RAW: Oh, So This Is What SACA Members Voted For

Earlier this evening the SACA advised its members on the new deal for AFL to be played at Adelaide Oval this season in the form of the Round 24 clash between Port (if it still exists then) and Melbourne. So, to the 80% of SACA members who endorsed this union, here goes.

• Only 4,000 of you (including guests) will be allowed to buy tickets for the members’ area – that’s about 20% of all members, if only members buy those allocated to them and not guests. Given no Port home game this year (other than against the Crows) has drawn more than 24,000 (with many under 20,000), it is not clear why SACA supremo Ian McLachlan has not been able to negotiate a better allocation for his members than this (especially what they are paying for tickets – see the next item)
• The cost of each ticket is $25, against a cost to general public of $26.50. Yes, your SACA membership saves you $1.50 if you can get one of the tickets on offer or about 5%. Wow!
• There is no reserved seating for SACA members but as a concession buyers of SACA members’ tickets can access the ground 45 minutes before the hoi polloi to secure their spot. Wow again!
• As a SACA member you can’t use your own members’ bar. Yes, this is serious.
• As a SACA member you can’t use your own members’ dining room. As above.
• As a SACA member you can’t park in either of the northern or southern car parks, so if driving you will need to park somewhere else, like in town.

No doubt SACA President Ian McLachlan will justify this on the grounds this is a one-off event, but, remember SACA members who supported all this, there remains no agreement between anyone about how the oval will operate and be managed when AFL actually comes to town week in and week out.

And remember when you voted for this, they didn’t tell you Port was broke and the SANFL was out of cash and that licenses for both the Crows and Port were going to be sold back to the AFL to get them both (and the Crows) out of their self inflicted messes.

Still Mr McLachlan has other matters to worry about for this game like the fact that despite managing the AFL negotiations in secret while the cost of his new members’ grandstand blew out from $70m to $115m, he and his expensive Melbourne architects made no provision for television cameras in the designs. Also, Channel 7 has advised that the light in the south western pocket is not good enough for TV telecasting.

Ah, the new world of AFL at Adelaide Oval has arrived and as suspected by the whinging naysayers it is not looking anything like it was talked up that it was going to be.

Now just wait when no one can get a drink or a feed and Port get flogged again.