The coronavirus pandemic has gripped the world, and the future of football is up in the air.
How clubs have, and will, continue to juggle their balance sheets will have a huge bearing on their level of profitability when the threat of the virus eventually disappears.
With uncertainty becoming the new norm, Bulldogs President Peter Gordon and CEO Ameet Bains come together to deliver a new podcast for the members and fans, focussed on how the Club is dealing with the pandemic.
Fondly named after the historic building on the corner of Barkly and Gordon Street in West Footscray which shares the same patch of grass with VU Whitten Oval,The Drill Hall will give fans an insight into the way the Club makes decisions for the betterment of its members and fans.
In episode one, the Drill Hall examines the impact of COVID-19 on the club’s operations and finances, with Gordon and Bains covering various topics, including:
- Comparing the Fightback of 1989 to the COVID-19 pandemic
- The importance of the Club’s Finance and Risk Management committee in chartering the course forward for the Club.
- The impact of sponsorship, corporate partners and the Bulldogs members.
- Gordon’s role on the competition ‘war cabinet’: the complexities of the financial challenges the whole industry is facing, and the unified front to fix it.
- The tough but necessary decision to stand down staff.
- How the AFL’s funding model works: ‘assisted’ vs ‘non-assisted’ clubs, and the importance of the support of our members and fans.
- Fighting to keep our four men’s and women’s football teams running into the future.
Gordon and Bains also answer the peoples’ questions from social media, and discuss how they are getting through their time in isolation.
