SA Footy

This was in the paper (albiet Hook's column) yesterday.

Both clubs looking at options of playing hime night footy at Coopers next year.

Said there are dramas with the brewers surely this would only pull more through the gates to our league and the SANFL can only benefit, would hate for a sponsorship to halt the potential growth of the comp.

Adelaide Oval might be infor more SANFL night game next year also.

the boys on life fm said this would not happen because of the brewery sponsorships at norwood compared to the sanfl itself.....while not mentioned the adelaide oval has merit & i had thought of thebarton oval as well

does that mean that Centrals can play there at night too?

bayman wrote:the boys on life fm said this would not happen because of the brewery sponsorships at norwood compared to the sanfl itself.....while not mentioned the adelaide oval has merit & i had thought of thebarton oval as well

lights and facilities would need some major upgrading at thebarton oval. what is the lights situation at the moment at gliderol stadium, are the council still being a pain?

kookas wrote:

bayman wrote:the boys on life fm said this would not happen because of the brewery sponsorships at norwood compared to the sanfl itself.....while not mentioned the adelaide oval has merit & i had thought of thebarton oval as well

lights and facilities would need some major upgrading at thebarton oval. what is the lights situation at the moment at gliderol stadium, are the council still being a pain?

not sure but at least one council member went into state politics so he wont be voting against it....unless you can stay on the council

CENTURION wrote:does that mean that Centrals can play there at night too?

NO [b]your mob causes too much strife[/b]

The problem is that West Adelaide have set the cat amongst the pigeons with the success that they have had with their lights project and the massive increase in home match attendance's and gate revenue this season. South and Glenelg are both actively working towards similar projects at their own home ovals to tap into it likewise. As it evolves, clubs that don't access night football will struggle to match the gate revenue of those that do, hence why North and Sturt would be considering their options as either has the capacity to have lights put up at their home grounds.

Clearly either could hire Richmond or the Parade for matches, yet in both cases a significant portion of the profits will end up with the host club and it may not be the cash spinner they might hope for, although gate takings wise it could do well for them.

It seems to me that the obvious answer for night footy in the suburbs at a neutral venue is to get Thebarton up and running. Yet the council may well not be keen after the coin put into it after the case for night footy in the Western Suburbs has been put and given to the West Adelaide Football Club. Still, if the lights were there any side could have a go at negotiating a deal with the SAAFL for a reasonable hire of the ground, play the Eagles there and it could well be a bumper crowd on the Friday night for the clubs that want to go after it.

Alternativley a game can be played under lights at any time at Football Park, would be interesting to see what the crowd figures would be in comparison to matches at the Parade or Richmond if it did ever get up and running?

Lets hope the full development of AO doesn't go ahead so it's still a viable venue for SANFL. Sturt has played alot of night games at AO in the past so I guess that the development and future plans are stopping that possibility, hence the need to look at all options. I think the deals to play at the Parade or Richmond probably wouldn't be too bad.

Weren't neutral night games previously tried at Coopers Stadium in the '90's?

CENTURION wrote:does that mean that Centrals can play there at night too?

No. Norwood supporters will still rock up just to pick a fight.

Would the Coopers Stadium surface hold up to the more hectic schedule if this happened.

whufc wrote:Would the Coopers Stadium surface hold up to the more hectic schedule if this happened.

I think it would, but Im no groundsman ... If it were once a week as it is now and during the drier months, I dont think there would be too many problems.

Constance_Perm wrote:

whufc wrote:Would the Coopers Stadium surface hold up to the more hectic schedule if this happened.

I think it would, but Im no groundsman ... If it were once a week as it is now and during the drier months, I dont think there would be too many problems.

Is the revived national baseball comp going to be played at Coopers? Will that have a significant impact on the surface during football season. I guess if some grounds can cope with cricket on it over summer I can't see why baseball would affect the surface that much but I'm no expert.

Brucetiki wrote:

Constance_Perm wrote:

whufc wrote:Would the Coopers Stadium surface hold up to the more hectic schedule if this happened.

I think it would, but Im no groundsman ... If it were once a week as it is now and during the drier months, I dont think there would be too many problems.

Is the revived national baseball comp going to be played at Coopers? Will that have a significant impact on the surface during football season. I guess if some grounds can cope with cricket on it over summer I can't see why baseball would affect the surface that much but I'm no expert.

As far as I know, yes, the baseball will be played at the Parade again...

The Parade end is where home plate is so from basically the centre half back line at the opposite end, the ground is not used...

IIRC Baseball signed a 3 year deal at Coopers Stadium?

Good idea for everyone to get lights. Norwood started night footy in 1953. Now its the panacea. Ironically, we'll probably lose revenue and as one of the least financial clubs in the league, we cant afford that. Yes, at this rate the night comp is coming. All we would need is for Fosters to want the naming rights for night games, just to add a third brewer in to the sponsorship equation.

If every club plays night footy I'm not convinced that higher attendance figures are sustainable.

Some of the reasons that night footy does well are the fact that both the players and those who like to go along to Amatuer league matches on at the same time as SANFL afternoon matches can get along and watch their mates play for Norwood and so on. In my own case because I often have to work on the weekends, night footy is the best option to get along to matches which usually ends up being whatever match is on at the Parade!

Long term attendances would probably curve downwards, night footy as good as it is works best at the start of the season when the weather is still ok so that does suggest that it cant happen every week!