social club

[BAM_BAM]

Originally posted by floppinab
Yeah the amount of Collingwood stuff in there bugs me too but I do know a few Sydney based Collingwood supporters who do use it, it's perfect for the 'Woods needs in Sydney at the moment.
Totally wrong demographic and location for the Swans tho', Fox would have to be the place using existing buildings fit out a purpose facility.

I almost drive past the club on my way to my sisters house. By the time I reach there after a game it can be anything to an hour after the match has finished (that's dealing with the car park traffic. With a clear run, it would take about 20 minutes to get to. There is also limited public transport, so we'd have a row of supporters going DUI after visiting it, or keep cabs in the inner west very busy.

I admit, it's been at least 3 years since I was last there, but it could do with some refurbishment. It was a bit drab, the part I was in was anyway.

[lescygnes]

charlie wrote:

I personally hope that the club won't get pokies... I'd like us to be financially secure, but not at the expense of the community. We can operate on football-related revenue.

****************

being someone who is a duty assessor for clubs and hotels in NSW for poker machines, i find this statement utterly simplistic.

for one, who is holding a gun to the heads of people playing poker machines????

if they want to stuff their wages/life savings/compo payouts into a gaming device, then so be it. thats the risk you take, and dont bother crying poor when you do your dough. it is always going to be a risky investment, even lower chances than most other forms of gambling, but dont cry poor to me when you lose.

i mean, the odds, like in all forms of gambling, are in favour of the house! like thats a brainwave!

the swans were tied to the aussie rules club in the cross but were separated sometime in the late 80's early 90's. god knows why.

stupid move if there ever was one.

there is a hold on any new applications for gaming licenses in NSW, except for venues that can prove "hardship", and that basically means venues outside of the Sydney basin area. no Sydney venue has ever been granted this.

so the horse has bolted, and the gate shut. if the swans want a social club with gaming devices to maximise revenue (which is the aim of ALL licensed venues), then they would have to find the finances to take over an existing venue with the licenses for existing gaming devices.

like how petersham rsl has taken over a very debt ridden newtown rsl club. (and you can 100% believe me on that).

blaming poker machines for social problems is a pathetic argument.

how about dealing with the issues as to why people play poker machines in the first place? most of the poor buggers are just damn lonely. families have abandoned them, friends too. why? many reasons. look into that before blaming a machine for god's sake.

oh, and BTW, i for one am glad that governments are taking huge slices of revenue in the form of gaming duty off poker machines. Why? well, this little Vegemite doesnt waste a cent in the things, and thats one aspect where the governments can't tax me!

as for a swans social club in sydney? well, as i said above, if the club buys an existing venue with poker machine licenses, it can be done. but they definately do NOT have the capital to afford such a venture. believe me on this front.

so it aint going to happen!

cheers!
John

ps-the fox and lion is nothing short of a rip off to swans fans. just ask yourself, "Who is making the money here?"

[floppinab]

It was a bit drab, the part I was in was anyway.

Still is a bit but Cantebury Council are spending a bit on the oval and surrounds in the coming 12 months that should tart it up a bit. Might even see senior footy at Picken as early as next year.

[Ryan Bomford]

Originally posted by floppinab
Still is a bit but Cantebury Council are spending a bit on the oval and surrounds in the coming 12 months that should tart it up a bit. Might even see senior footy at Picken as early as next year.

Just imagine if the Swans chipped in $200K to fix the Club up. The place would look like the Mirage!

[barry]

fox and lion is about as good a location as could reasonably be expected for the swans. They should just buy that. It doesnt have much in the way of pokies (any?), so wont cost the earth.
Its close to the ground, it has reasonable mid-week traffic, although fox-studios is really turning into a white elephant, which can only mean the venue will be cheap to buy/lease.

It would be a good start.

[lescygnes]

i doubt it with the fox and lion. ever heard of "peppercorn agreement" and "99 year lease"?

no money pressure there.

and yes, you are correct, no pokies.

it's a miracle they make any money, but their overheads are minimal.

cheers
JM

[Ruck'n'Roll]

To quote a remarkably clear thinker (who has no poetry in his soul)

"we have got "marketing guru's" making decisions on behalf of the paying supporters in this respect, and they have absolutely NO IDEA!!!!!!!! none whatsoever.

replace these morons with people who actually care about the club, and them some correct decisions may actually be made in respect to reserve seating, etc."


Hear Hear ~ how much effort would it take for the Swans to "Swanify" the damn place, at least on game days!

[lescygnes]

you really dont want to talk about whats in my soul.

major can of worms that!

he he

Cheers
JM

ps-totally agree with you. lets put the Swans into the Sydney Swans. well, back office anyhoo.

[Charlie]

Originally posted by lescygnes
charlie wrote:

I personally hope that the club won't get pokies... I'd like us to be financially secure, but not at the expense of the community. We can operate on football-related revenue.

****************

being someone who is a duty assessor for clubs and hotels in NSW for poker machines, i find this statement utterly simplistic.

for one, who is holding a gun to the heads of people playing poker machines????

if they want to stuff their wages/life savings/compo payouts into a gaming device, then so be it. thats the risk you take, and dont bother crying poor when you do your dough. it is always going to be a risky investment, even lower chances than most other forms of gambling, but dont cry poor to me when you lose.

i mean, the odds, like in all forms of gambling, are in favour of the house! like thats a brainwave!

the swans were tied to the aussie rules club in the cross but were separated sometime in the late 80's early 90's. god knows why.

stupid move if there ever was one.

there is a hold on any new applications for gaming licenses in NSW, except for venues that can prove "hardship", and that basically means venues outside of the Sydney basin area. no Sydney venue has ever been granted this.

so the horse has bolted, and the gate shut. if the swans want a social club with gaming devices to maximise revenue (which is the aim of ALL licensed venues), then they would have to find the finances to take over an existing venue with the licenses for existing gaming devices.

like how petersham rsl has taken over a very debt ridden newtown rsl club. (and you can 100% believe me on that).

blaming poker machines for social problems is a pathetic argument.

how about dealing with the issues as to why people play poker machines in the first place? most of the poor buggers are just damn lonely. families have abandoned them, friends too. why? many reasons. look into that before blaming a machine for god's sake.

oh, and BTW, i for one am glad that governments are taking huge slices of revenue in the form of gaming duty off poker machines. Why? well, this little Vegemite doesnt waste a cent in the things, and thats one aspect where the governments can't tax me!

as for a swans social club in sydney? well, as i said above, if the club buys an existing venue with poker machine licenses, it can be done. but they definately do NOT have the capital to afford such a venture. believe me on this front.

so it aint going to happen!

cheers!
John

ps-the fox and lion is nothing short of a rip off to swans fans. just ask yourself, "Who is making the money here?"

I see... so what you're basically saying to me is if people are dumb enough to throw their money into pokie machines, too bad, too sad, it's fair for us to go after their cash. Sorry, but I don't see it that way. The Swans are a FOOTBALL CLUB, not a gambing company, and our purpose for being is NOT extracting dollars from the lonely and depressed through a machine.

Pokies are an unnecessary, corrosive influence in the community. I don't want the Swans to be one of the guilty parties.

[barry]

Originally posted by lescygnes
i doubt it with the fox and lion. ever heard of "peppercorn agreement" and "99 year lease"?

no money pressure there.

and yes, you are correct, no pokies.

it's a miracle they make any money, but their overheads are minimal.

cheers
JM

No idea what a pepercorn agreement is, but a 99 year lease can be brought and sold in the same way as outright title.

There up front costs would be high. It would probably make money day to day, but on an investment it would be lucky to break even. Swans would want to refurbish the place anyway.

[Cher]

I remember going to the Aussie Rules Club in the Cross after one beating by Melbourne, and there were quite a few players there.
I remember it was in the Hafey days.

I also still get a membership from Easts, I think I've only been there about three times and never used any of my m/ship cards there.

[lescygnes]

well charlie, im glad youre not running the club. with vision like that, they'd be broke in no time.

whether or not, you approve of gaming or not, your holiness, it's going to happen.

the swans would be in a much better position if they had a social club in Sydney with gaming devices. i know exactly how much they bring in, even with the new rise in duty in NSW planned by the Carr Corporation.

just think, we may not have to had fought for the clubs survival many times in the past two decades if we did have these facilities.

just a thought....

cheers
John

[Charlie]

Originally posted by lescygnes
well charlie, im glad youre not running the club. with vision like that, they'd be broke in no time.

whether or not, you approve of gaming or not, your holiness, it's going to happen.

the swans would be in a much better position if they had a social club in Sydney with gaming devices. i know exactly how much they bring in, even with the new rise in duty in NSW planned by the Carr Corporation.

just think, we may not have to had fought for the clubs survival many times in the past two decades if we did have these facilities.

just a thought....

cheers
John

Of course we'd be in a better position. Doesn't mean we should rush out and get a couple of hundred pension collection machines just because we can, though. If there are other, football related revenue sources, which I believe there are, we should focus on them. Very few clubs that I can think of in Victoria have pokies - the only ones I can think of are Essendon, North and Geelong. The "Kanga Kasino" almost sent North broke, as well.

And its not gambling itself that I disapprove of. In a casino-only environment, it becomes a novelty and tourist attraction. Its machines that are designed to be addictive, set up in rooms designed to keep you there for as long as possible, and never further than 10 minutes from home that have become frightfully efficient at fleecing the miserly pension cheques of the "poor buggers" who are just "damn lonely".

Yes, I disapprove of our lovely Tattersall's and Tabcorp here in Victoria whose bank balances are full to overflowing with the bread and milk money of our "damn lonely" senior citizens. Any politician who kicks them back to the casino where they belong would get my vote.

I'm glad you're not running the club either. Sure, money is important... but so is the soul of the footy club. If we had to rely on pokie money... we wouldn't belong in the AFL anyway.

[lescygnes]

charlie, comparing a club in Sydney to that of venues in Victoria just shows what you do not know about this issue.

the rules of engagement are extremely different. tabcorp and tattersalls have venues by the balls in victoria. venues cannot own machines, they have to rent them. then there are monitoring fees, which are somewhat higher than in NSW, and then the fact that all gaming attendants have to be licensed in victoria, which is not the case in NSW. it all adds up, and thats why alot of venues in victoria have failed to make the most out of their devices.

the true comparison lies with other venues in Sydney. pure and simple. now, i cant go into details here, but there arent too many licensed venues in NSW NOT making money. and hey, thats the bottom line.

and BTW, im glad im not running the club too. with some of the people on the payroll there, it would be the most stressful job in the land, and thats something i can do without!!!! he he

cheers and have a happy monday!
John

[JF_Bay22_SCG]

Originally posted by Charlie
I personally hope that the club won't get pokies... I'd like us to be financially secure, but not at the expense of the community. We can operate on football-related revenue.

Oh come Charlie,

Whilst clubs like Easts St George and Penrith not only thrive on the finding given to them by their respective Leagues Clubs, we are at an incredible disadvantage in not having our own Leagues club. If that means people gamling there, then so be it. The money goes to our club and not somebody else.

The Fox & Lion at impersonal Fox Studios is just NOT acceptable as a clubhouse. The assertion of it ever acting in that role is actually quite insulting as a supporter. I want a place I can call home. Maybe with a bistro with yummie food and cheap RSL priced drinks. A place where I can mingle with players in a casual environment, without anyone being cordoned away etc etc.

After originally being against Easts Leagues, I warmed to the place. It has a fitness centre and pool for $4.75 a visit. It has a yummie and cheap bistro. It had a big auditorium where watching away matches was totally cult!

In an ideal world we would have taken over the old Jets Leagues Club in Stanmore (now the Cyprus Club) back in 1982. But the complete ignorance to the Sydney market of those who brought the club up here back then has come to be a thorn in our side. Totally inexcusable in my opinion. Our club kissed financial security goodbye back then.

To me it always will be a thorn in my side. I'm know for sure that there are others on this list who feel even more strongly about this issue than I do.

JF

PS:- I'd be happy if we rekindled our relationship with Easts. It isn't home, but it's nice at least.