AFL Reserves. The Pros and Cons:
Posted: Thu Apr 24, 2014 3:17 amWithout wanting to start just another slagging thread, I was thinking about what the Pros and Cons were.
Initially I thought it might not be a bad thing to get rid of the bye, an extra team in the league, but as I read and pick up on some pretty valid points I have come round to the idea that in fact there are more downsides to the Reserves in the SANFL than upsides.
Here are my Pros & Cons. A genuine effort to look at both sides objectively. I would be interested to see other posters Pros & Cons and not just "we hate you".
Pros:
•All SANFL Clubs receive $50k p.a. from the Crows
•All the SANFL Clubs have control over their own players and aren’t relying on the AFL Club players dropping in and out from one week to the next.
A 10 team competition eradicates the need for the bye every week.
Greater media coverage leading to increased sponsorship revenue for all SANFL clubs.
Commercial TV gives greater exposure to a wider viewing market and exposes SANFL football to viewers who might not normally see it, therefore increasing the possibility of attracting new followers to the league.
Cons:
•We have two reserve teams that have a different set of rules than each other.
•Both those teams also have a different set of rules to the rest of the 8 SANFL Clubs.
•Junior Fans who might have followed an SANFL team as well as an AFL Team are more likely to follow the AFL Reserve Team, resulting in the loss of fan base to SANFL going forward.
•The imbalance with which AFL Listed players are available to the reserve side from one week to the next will directly affect the results and ultimately who makes the finals and who doesn’t. Suggesting it will even itself out over the year is incorrect as some teams will gain from it and others will lose by it depending on what the injury list is from the AFL Team on any given week. Norwood might get 4 points because they happen to play Port on a week when injuries are higher, whilst WWT might not get any points because they happen to play Port when their injury list is small.
•If Port Power Reserves continue to smash the SANFL Teams, interest will wane on those match days.
•If either or both the AFL Reserve Teams reach the finals the revenue will go to those teams and out of an SANFL Club's coffers, which defeats one of the objects of having the Reserve Teams in the League in the first place, particularly if it was to end up a Crows v Power GF.
•The Crows Reserves have not brought 4,000 or 6,000, or any other number suggested, to the games as promised. The current crowds may be up but if this is because of the curiosity factor, then those increases won’t be sustained and crowds are likely to fall below previous years because of the protest vote leaving the SANFL Clubs worse off and under compensated. (The lost revenue from Memebership and walk on Fans outways the $50k compensation / incentive)
The SANFL losses it's identity as an independent league which in turn drives non AFL interested a fans away
Initially I thought it might not be a bad thing to get rid of the bye, an extra team in the league, but as I read and pick up on some pretty valid points I have come round to the idea that in fact there are more downsides to the Reserves in the SANFL than upsides.
Here are my Pros & Cons. A genuine effort to look at both sides objectively. I would be interested to see other posters Pros & Cons and not just "we hate you".
Pros:
•All SANFL Clubs receive $50k p.a. from the Crows
•All the SANFL Clubs have control over their own players and aren’t relying on the AFL Club players dropping in and out from one week to the next.
A 10 team competition eradicates the need for the bye every week.
Greater media coverage leading to increased sponsorship revenue for all SANFL clubs.
Commercial TV gives greater exposure to a wider viewing market and exposes SANFL football to viewers who might not normally see it, therefore increasing the possibility of attracting new followers to the league.
Cons:
•We have two reserve teams that have a different set of rules than each other.
•Both those teams also have a different set of rules to the rest of the 8 SANFL Clubs.
•Junior Fans who might have followed an SANFL team as well as an AFL Team are more likely to follow the AFL Reserve Team, resulting in the loss of fan base to SANFL going forward.
•The imbalance with which AFL Listed players are available to the reserve side from one week to the next will directly affect the results and ultimately who makes the finals and who doesn’t. Suggesting it will even itself out over the year is incorrect as some teams will gain from it and others will lose by it depending on what the injury list is from the AFL Team on any given week. Norwood might get 4 points because they happen to play Port on a week when injuries are higher, whilst WWT might not get any points because they happen to play Port when their injury list is small.
•If Port Power Reserves continue to smash the SANFL Teams, interest will wane on those match days.
•If either or both the AFL Reserve Teams reach the finals the revenue will go to those teams and out of an SANFL Club's coffers, which defeats one of the objects of having the Reserve Teams in the League in the first place, particularly if it was to end up a Crows v Power GF.
•The Crows Reserves have not brought 4,000 or 6,000, or any other number suggested, to the games as promised. The current crowds may be up but if this is because of the curiosity factor, then those increases won’t be sustained and crowds are likely to fall below previous years because of the protest vote leaving the SANFL Clubs worse off and under compensated. (The lost revenue from Memebership and walk on Fans outways the $50k compensation / incentive)
The SANFL losses it's identity as an independent league which in turn drives non AFL interested a fans away
he started it