Crowds, what's needed to get them back to the VFL(VFA)

[onslaught]

This has been a popular topic over on the other site, and am wondering what Bigfooty posters might suggest to revamp the competition and get people back through the turnstiles.

I will suggest:

* More Sunday football.
* VFL Clubs able to recruit one 'marquee' player outside of the Salary cap.
* VFL Grand Final played the weekend AFTER the AFL Grand Final (similar to SANFL fixturing)

 

[goal sneak]

Just a question onslaught, what is the go with the VFL salary? How much is it and is every club the same? Also wondering how much the stars of the VFL would be on?

 

[brett_go_cats]

well for one dont play all the finals at port melbourne, geelong had home finals and they were in port melbourne i would of gone if it wasnt for that

 

[onslaught]

Just a question onslaught, what is the go with the VFL salary? How much is it and is every club the same? Also wondering how much the stars of the VFL would be on?

Off the top of my head the Salary caps are:

Aligned clubs: $150K
Stand-alone clubs: $210K (have applied for an additional $100K)

WAFL is about $230K
SANFL is about $320K (talk of the cap being increased another $100K)

I'll check back and try and confirm those numbers.

 

[goal sneak]

Oh thanks for that, yeah i think that intoducing a marquee player system is a good idea. It seems that when players finish there AFL careers these days they either seem to play SANFL or WAFL or even bush footy where the money is much better than VFL. If a VFL club was able to attract a marque player such as a Shane Wowoedin that would surely increase the crowds.

The idea of Sunday football is also a good idea. Most club football is played on Saturday and there is usually only 1 or 2 AFL matches in Melbourne on a Sunday so that would be a good idea to try to get a crowd along on Sunday.

My idea would be to try to increase the interaction between the VFL sides and the clubs in there local area. By this i mean to align the clubs to a zone like they used to do in the AFL and is done in the TAC cup. That way good local players would be rewarded by getting a go at the higher level, which would most likely increase the crowds if the VFL side is seen as a local side.

 

[iDon]

More promotion of the game directed at the AFL supporters.

Sunday football is also good but how about having TAC curtain raisers to VFL games, the parents and keen followers of TAC cup would certainly stay around.

how about more night football, are there any night time games? People seem to overall enjoy night fixtures and it fits in well with all types of people.

-mav

 

[onslaught]

how about more night football, are there any night time games? People seem to overall enjoy night fixtures and it fits in well with all types of people.

-mav

Bendigo play a few games under lights up at QEO. Casey Fields (The 'Vales home ground) is supposed to have lighting in capable of playing night matches.

Also North Ballarat played a few games under lights a few years back, but the quality of lighting was pretty average. Don't think its been upgraded.

The Devils have played a couple of nights matches at York Park as well.

 

[Copernicus]

Some good ideas here - for some reason I thought they did play on Sundays, but maybe you could have all the game on a Sunday, or perhaps one or two on Friday/Saturday night. You'd still come up against the AFL on TV though.

Raising the salary cap would certainly help - if they're behind the WAFL and SANFL then that is a fairly decent handicap for attracting talent.

 

[gnomey]

To increase the interest in the VFL the TAC Cup teams should be merged into the VFL club. This would create a direct link from the local competitions to the VFL clubs.

Scrap the TAC Cup names and use the VFL grounds, guernseys and management. Like the SANFL and the WAFL, allow the gun players in the u/18s to play VFL seniors and reserves as well...

Sandringham Dragons - Sandringham Zebras
Eastern Ranges - Box Hill Hawks
Gippsland Power - Casey Scorpians
Northern Knights - Northern Bullants (why aren't they still called Preston???)
Western Jets - Werribee
Calder Cannons - Williamstown
Bendigo Pioneers - Bendigo Bombers
North Ballarat Rebels - North Ballarat
Geelong Falcons - Geelong
Dandenong Stingrays - Frankston
Oakleigh Chargers - Port Melbourne

 

[brett_go_cats]

To increase the interest in the VFL the TAC Cup teams should be merged into the VFL club. This would create a direct link from the local competitions to the VFL clubs.

Scrap the TAC Cup names and use the VFL grounds, guernseys and management. Like the SANFL and the WAFL, allow the gun players in the u/18s to play VFL seniors and reserves as well...

Sandringham Dragons - Sandringham Zebras
Eastern Ranges - Box Hill Hawks
Gippsland Power - Casey Scorpians
Northern Knights - Northern Bullants (why aren't they still called Preston???)
Western Jets - Werribee
Calder Cannons - Williamstown
Bendigo Pioneers - Bendigo Bombers
North Ballarat Rebels - North Ballarat
Geelong Falcons - Geelong
Dandenong Stingrays - Frankston
Oakleigh Chargers - Port Melbourne

That's a great idea, and I also reckon a lot of changes to the teams needs to be made.

10 AFL alinged teams
6-8 Standalone teams
More teams in regional areas (gippsland, murray river region, north tas)
Each club has 12-10 rule, with seniors, reserves, under 18s
salary cap increase
more curtain raiser games to afl matches to increase interest
more media coverage
encourage people to join memberships and go to games

This is what i think the teams should be

Northern Bullants - Carlton
Williamstown - Collingwood
Bendigo - Essendon
Geelong - Geelong
Box Hill - Hawthorn
North Ballarat - Kangaroos (why not change it to just Ballarat?)
Sandringham - Melbourne
Coburg - Richmond
Casey Scorpions - St Kilda
Werribee - Bulldogs
Hobart (old Tassie), just one VFL alingment for the Kangaroos
Port Melbourne
Frankston
Murray Bushrangers (around the murray river area)
Gippsland Power
North Tasmania

and also each team to maybe have a recruitment area, or maybe not
fitzroy and south melbourne maybe to come back in, just to please their old fans
and also what about the match of the round live on channell 7,9 or 10, that might also increase interest

 

[chapmanmagic35]

Just keep getting the kids involved, like they are trying to do.

 

[goal sneak]

Good crowd of around 3000 today.

 

[chapmanmagic35]

Good crowd of around 3000 today.

What do you reckon they will get next week at Princes Park?

 

[MightyFighting]

What do you reckon they will get next week at Princes Park?

8,000 - 10,000.

 

[brett_go_cats]

at least some of the finals crowds are beating some of the soccer crowds

 

[WCL]

I reckon if Geelong plays against Sandy there will be 14,000 there, if Geelong plays against anyone there will be at least 12,000.

With no melbourne teams in the finals anymore, there may be a mamoth crowd, possibly 20,000, if marketed right. i believe this is possible and we should get used to it as the non-vic teams are struggling in the AFL. This is a huge boost for the VFL. IMO.

 

[TuskenRaider]

I reckon if Geelong plays against Sandy there will be 14,000 there, if Geelong plays against anyone there will be at least 12,000.

With no melbourne teams in the finals anymore, there may be a mamoth crowd, possibly 20,000, if marketed right. i believe this is possible and we should get used to it as the non-vic teams are struggling in the AFL. This is a huge boost for the VFL. IMO.

Agreed. With no AFL preliminary finals in Melbourne next week, people looking for their fix of footy should get to Princes Park to see a top standard game of football.

The VFL should be all over this to maximise the crowd.

 

[RiverinAFL]

Good crowd of around 3000 today.

Which game was 3,000?

Watched some of the sunday game on TV and the crowd would have been 6,000 plus and Saturday 4,500.

Went to the Ovens and King GF and they got 6,200 possibly more and they both looked similar. Similar grounds with the Wang Showground a bit longer.

 

[roo_girl23]

the vfl is a great comp,but it definately needs a revamp.they need to spread the games out over the weekend,and more media coverage would defiantely promote the game,you never hear about it on the news and the abc only shows around 2 games per week.night games are definately a good idea,i've been to quite a few devils games under lights at york park and its fantastic to watch.i also attended the devils/box hill curtain raiser to the roos/hawks match a few weeks ago and that was a good oppurtunity not only for the fans but for the players as well,as they were being watched by their alligned clubs, it would assist them in being able to play AFL footy.

 

[chapmanmagic35]

the vfl is a great comp,but it definately needs a revamp.they need to spread the games out over the weekend,and more media coverage would defiantely promote the game,you never hear about it on the news and the abc only shows around 2 games per week.night games are definately a good idea,i've been to quite a few devils games under lights at york park and its fantastic to watch.i also attended the devils/box hill curtain raiser to the roos/hawks match a few weeks ago and that was a good oppurtunity not only for the fans but for the players as well,as they were being watched by their alligned clubs, it would assist them in being able to play AFL footy.

How many grounds have lights, or sufficient lighting to play night matches? I know Tassie do, not sure about the others. It would be a huge cost factor to install lights to play night games.

Maybe televising a few more games and re-playing them at reasonable time slots could be another option.

 

[Dixie Flatline]

Increasing the salary cap would be a good start. The Hawks lost Alleway to the SANFL because we couldn't meet what his SANFL club was prepared to offer him.

Less Phil Cleary would be good too! I know he's a legend of the VFA but, by crikey, some of his commentary in the finals last weekend annoyed me.

 

[muesli]

I think a major problem is people see the VFL as a AFL reserves competition & why go see the 2nds (VFL) when you can go watch the 1sts (AFL)?

Increasing the salary cap is a good idea as long as all clubs can afford the additional costs.

 

[STANG-A]

Bring a friend day! Free entry until the age of 15. That shouldn't hurt too much, especially if they like it and wanna keep coming, clubs to get more of a local presence, eg. have a stall with merchandise, swish stuff and old ladies knitted beanies and scarves, at local markets and outside the ground, get involved with the local primary schools wherever possible, a show on channel 31, reviewing, previewing and interviewing players and personalities, i don't know, just ranting, but surely, the marketing team needs a long, hard look at themselves!

 

[GOT_TO_LIFT]

YES sounds great

More sundays games
***
lot people love night footy so night footy

as everyone is saying link tac cup with vfl Tassie might struggle a lil with filling a Snr and ressie but if u got 10 kangaroos a week should not be to bad tassie under 18's would do well in a full time comp

Would u change under 18 to under 19???

by i am a tassie boy

 

[My North]

Increasing the salary cap would be a good start. The Hawks lost Alleway to the SANFL because we couldn't meet what his SANFL club was prepared to offer him.

Less Phil Cleary would be good too! I know he's a legend of the VFA but, by crikey, some of his commentary in the finals last weekend annoyed me.

Phil Cleary was brilliant in the commentary for the finals. A true Legend of the VFA/VFL