Well done AFL. Well done indeed in assisting the Australian economy and domestic tourism. =D>
Footy stimulus package is kicking goals in Queensland
by: Tim Harcourt
From:The Australian
September 27, 201112:00AM
IT'S been a big year economically for Queensland, given the devastation of the floods and the cyclones, not to mention the tragic events in Japan that have affected one of the state's key markets. Fortunately, some domestic stimulus spending has helped at state and federal levels.
Queensland has also been helped by its overall comparative advantage in being a major mining and agribusiness state, which places it well globally in terms of demand from Asia, Latin America and the emerging markets.
But Queensland has also had some help from an expected quarter. In 2011, we saw the entry of the Gold Coast Suns into the AFL competition. This has now enabled the AFL to grow overall attendances in Queensland from 329,264 in 2010 to 446,769 this year, which has helped overall AFL attendances rise to a record 6,525,071 in home-and-away matches alone. Even the first week of the finals attracted 270,145 fans.
The entry of the Suns means that Queenslanders have a local rivalry between Brisbane and the Gold Coast. While not quite matching the epic derby in the west between Sandgroper rivals West Coast Eagles and Fremantle Dockers, or the showdown in South Australia between the Crows and Port, the "Q clash" did draw a record audience for pay-TV since Foxtel started covering the AFL a decade ago, with an average of 345,000 viewers.
The presence of the Suns on the Gold Coast has also boosted attendances, with more than 130,000 fans attending games at the Suns' home at Metricon Stadium. In a bad year for inbound tourism on the Gold Coast, due the floods and the high exchange rate, footy tourism has helped a lot too.
The visits of AFL superpowers Collingwood and Geelong to Metricon attracted 6000 interstate visitors each, helping boost the region in terms of transport and accommodation. Gold Coast tourism also will be boosted by the hosting of the international rules match, where Australia plays Ireland in an amalgam of Aussie rules and Gaelic football. Good crowds are anticipated, given local support for AFL and a strong Irish backpacker presence in Australia (heightened by some struggling times for the one-time Celtic Tiger).
The entry of the Suns this season and the Greater Western Sydney Giants in 2012 has certainly done its bit to boost the contribution that the AFL makes to the domestic Australian economy, which even last year was about $3.9 billion. The industry provides more than 12,000 jobs and is attracting record memberships and attendances. It has been a major boost in an otherwise tough year for domestic tourism.
AFL membership is now at record levels of just over 650,000, there are now a record number of participants in Australian football across the country of more than 780,000, and the recently announced record $1.25bn broadcast rights deal will see the game shown on more platforms to more people across Australia from 2012. What is surprising, though, is that even events off the field are now lucrative. For instance, the AFL has announced that the next three national drafts from 2012 will be held on the Gold Coast.
In 2010, the hosting of the draft was worth $10 million in media coverage alone to the Gold Coast, in an industry where there are three times the number of media representatives than the press gallery in Canberra. No wonder the competition to attract sports events has almost become a body-contact sport between states.
For example, even the hosting of the Brownlow medal is now worth bidding for. Victorian Premier Ted Baillieu had to dig deep to keep the traditional AFL night of nights at Crown casino in Melbourne, after a strong push to bring the event to Sydney.
But Baillieu hasn't managed to keep everything out of NSW as this year, after the finals series, NSW will be hosting the draft in western Sydney to highlight the entry of the GWS Giants in 2012. Of course, GWS's entry will be very exciting for AFL followers in Sydney, NSW and the ACT.
There will the excitement of having a new team, a new club facility at Blacktown and a bunch of talented youngsters inspiring the locals in the vast area of western Sydney and beyond.
There has also been a real buzz about the "Sheedy effect" that has been building economically in both corporate and media circles in Sydney and nationally. Kevin Sheedy, the inaugural GWS coach, apart from being a legendary premiership player and coach, is well known for his media presence, lateral thinking and passion for the game at national and international levels.
Sheedy has been anywhere and everywhere in the Sydney media and on November 3 is even fronting a headline business event for the Australian China Business Council to talk about Australia's business, cultural and sporting links with the nation's No 1 trading partner.
With Sheedy in Sydney, I anticipate a lot of interest in GWS and the AFL from corporate and diplomatic circles in Australia's international business capital.
We know that in the history of federation, state premiers fight tooth and nail at premiers' conferences (or Council of Australian Governments meetings, as they are now called). So it looks like major events in the great Australian game are now going to be keenly contested by our political leaders from coast to coast in the interests of getting their fiscal share of the footy stimulus.
Tim Harcourt is a visiting fellow at the Australian School of Business, UNSW and author of The Airport Economist: www.theairporteconomist.com
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/busines ... 6147374116
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