~ Einstein, A:)

[Adelaide_United_Red]

Its a bit of a bump, but old mate Phil Rothfield is rattling his sabre at the infidels from victoria and appears to be turning...

League in trouble on the Gold Coast
Phil Rothfield | June 27th, 2011

RUGBY league is in trouble on the Gold Coast.

The Titans are on the bottom of the ladder, playing dreadfully, and crowds have fallen 25 per cent in recent years.

On Saturday the Titans came up against the Gold Coast Suns AFL team for the first time in a Super Saturday double-header and got their backsides smacked.

I know because I attended both games.

More than 16,000 showed up at Suns v Western Bulldogs (2.10pm kick-off) and only 12,997 at the Titans v Sharks (5.30pm kick-off), a figure that looked hugely inflated judging by the number of empty seats [see comments for more on this - Stag].

The Suns had the better atmosphere and provided better value-for-money entertainment. Here's how I saw it.

From the moment you land at Coolangatta airport, it's not hard to tell there's a footy war in town.

The pilot announces: welcome to the Gold Coast, home of the Jetstar Titans.

A Virgin plane lands as we disembark, with a huge emblem of the Gold Coast Suns on the side.

Tickets are much cheaper for the AFL game.

A child could watch the Suns Western Bulldogs game from as little as $5, adults from $20. The tickets are heavily subsidised by the AFL.

The cheapest seats at the Titans v Sharks (16th on the ladder v 14th on the ladder) were $18 for children and $30 for adults.

Family tickets for the Suns game (two adults, two children) start from just $45 but almost double to $82 at the Titans.

The food prices are basically the same (extremely high) at both venues because the same catering company operates at both grounds.

The Suns are going to be awfully hard to beat in a long-term war because the AFL is pouring $100 million into the area over the next five years.

The money will be spent on advertising, marketing and a blitz on junior development in rugby league strongholds as far south as Coffs Harbour.

While the Suns get $20 million a year from the AFL, the Titans are on their own. I asked NRL boss David Gallop earlier this year if they needed more cash support.

"The Titans don't need propping up, but we are certainly working with them to support marketing, community, development and other opportunities and we will be increasing our investment to meet the challenges ahead."

In medical parlance, the Titans are not quite in a critical condition but certainly serious.

The overall state of their finances is the game's best kept secret because they operate under twin companies with their managing director Michael Searle as major shareholder.

Not even the NRL knows how they are travelling financially but often need to provide their grant in advance to ease cash-flow issues that come from servicing huge debts from building the Centre of Excellence facility.

Under the new independent commission, the Melbourne Storm will be heavily subsidised with several million dollars a year because they operate in AFL territory.

The Titans get nothing. They have no Leagues Club. They're average crowd in 2008 was 21,618. This year it's fallen to 16,154.

Saturday proved the Titans need help. The AFL has arrived in town and they're playing a strong game.

source:
http://www.goldcoast.com.au/article/201 ... itans.html

[Adelaide_United_Red]

I should add here that I don't even want to compare Gold Coast United with either the Titans or the Suns cos what he fat man has done up there in Alienating the Gold Coast Community is just embarrasing - I'm sure I can find an arrogant quiote or two detailing how he was going to sweep the floor with the Suns AND the titans:( Enjoy your crowd cap Jabba the Palmer:(

[nobleoz]

This is no surprise to me. Searle's (& others) talk about AFL being a "foreign sport" was to completely ignore the long history of Aussie Rules on the Gold Coast. There was no way the Suns were not going to be accepted & be part of the community, & I had no doubt they would get good crowds. I didn't expect the Titans to get behind so quickly. And I didn't expect Rothfield to say, "the Suns had the better atmosphere".

[Rob]

LOL at the comment that Suns tickets are so much cheaper. The $20 tickets are unreserved and are only a tiny part of the ground. Most of the ground is Gold A and Gold B seats, which are $59 and $47 for adult respectively. Ticket prices are pretty similar for both teams.

But you have to give credit to the Suns, I didn't expect them to get close to 15k to these games against small clubs, especially given they're getting flogged most weeks. Still, they're not owned by some egotistical knob like Palmer or Searle.

[the crow]

No his name is Demetriou.

[Rob]

No his name is Demetriou.

As arrogant a cock as vlad is, you'd never see something like this from him:

http://www.goldcoast.com.au/article/200 ... story.html

"We will be running Gold Coast United on a fraction of that and it will be better supported than the AFL and provide better entertainment. The way we are organising our club is extremely viable (an estimated $15 million, excluding marque signings, for the first five years). We may not make any money but it won't lose too much either."

That has to be the most epic fail comment in Australian sport history. That makes Egan's ARC crowd predictions look spot on.

[Nines]

No his name is Demetriou.

And how other codes would love to see him as their CEO .

He is soooooo good he could ............







make Australian soccer viable .

[Adelaide_United_Red]

No his name is Demetriou.

And how other codes would love to see him as their CEO .

He is soooooo good he could ............







make Australian soccer viable .

but can he:

avoid strike action in his own sport? I get the feeling his abrasive and arrogant "manage by media release-style" could work against him if the players get the hump on.

[Spirit of Santos]

No his name is Demetriou.

And how other codes would love to see him as their CEO .

He is soooooo good he could ............







make Australian soccer viable .

John O'Neil already did.

[the crow]

Australia now has the big 5......

NAB, ANZ, Westpac, CommBank........and AFL

[Nines]

Australia now has the big 5......

NAB, ANZ, Westpac, CommBank........and AFL

It's amazing how a moron can fluke a good comment .