This time around, instead of us asking the questions, we've left it up to you and JB has responded with pen in hand.
Hey everyone, it's great to speak to our passionate fans and members...here's to a sensational 2011.
Thanks for all your questions, hopefully I can answer as many as possible and...keep em coming.
Kristian said: James has there been any consideration into North having there own club museum, everytime i come into the club all that is there is a display cabinet with our 4 premierships and night series cups. Its a shame that a great club like ours has no room in which there is any memrobilia to show off our great past deeds, and history, plus it gives the kids and other supporters a look into our fantastic past.
James Brayshaw: Kristian lets start with you. The simple answer is yes. We have thought long and hard about a museum/hall of fame area at Aegis Park but two things have stopped us from doing it to date; space and funds.
As big as the area in our new facility is, it's pretty much full and therefore we would have extend to do what you discuss and that costs money. At this stage, we are reluctant to pour more into infastructure at the moment. But don't worry, all the great old memorabilia is safely tucked away and sooner rather than later, we will find a great home for it at Aegis Park.
Donald said: Hi James ... i know that we struggle to get a big supporter base, and that we have a large debt. I as a paid supporter would not mind putting in an extra $10.00 to help the club with its debt and if all members contributed that would be $400000.00 per year on 20000 members Just a thought what are your views. Regards Donald. Go Kangas
James Brayshaw: Donald, our CEO Eugene Arocca was quoted recently saying we will be talking to all our stake holders very soon about eliminating our debt but we just need the timing to be right. We have some wonderfully generous members and supporters, like yourself, who have indicated they would love to help and you will all get your chance soon. So the answer is 'watch this space' but thank you for your kind offer. There will be more talk about it in the near future.
Jason said: What is the club doing to try and increase our membership base? And what is the club doing to increase revenue and reduce debt? We need to hear more from you in the media about these items and when CW of the Age writes negative comments about the club you should be responding and sticking up for this club. We need more of a media profile. It looks like the AFL is trying to kill us off, NAB cup in Geelong, NAB challenge all over the place and our first game of the real season in WA, no wonder our membership is so low compared to other clubs.
James Brayshaw: To answer your question Jason, I repeat what I said as recently as January. At North Melbourne, we have worked extremely hard over the past three years to build a solid foundation for this business, now we MUST grow in every area. Supporter base, membership, attendance, television viewership, merchandise sales and revenue. All these areas are vital for the long term future of any footy club, especially ours. That is why we are looking to expand into another market like Hobart or Ballarat. Our home will always be Aegis Park but we need to find new supporters, new members, new people to engage with our great club, it's future and of course its history. Our board and senior management has very openly embraced this growth strategy and the reasons are simple; we can't sit on our hands and we must attract new people to our club if we want to build a sustainable future. As for growth here in Melbourne, great strides are being taken by our membership department to re-engage with our local friends in and around North Melbourne. With the Huddle classroom, we throw the doors open to the multi-cultural community and in other areas we continue to forge a strong relationship with Ballarat. We are doing plenty to increase our membership and supporter base here but existing supporters are also vital and to them I say, as always, 'join up, turn up and switch on' - it's the single most important thing you can do as a supporter of North Melbourne.
DanrRoo said: What are out chances of getting the funding we need from the libs to
go ahead with Ballarat?
James Brayshaw: Danroo, that is a very difficult question to answer. The original offer from the Labour party to the AFL was $40 million which is a hell of a lot of money. Does the Liberal party want to spend that amount setting up a boutique stadium an hour from Melbourne? I don't have the answer. Do I think and hope they do? Yes. A good idea is a good idea no matter who is in power. I think the AFL would be very well served having a third stadium to house games that may draw smaller crowds. Regional Victorians love their footy just as passionately as the rest of us and Ballarat catches that whole region right down to Port Fairy. I think it would be great but ultimately it's a decision for the standing government.
Draz said: I think the club should get more involved with the Sudanese community. Its a big market, that could boost the membership numbers. Community activities, promotion day's, etc....
James Brayshaw: Draz, you talk about embracing the Sudanese market, well we've taken a giant step towards that by placing Majak Daw on our rookie list. He's a very impressive young man whose football is coming along in leaps and bounds and I think it would be amazing to see the first ever Sudanese AFL footballer play a senior game wearing a North jumper. We have also set up a classroom called The Huddle which embraces all communities in our area, including the growing Sudanese community. I
think Eugene and his team have this area very well covered.
Andrew said: Are Mazda happy with their investment in us as the major sponsor? Will they continue in coming years?
James Brayshaw: Andrew, Mazda has been the most incredible supporters of our football club and we are so grateful to them. They have been right by our side for more than a decade and it is now one of the great partnerships in AFL Football. Every indication from the team at Mazda says they love the involvement with us and I certainly hope these two great brands can stay connected for many years to come. They are terrific people to deal with and very loyal, which of course is a great North Melbourne trademark!
Steve McCann said: Firstly, keep up the good work. Knowing our membership is not as large as others, what continually annoys me is the lack of a North presence in AFL, channel 7, 10 and Foxtel advertising and programs. Apart from your program on channel 9 we hardly see our players on the TV. Is there anyway of pushing to get our brand out there or do we just hope for the best?
James Brayshaw: Steve McCann! Great to see you on the website - of course a former premiership player and 200 gamer for our club.
You talk about our club's presence on TV and to answer, I take you back to Jason's question a little earlier. TV stations (as I am acutely aware) keep a very close eye on who watches what and when. Our challenge is to get everyone watching North Melbourne play either at the game or on television. Winning helps, star players help, and we think both of these things will continue to emerge on the field for us. This club's record on-field in the last 20 years has been without peer but awareness for our members and supporters is also vital. If we're on telly turn it on and watch...if we're playing in Melbourne, grab your mates and get along. Our people really need to understand how important this is to everything our club does! To answer Steve, the more people who watch us when we play, the more exposure we will get on TV. It is pretty much that simple.
Brian said: James, The North Melbourne Football suffers considerable inequality in the fixture programming dictated by the AFL, being equal access to prime games times. This inequality is deemed by the AFL to be for greater good of the competition by maximising gate receipts and television audiences. The club is then supposedly compensated for this by the AFL.The inequality must have significant impacts on the club in its ability to attract sponsors and supporters and seemingly putting us on an predetermined path of always being reliant on the AFL for support. Perhaps the worst effect is that it fuels the never ending discussion in the media that the club can not survive. Has the club ever quantified the effect of this inequality and the adequacy of the compensation provided by the AFL? Does the club argue for greater equality and or greater compensation? Do you agree that under the current arrangements the gaps between the 'popular clubs' that are given access to the prime game times and North Melbourne can only grow and never be closed? Does the club have any plan to explain this scenario better to the media and remove the handout stigma? Regards Brian
James Brayshaw: Brian, our fixture is an issue and let me start on this one by stating that we get an ASD allocation of 1.4 million dollars from the AFL every year because of it. It is not a hand-out as some people continue to say, it is an amount paid to compensate us for a very tough commercial draw and to recognise that we play Sunday twilight (a spot that needs filling every week) so the Collingwoods and Essendons can play on Friday night and Saturday nights where the most people attend and watch on television. This said, as we continue to play winning football, our draw will improve. "God helps those who help themselves" as the saying goes. We all need to get our heads around the fact that Friday and Saturday night games go to the clubs that draw and rate...that's the reality. As soon as that's us, we'll be scheduled there too.
Don said: Congratulations James to you and your Board for the outstanding job you've done over the past 3 years. It would have been a travesty of justice had you been tipped out at the election, and I say this as someone who was very much in favour of moving to the Gold Coast a few years ago. I too, am very curious about the prospects of playing some games in Ballarat and Hobart to shore up our finances and broaden our supporter base. Any chance that this may happen in 2012?
James Brayshaw: Don, I think I've already covered off Ballarat. As far as Hobart goes, it's a prospect that we continue to work very hard on behind the scenes. I have always said, the population there is footy mad and they deserve some AFL. We would love to be the team that gives them that footy fix in some form or another but there are a few things that have to fall into place in order for this to occur.
It's a bit of a work in progress but if it comes together it will be a great bonus for our football club. A place where 250,000 football mad people live, with a great stadium, 45 minutes by air from Melbourne, two or three times a year, ticks every growth box we have discussed earlier. Gets more people watching us live, joining us as members, watching on television, wearing our jumpers ... I probably sound a bit repetitive here but it is so important for our future.
Go Kangas
JB
