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The flow-on effect from the postponed SANFL season will need to be met with more tough decisions and "resilience", the chief executive officer says, as the league also faces the prospect of drastic reductions to Adelaide Oval revenue.
Key points:
- The SANFL men's season has been postponed until May 31
- A large revenue shortfall is expected due to a spectator ban at Adelaide Oval
- An announcement is imminent on community football
The SANFL on Monday announced it would postpone its league, along with the reserves and under 18s competitions, until May 31 in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
Today, it announced the SANFL Women's League would also be put off until May 31, after announcing last week that the competition — along with men's trial matches — would continue without spectators.
"There are a lot of answers to some really tough questions required at the moment," CEO Jake Parkinson told ABC Radio Adelaide.
"We don't have all those answers right at the moment, but we'll continue to work through those with our stakeholders and we're going to have to review every single cost line that we possibly have.
"We have to work out whether there's any form of revenue we can earn to ensure the future of the league and of the clubs and of footy in SA and we're committed to that."
Adelaide Oval revenue stripped back
The AFL today postponed deciding whether it will delay the start to its own season, having already announced a shortened competition of 17 matches, which at this stage will be played without spectators.
"In terms of revenue, we get broadly 65 per cent of our revenue from Adelaide Oval," Mr Parkinson said.
"Secondly, as joint venue partners with the South Australian Cricket Association in the operation of Adelaide Oval, we're exposed to that cost base at Adelaide Oval and, in order to have that base covered, you need that revenue.
"When there's lots of cancellations for functions and games of football taking place with no crowds, very understandably and for all the right reasons, it has an impact on the revenue stream for the oval and consequently for the SANFL."
Mr Parkinson said the delayed start to SANFL men's league was "unavoidable" due to the need to protect the health and safety of players, coaches, staff, supporters and the "broader community".
"That means the SANFL competition can't take place for the immediate future so we've made the postponement to May 31," Mr Parkinson said.
Community sport under a cloud
In a statement today, the SANFL "strongly recommended" community football competitions also be postponed until May 31.
Some clubs in Adelaide, such as Walkerville Junior Football Club, have already made their own decisions to cancel pre-season training, while other sporting codes have also made cancellations, including SACA for its Premier Cricket finals.
"The league's gone through world wars and all types of challenges over 140 years," Mr Parkinson said.
"Tough decisions were made at those times and that's what's going to need to happen in the next short period of time.
"There's a huge level of resilience in football and I'm confident we'll be able to keep going."
Topics: sanfl, australian-football-league, sport, adelaide-5000, sa
First posted