A post for any stupid AFL people who read this forum....

[CureTheSane]

Same old crap.

I won't go into how the AFL promised that all Swans games out of Sydney would be telecast live into Melbourne when the Swans relocated.

So aside from that 'minor' point here is my main complaint.

Last Sat night I sat at home and watched the Swans play the Saints.
A game which should not have been telecast into Melbourne.
Why?
Because the AFL should be encouraging people like me to get off my arse and go to the game.
I have my reasons for not going - family commitments etc but I really don't mind if I miss a game that is played in Melbourne.
It is my fault for not getting to the ground.

On Sunday, the Swans play Port Adelaide.
I won't be seeing this game at all.
My options are....
1. fly to Sydney
2. pay for Foxtel - something I don't want and is a pain in the arse with kids around.
3. Sit at home and listen to the radio whilst refreshing my internet browser.

Yep, that's really bringing the game to the people AFL.
And this will happen all season.
And the result will be my continued lack of interest in the Swans.

Believe it or not, the radio in not the best format to absorb a game of AFL through, and it's a bit of a waste of time for me.

So next time you relocate a team AFL,and it seems that may be happening again soon, maybe you should come out and just say that all supporters of that team residing in Melbourne should give some thought to a team which will be more accessible.
They may appreciate knowing that in the long run their team will become a kind of luxury that they get to enjoy every so often.

So, in summary.
Show no games played live or delayed in Melbourne unless they are sold out.
Show a MUCH higher percentage of the game that are largely inaccessible to football fans.

My membership with the Swans no longer exists.
Why the hell am I going to do all I can to go and see every game played in Melbourne when I'll miss out on just about all other games played interstate?

[swantastic]

Come to the Riser to watch the game with other like minded people.

Just because you cant get to all the games you should still but a membership to support the Swans,every little bit helps.

[Rod_]

CTS

Good rant and valid points.

Hope that you get a game or 2 live at some stage.


Rod_

[ScottH]

4 of the 6 Vic (Melb/Geelong) games are on FTA. Go figure.

I think 10 out of 22 games we can see without Foxtel(or finding a pub with it), or flying around the country.

Suck big time. I watch nowhere near as much footy as I did 2 seasons ago.

It's not just swans games that are affected, it affects most other clubs who play out side Vic.

[CureTheSane]

Come to the Riser to watch the game with other like minded people.

I'll get out when I can.
My wife is working on Sunday, and I really don't ant to be dragging 6 kids to a pub.

Just because you cant get to all the games you should still but a membership to support the Swans,every little bit helps.

Stuff that.
I can do without the 'support your club' rhetoric
The club doesn't seem to be really giving two @@@@s about me.
I've emailed them my concerns season after season and I get the same old generic replies.
he Swans a couple of seasons ago were trying to build the base in Melbourne.
I see it diminishing if there is not change.

I'll look after the Swans if they look after me and the rest of the Victorian supporters.
That sounds like a fair deal.

I understand supporting your team financially even if you don't get to many games.
But what people forget is that 'giving' money to your team is something people are happy to do IF they get something in return.
I find it hard to throw away my money like that.

The more people that just give the Swans their money to feel good about themselves will culminate in one thing - missing out on more.

I refuse to give them my money until they start to at least seem interested in looking after my interests.

And one other thing, I'd feel really bad about contributing financially to SSI if I had.
You'd think they would be out and about trying to do something for their 'kin'
With all that pulling power they had to get Roos the job (lol)

[ernie koala]

CTS, Don't blame you for not renewing your membership...but..It's the AFL you need to write to, not the Swans. Like every other club, they'd love to have every game they're in, live, everywhere in the country.
It's the short sighted, money grabbing, AFL who do these dud deals with TV.
They seem to get blinded by the money, rather than doing deals for maximum live FTA exposure. Given there ambitions for expansion....??Demitriou strutts around like a peacock, but his decisions are more like those of an ostich with it's head up it's arse and it's brain in neutral.

[undy]

[Digression: Last weekend we were in Dubbo in a cabin in the caravan park. The guy in the cabin next door (who was from Melbourne) asked me if I wanted to go out to the pub with him to find the AFL on TV. I told him it would be on FTA. He knew better, having failed to find anything on FTA except NRL earlier in the weekend, so he set off to the pub. I stayed in and watched it on the box. He came back in time for the last quarter having unsuccessfully trawled the pubs of Dubbo in search of a screen that wasn't showing the NRL.]


It should be possible to stream a recording from a tuner plugged into a PC in Sydney over the net. I think that the limiting factor (other than having someone in Sydney doing the technical bits at that end) is the slow upload speed on ADSL. As more and more media focussed software becomes available, I'm sure that this sort of trick will become even easier.

I'll have a look at it, but it will take me a while to get to, so if there are any whizzes out there, get to it.

[CureTheSane]

CTS, Don't blame you for not renewing your membership...but..It's the AFL you need to write to, not the Swans. Like every other club, they'd love to have every game they're in, live, everywhere in the country.
It's the short sighted, money grabbing, AFL who do these dud deals with TV.
They seem to get blinded by the money, rather than doing deals for maximum live FTA exposure. Given there ambitions for expansion....??Demitriou strutts around like a peacock, but his decisions are more like those of an ostich with it's head up it's arse and it's brain in neutral.

Oh, when I draft out a letter to the Swans, one goes off to the AFL at the same time.

Main problem is that the Swans realise that their main market is in Sydney, and rightly so.

The AFL also knows this, and figure that they don't need to cater for the remaining Swans supporters in Victoria.

It's short sighted and the situation down here is unique.

I'm sure Swans fans in WA deal with the fact that they miss a huge percentage of games better than the ex-South Melbourne supporters in Victoria.

I've made suggestions to the AFL such as televising the interstate games on FTA at midnight or later when all that's on TV is crap, and they said that they'd slot that in the basket when the TV rights were renegotiated.
Before the last TV rights came up I wrote to them reminding them that it would be great if they could strike a deal with Foxtel to televise the games on some huge delay into the states that missed them but for some reason they didn't act on my advice?!?!!? go figure.... lol
People will say that if Foxtel have the game they should have complete rights etc etc, but when everything is up for negotiation, I'm sure something like this wouldn't be a deal breaker.
Hell, I should be happy.
I recall a few years ago that there was regularly no radio coverage of some games.
At least we have that these days.
The day will come when people are streaming games right from their tuner card onto the internet to be watched live for free and the AFL will lose out big time.

Technology is here and if they're not careful, TV rights will be worth about ash as much as a CD.

[CureTheSane]

It should be possible to stream a recording from a tuner plugged into a PC in Sydney over the net. I think that the limiting factor (other than having someone in Sydney doing the technical bits at that end) is the slow upload speed on ADSL. As more and more media focussed software becomes available, I'm sure that this sort of trick will become even easier.

I'll have a look at it, but it will take me a while to get to, so if there are any whizzes out there, get to it.

Holy crap!!!!

I didn't read your post before I made my last one.
How freaky is that?
See how easy it might be to destroy the TV rights deal for the AFL?
I wonder if they have any idea how frail things may be......

[2005]

Valid points CTS and understand what you are saying.Though as Koala Bear said its the AFL not the Swans you should be piping up to !!

Hope you get to the footy during 08 some time !!

[CureTheSane]

Valid points CTS and understand what you are saying.Though as Koala Bear said its the AFL not the Swans you should be piping up to !!

Yep, I understand that, but the AFL don't seem to act on my letter (shock, horror)
I would suggest that the Swans should be acting on behalf of it's members in doing their best to gain us access to the games.

Many years ago I had a girl working for me.
Head office were paying her a part time rate, but treating her as a casual.
I could have told her to ring head office and sort it out, but instead I chose to contact them on her behalf and sorted it out.

I copped a lot of crap for going 'straight to the top' and bypassing a lot of stupid people who wouldn't act, but this was someones livelihood and she deserved to be looked after.
She worked for me and she was missing out on what she deserved.

maybe the Swans need to start looking upon us as the people who keep THEM in profit, and start taking care of our interests....?

Having said that, I understand that the AFL are the ones who inevitably make the decisions.

[Triple B]

maybe the Swans need to start looking upon us as the people who keep THEM in profit, and start taking care of our interests....?

You're not a member anymore and you couldn't be arsed going to watch the games when they are in Melbourne. Explain again how you keep THEM in profit?

[CureTheSane]

You're not a member anymore and you couldn't be arsed going to watch the games when they are in Melbourne. Explain again how you keep THEM in profit?

I have been a member for many years.
I GO TO the games when I can.
I love going to the football, but it isn't always possible when you are running a business and have a family.

My POINT is that the games played in Victoria should not be televised.
The should NOT be televised because I can go and see them.
If I can't then I miss out. That is what I am saying.

If I have exposure to mare than a handful of the games that AREN'T player in Victoria, then I will happily pay for a membership.
Where the hell is the benefit for me when I moss MOST of the games unless I have Foxtel or venture to some pub?

Seriously, twist the words any way you want.
Go one your "if you don't buy a membership then you don't care about the Swans as much as me" tangent as much as you like.
It's unconvincing and aged.

Come live in Melbourne as a Swans fan for a while and see how YOU like it....

[Robbo]

I think you should get FOX.

[Chilcott]

I agree with you CTS about the lack of FTA games for the Sydney Swans.

I also don't go to many games as I have 2 kids under 2.

With 6 kids your best bet would be the local footy on weekends.

I take my kids to the local footy. Beer and food is cheaper and action on the ground is better than most AFL games in that there are not as many short backwards/sideways kicks and mostly long kicks to the forwards in one out marking contests. Also, you can sit where you bloody want and not have some pimply faced juvenile in a coat telling you where you can and can't go.

I can't complain in any case as I have Foxtel, but even if I didn't it would give me a good excuse to sneak off for a couple of hours to the local for a few frothies.