Northern Football League boss details league’s plan to avoid financial disaster in COVID-19 lockdown
A cancelled senior football season and desire to protect clubs during the COVID-19 lockdown will hit the Northern Football League’s bottom line hard but there is a saving grace.
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The federal government’s JobKeeper payments and the return of netball and junior football have saved the Northern Football League from serious financial pain.
League boss Peter McDougall said JobKeeper has allowed the league to avoid laying off any staff during to the COVID-19 lockdown.
The cancelled senior football season and fixed costs from AFL Victoria will have a major impact on the NFNL’s bottom line but the return of netball and junior football will save it from potential ruin.
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Clubs will be protected with the league passing on a 50 per cent cut in senior affiliation fees and any potential savings on insurance premiums.
McDougall said it could take the league two years to recover fully.
“With juniors and netball being played, that will certainly help from a financial perspective but without senior football that will have a negative impact on the league across the board,” he said.
“At the end of the day if we’d had no footy at all, the impact would have been significant, and it would have taken the league a long time to recover. If juniors and netball get up the impact won’t be anywhere near as severe.
“It’s a tricky balancing act, we will take a hit, it will take some time to recover and it’s a matter of how we do that without passing on costs to clubs.
“I think it’s fair to say it’s going to be difficult to post a profit for the next two years.”
Despite the financial impact, McDougall said there were no thoughts of backflipping on its decision to cancel the season.
League fees cover a 12-month period from November 1 to October 31 and include insurance for players, asset protection and public liability.
While the NFNL is waiting to hear from AFL Victoria as to any potential savings, this could open the door to unofficial matches later in the year.
“We’ve tried to manage everything on a pro rata basis for a 12-month period, some things we’ve scrapped to save costs for clubs,” McDougall said.
“Affiliation fees, we’ve applied a pro rata 50 per cent reduction on that across senior clubs. Junior clubs are different.
“At this stage clubs are covered until further notice and if there are some games later on we’ll need insurance.
“Whatever we do we have to have insurance and if that means there’s a cost to clubs to do that, that’s how it works.”
While the pandemic has had a major impact on Australia’s job market, the NFNL has managed to retain its staff.
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McDougall said JobKeeper had been critical to the league’s goal of providing the same level of service to its clubs in the future.
“Financially, we scrutinise everything to within an inch of its life to make sure we still provide a quality service at the best possible price,” he said.
“Not being political but it’s (JobKeeper) a significant initiative that will not only save our league but many businesses across the country.
“The board is committed to looking after our people so the league comes back looking similar (and) we can provide the same quality service to our clubs, players and supporters.”
The junior football season is scheduled to kick off on July 12, while the summer netball season will wrap up on July 24 and 31 before the winter season begins on October 7.