Football In The ACT Region Takes Another Kick in the Guts!

I could hardly believe what I was reading in the Canberra Times - The ACT Government had struck a deal with the as yet, non existent, AFL Club called Greater Western Sydney, to the tune of $26 million over a ten year period, adjusted for the CPI. The pay off is reported to be the grand total of four AFL (some Premiership standard) per season.

Wow, again bloody wow and thank you very much. I feel like I lost a thousand and found a cent. They are jumping for joy in AFL land in the ACT Region and laughing all the way to the bank in greater Western Sydney and AFL headquarters in Melbourne!

Just get yourself around the magnitude of the deal, courtesy of we ACT taxpayers - a cool $650,000 per game for ten years (adjusted for CPI, mustn't forget that !!!)

Now the Raiders and Brumbies get nothing like this sort of money, but they have done nicely over many ears, thankyou very much. Good luck to them I say.

So when is it pay day for Football in the ACT?

Questions:

1. Did anyone on the Capital Football Board know this sort of money was in the wind?
2. If they did, where is Football's share?
3. If they did not, why not?
4. If there is a plan to get $26 million dollars out of the ACT Government to develop the game in the ACT, what is it and when will it deliver?

Football has a playing constituency of more than 18,000 ACT citizens (all ages). The supporter base is so much larger and many are parents, bound to the sport because of their children's participation.

You  could wrap AFL, Rugby and Rugby League up together and not match Football participation rates.
This is real "sports political muscle", so why doesn't the Capital Football Board flex them and get Minister Barr's attention.

Where is the FFA and Frank Loewe when you need him?

I just get the uncomfortable feeling that the Capital Football (Board) has been asleep at the wheel on this one - probably more like comatose given the magnitude of the ACT Government investment. What are they scared of - that the ACT Government won't help them - well, have a look Football sportsfans, they didn't!

And please, don't accept any talk about the ACT Government's generosity toward Football through the Hawker enclosed redevelopment. Football paid part of that price, which is more than AFL will do in the ACT through Greater Western Sydney.

While we in Football have been walking around patting ourselves on the back over the installation of a terrific artificial surface at Hawker Enclosed, gratefully accepting crumbs Minister Barr's table at the ACT Government, AFL thought bigger and better, lobbied and got all they wanted. And the GWS AFL team doesn't even exist yet, nor will it base operations in the ACT.

We in Football in the ACT just don't think big! Or maybe we have the wrong people doing thinking for us! And remember, we are chasing our share of public funds here to assist the development of the game in our   region.

Another three Hawker enclosed type facilities,and we would have a plan wroth noticing, but not one that takes ten years to mature and for much less cost than $650,000 per game (adjusted for the CPI, must not forget that), then we would have something to praise, we woul dhave forward progress in the biggest (and best) game in the ACT (and the World). The ACT Government just does not take the Footaball community seriously. Why is that?

What really strikes me as plain nauseating, is that the Football sporting public is expected to be satisfied with a decision by the ACT Government to trade little more than four AFL games a year and the hint of an "Academy" and something about improving Manuka Oval (again!), in exchnage for $26 million smackers!This is the worst possible use of public funds in support of sport and does absolutely nothing for Football going forward.

We need an enormous boost in playing surfaces and facilities and not just for Football across the ACT. This is a scandalous waste of public funds.

Let's hear Capital Football on this one - loud and clear please!

This is a real kick in the guts for Football.

Read the Canberra Times article below:
Barr's $26m AFL punt

BY LEE GASKIN AND JOHN-PAUL MOLONEY

11 Nov, 2010 08:48 AM

The ACT Government will fork out up to $26 million of public money to bring a Sydney-based AFL club to Canberra over a decade.
In an unprecedented deal which blows the Government's contribution to Canberra-based professional football teams out of the water, Greater Western Sydney will play 40 games, 30 of those premiership fixtures, in Canberra once the club enters the AFL in 2012.
The Government's funding comprises an annual $1.15 million partnership payment to GWS from 2012-13, plus an annual revenue guarantee of $1.2 million, or $400,000 for each of three premiership games. The Government says the total annual figure it will pay is $2.35 million.
This will increase annually by the Consumer Price Index (CPI), or by 2.5 per cent, whichever is smaller. When the deal expires in 2021, the total sum paid to the expansion club could reach $26 million.
However, the Government hopes future improvements to Manuka Oval will enable an increase of the venue's earning capacity and let it recoup some of that expense.
The annual level of funding is much more than what the Government pays to the ACT Brumbies and the Canberra Raiders. The Brumbies receive about $1.7 million per year and the Raiders about $1.8 million. They both play more than triple the number of matches in Canberra than GWS will.
Reigning WNBL champions the Canberra Capitals are believed to receive just under $200,000 per year.
Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation Andrew Barr admitted he was braced for a backlash from Canberrans who believed the money could be better spent elsewhere.
''There are always going to be people who don't like any government investment in elite sport, and they'll be some who don't like the code,'' Mr Barr said.''That's inevitable.''