VFL 2024: Unpacking the business powering Southport ahead of second grand final in three years

Southport has fought a lonely battle in the VFL with brilliant success. Ahead of the Sharks’ second grand final in three years, we uncover the business model that has fed the powerhouse.

The Southport Sharks have never been short of ambition.

Having begun as a local Gold Coast side in 1961, the Sharks have climbed and climbed and climbed. Now – for the second time in three years – they are one game away from winning the most coveted premiership outside of the AFL in Australian football.

The Sharks took the first step on their ascent of the Australian footballing mountain in 1983, when they were introduced to the Queensland’s state league, the QAFL, and defied the odds to clinch the premiership in their first year.

They’ve never looked back.

“There’s always been an aspiration internally to play the highest level possible,” said Southport CEO Dean Bowtell, who is club hall-of-famer and four-time premiership player.

“That was driven by our president Dr Alan McKenzie, who served 49 years, he shared that vision that we should always aspire to play at the highest level this club can compete in.”

Southport Sharks CEO Dean Bowtell. Picture: Southport Sharks.

That Southport even survives in the VFL today, yet alone thrives, beggars belief when you take a step back, given they are the only stand-alone club outside of Victoria in this new-age, mishmash 21-team competition.

The Sharks have never been fazed by the volatile circumstances stand-alone clubs face, with their part-time battlers pitted against a strong contingent of AFL-listed full-time professionals every other week.

Throw in the immense travel demands of being one of just five teams based outside Victoria, and you have a recipe for disaster. Proud Brisbane club Aspley were also admitted into the post-Covid VFL after the NEAFL was disbanded, but survived a lone season.

Since their addition to the VFL, the Sharks finished second in a Covid-interrupted 2021 season, reached the grand final in 2022, slumped to 14th in an off 2023, before securing another grand final berth this year.

MSouthport Sharks captain Brayden Crossley poses during the VFL Grand Final Media Opportunity. (Photo by Michael Willson/AFL Photos)

To understand how the remarkable is made possible, you need to take a peek under the hood, and cast your eye over the well-oiled machine that is the business of the Southport Sharks.

“We’ve worked incredibly hard over the last 10 to 20 years to diversify the business and ensure that we continue to invest in our facilities,” Bowtell said.

“We’re in hospitality, so food, beverages, events, gaming, we’ve also got a fitness centre, now we’ve got accommodation, we run a commercial carpark on the site.

“There’s many revenue streams that contribute to the club’s business.”

Situated within the Gold Coast’s health and knowledge precinct, the Sharks base is a precinct of its own.

Their paid parking facility snakes around the boundary of Fankhauser Reserve to make the most of space that would otherwise sit dormant, then there’s the 24/7 gym, a 120-room hotel and the list goes on.

“We’ve also had a mandate that we want to be less reliant on one revenue source, which is gaming,” Bowtell added.

“It’s just an internal objective, when you run any business you don’t want to rely on just one revenue stream.

“We identified the need to make our business more resilient and sustainable, that’s one of the reasons why we have a fitness centre, and a hotel and all these other assets that make the business robust.”

Hugh Dixon of the Sharks kicks for goal during the 2024 VFL Second Preliminary Final match between the Footscray Bulldogs and the Southport Sharks. (Photo by Cameron Grimes/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

For all the ambition and off-field growth – and there is plenty – Bowtell maintains that the club must never lose sight of its overarching goal.

“As a not-for-profit we have to commit to the objective of the club, and that is to grow the game on the Gold Coast,” Bowtell said.

It’s why the Sharks played a key role in the region securing an AFL licence, and contributed $1 million a season to the Suns across their first 10 years to ensure financial stability.

All the while, their own club continued to grow to the point where it now boasts 800 junior players, 35 per cent of which are female, and more than 50,000 members.

That elusive VFL premiership is all that’s missing, and it would cap off a supremely successful senior season for Southport given its senior and reserves women’s outfits were both crowned premiers in the QAFLW.

Southport Sharks win the 2024 Bond University QAFLW Seniors. Credit: Queensland AFL Media and Highflyer Images

The club has continued to innovate off the field this season with the addition of BrainEye - an app that can detect concussion - for it’s senior players, while it’s hoped it can be rolled out across the juniors next season. Likewise, they’ve worked closely with FemPro, who develop protective armour for women, to create a garment suitable for women’s Aussie rules that can be rolled out next season.

As the additions of the gym, hotel, and commercial parking did for the club across the past decade, Southport is hoping to secure the club’s growth into the future with its current master plan. It reveals dreams to expand the sporting facilities and transform Fankhauser Reserve into a stadium with a capacity between 8000 and 10,000.

“We want to be able to use the facility for 52 weeks of the year, from community sport right up to elite, it’s designed for high traffic, high volume,” Bowtell said.

“It gives the option for different sports to be played out of our facility, we know that green space is at a premium, particularly at the northern end of the Gold Coast. We feel as though with the enhancements we’ll be able to facilitate from junior sports right up to the elite level. Lighting will be increased, we’ll have broadcast and media boxes, we could host cricket, there’s a whole range of sports that we could consider once the project was complete.”

Bowtell floated the idea of drop-in wicket being used to host turf cricket, which would be of particular relevance if the sport was to be included in the 2032 Olympics.

Just this year, Collingwood conducted a pre-season AFLW camp at Southport’s base and were “blown away” by the facilities.

Collingwood’s men’s program has previously floated the idea of playing home games on the Gold Coast, and the AFLW program following suit wouldn’t be too far fetched.

“We’re open to partnering with the Suns or the AFL in delivering more female content here on the Coast,” Bowtell said.

“Our objective is to grow the game on the Gold Coast so if there was an opportunity to host an AFLW game we would consider it.”