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"SHOULD mass gathering restrictions remain in place on recommencement of competition, would your club support playing in 2020 with no crowds in attendance?"
That's among 12 questions Bendigo Football-Netball League clubs have been asked as part of a survey exploring contingency planning options for season 2020, which at best would be a shortened nine-round home and away format where all clubs play each other once followed by a finals series that could also be truncated.
Community football-netball competitions for 2020 remain in limbo, with clubs having gone into hiatus since March 17 when training and club activities were suspended immediately due to the coronavirus pandemic and seasons put on hold until at least May 31.
There is still no definitive answer yet on when or if community football-netball will start this year, and if it does will government and health authority regulations allow for crowds to attend games under mass gathering restrictions?
The uncertainty around crowds being permitted to community sport has forced leagues and clubs to consider what the implications would be and whether playing in 2020 would be financially viable without supporters.
And for the majority of BFNL clubs the response to the survey question is no crowds should mean no play in 2020 given the impact it would have on balance sheets.
Maryborough president Brendan Roughead said the issue was discussed by the Magpies' committee on Tuesday night where the club determined the position that a 2020 season without crowds coming through the gate would be unsustainable.
"Even if we could have a crowd, there's also a question of would they come given the mantra over the past couple of months of people not to leave their homes and go out," Roughead said this week.
"So we could get the go-ahead with crowds, but you may not get a crowd there.
"At a football club you make money from a whole lot of ways, some which are at games with gates, bar, canteen, raffles and functions, so if you take that away, it puts a serious dent in terms of an income source."
At Gisborne, as well as the financial impact of no match-day income stream without crowds, president John Wood says the Bulldogs would struggle to keep people out of their home ground at Gardiner Reserve if crowds were banned.
"I think it would be a real struggle without crowds," Wood said.
"One of the things from our point of view is our ground isn't totally secure. There's a lot of gates we need to keep open for walking paths, so it's a difficult ground to try and keep people out if there was to be no crowds.
"And then if you've got six football teams and 10 netball teams, plus when you add in all the extras such as coaches, team managers, trainers and so forth, already you're going to be well up there (if a restricted number was allowed).
"Without crowds there's also the point of view of trying to raise some revenue. There is the AFL recommendation for the salary cap to be dropped, but no crowd is going to mean no revenue and that would also make it very difficult."
The AFL has recommended that community leagues implement two stages of salary cap reductions in response to the impact of the coronavirus on sporting clubs and the economy.
Stage one is an initial 50 per cent cut of the existing salary cap, which if it's to be adopted for the BFNL - there has still been no announcement by the AFLCV commission - would reduce the figure from $150,000 to $75,000.
Stage two is a further pro rata reduction based on the amount of matches played, meaning if half a BFNL season was to be played the cap would be further cut to $37,500 at an average of $4166 per week over nine home and away games.
"Even with the salary cap being substantially reduced, there are other costs involved and what is interesting is the league isn't waiving any costs either, so if football goes ahead then it's going to cost us money and if we've got no way of recuperating it..." South Bendigo president Alan Ellis said.
"The BFNL is expecting the clubs to still pay the first two installments of their fees, we're not sure where we are with grounds as we still have to pay the City of Greater Bendigo for venues, we have to pay for umpires, so it's not just about player payments.
"Even if we do go ahead with crowds and play a nine-game season, half the clubs will only get four home games to recuperate costs and the other half will get five.
"You can do gate sharing and the like to equalize the gate takings, but the money is not in the gates, it's in the canteen and beer sales where you generate most of the money at games.
"At South Bendigo we're not in a bad position and could probably ride this out, but we don't know what's ahead of us either; sponsorship will be down, membership will be down, so if there's no crowds and no way to recuperate some of the costs, we'd be against going ahead. For the sake of half-a-season it could set the club back 10 years."
Acting Kyneton president Julie Priestley says the loss of match-day revenue from no crowds on top of hits to membership and sponsorship income will make 2020 unviable for the Tigers, while adding crowds are the essence of community sport.
"For us, we have said no crowds, no play. We don't believe it would be sustainable without the match-day income. We've already missed out on memberships and sponsorship, so if you add in game day without any crowds and that lost revenue, we don't feel it's viable," Priestley said.
"And crowds are what make community sport."
Kangaroo Flat president Scott Mitchell queries how clubs could survive if they were to play this year without the revenue that is generated on game day from the gate, canteen, bar, raffles and after-match functions.
"I don't think it's a viable option and don't believe it's conducive to football and netball. How can clubs survive if there's no income coming in?" Mitchell said.
"Even if there was no crowds, some of the rules that are suggested to being put in place are going to make it really hard to manage, such as cleaning rooms between games... how do you get volunteers in to do that and that's where it becomes really hard for clubs.
"We're open to anything, but we have to weigh up our club's position and if we can't be financially viable then there's no point us opening up the doors.
"And by saying financially viable, I don't mean making money, I mean surviving... we need to have some sort of income."
At Castlemaine, president Caleb Kuhle says the Magpies are keenly awaiting further information, but believes it's difficult to fathom if 36 players are on a football field playing a contact sport why crowds wouldn't be permitted to watch.
"It's obviously very difficult to bring in any revenue without crowds if you don't have a gate, bar or canteen," Kuhle said.
"If I look at it from a business perspective I'd say it's not viable, but from a player's perspective and wanting to just get on the park and play then it would be a shame if they can't.
"I believe if we're allowed to legally play then we should be able to have crowds there. How can you say you can have 36 players running around on a footy field, but you can't have people in their cars watching... that doesn't seem to make much sense."
Sandhurst president Chris Greene says while the Dragons would consider any options on the table for getting a 2020 season started, a lockout of crowds would provide a major stumbling block.
"We really can't see how we can put on three games of football and five games of netball without a crowd," Greene said.
"If the restrictions are brought back to where you could have 500 people, well there's 250 or so already there with players and people with match day roles, so with no crowds I just don't see how we could possibly do it."
One option Greene says he has given thought to for maximising those who can attend if a restricted crowd number was allowed was the splitting of football and netball at alternate venues.
"Something I haven't run by anyone and understand it could raise issues is if we were playing Golden Square for instance, the football plays at Golden Square and the netball plays at Sandhurst," Greene said.
"But then you obviously run into some distance issues when you're playing the teams outside of Bendigo.
"We'd be more than open to any suggestions, but we've thought about it as a club, talked about it and without crowds, who are we servicing other than the needs of the players, which is great for them, but the rest of the community isn't being serviced."
Strathfieldsaye president Glen Cowling says while the Storm are desperate for a 2020 BFNL season to be played in any capacity, the club understands and respects the decisions of those that consider 2020 unsustainable if there was no crowds.
"We want to play a season and obviously the crowd is an influencing factor," Cowling said.
"We're a yes to any type of season beginning, but I respect the opinions of the clubs that may feel differently in the circumstances.
"If other clubs are strongly against it and can't see a way forward then we would support that.
"But from our perspective, we would really like to have a season in some capacity."
Golden Square's message to the BFNL is whatever shape season 2020 takes, "we're in".
Square is also a strong advocate of the AFL salary cap reduction recommendations, regardless of the COVID-19 circumstances.
"In a nutshell, we would play regardless," president Brendan Stewart said.
"Within our club there was somewhat of a mixed view (regarding playing with no crowds), but the majority were yes with caution and waiting for May 11 and beyond to see what unfolds. But if the competition is on then we're in."
Eaglehawk president Paul Whitfort says the Hawks are keen to salvage a season for their players and would address the no crowd scenario if that's what is stipulated.
"We're keen to try to get something going and salvage something if we can... whether that means it's four or five clubs who want to get together and want to play for a few weeks," Whitfort said.
"If our players are keen to play and there are no crowds then we'd have to cross that bridge if we get there. But we're keen to get something out of the season."
All clubs and leagues are now keenly awaiting next week when AFL Victoria has stated it will be in a position to provide a "robust" update on season 2020 at local level once the AFL has announced its return plans, which is expected on Monday.
The BFNL has been meeting with its club presidents each fortnight during the shutdown.
If there are AFL Victoria announcements early next week pertaining to a 2020 launch pathway for community competitions, the league will give clubs some time to digest the information before meeting again.
"Our next discussion will be one where we'll, hopefully, have a bit more information and can start to make some decisions," BFNL manager Cameron Tomlins said.
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