The Melbourne Demons could be faced with a $5 million black hole over the next two years

THE Demons could be faced with a $5 million black hole over the next two years, given poor crowd projections, payouts to staff and revenue shortfalls.

Demons

THE Demons could be faced with a $5 million black hole over the next two years, given poor crowd projections, payouts to key staff and revenue shortfalls.

New Melbourne chief executive Peter Jackson has already forecast a huge loss this season and said little would change next year if the revenue base did not grow.

The Demons have just wiped out a $5 million debt, but face being plunged deep back into the red, given its horrific season.

Having already been hit with a $500,000 tanking fine and a payout to departed chief executive Cameron Schwab estimated at $250,000, the club is facing pressure to sack coach Mark Neeld.

He is on a contracted estimated at $350,000 to $400,000 a year, so the Demons faces a payout approaching $600,000 for the last 18 months of his contract.

After four home games, the Demons are yet to draw a crowd above 23,000.

And crowds for the blockbuster fixtures against Hawthorn and Collingwood are likely to be hit by the team's woeful form.

The Demons are still 3000 members short of last year's total of 35,345.

Clubs estimate each 1000-member shortfall costs more than $100,000.

With Melbourne set to discuss Neeld's future at a board meeting on Monday, Magpies president Eddie McGuire yesterday called on the league to give the Demons an enlarged salary cap, so parlous was their plight.

While Jackson and the board may build a compelling case to remove Neeld and replace him with a caretaker coach, that move would cost the Demons just as much money.

A replacement coach of the calibre of Paul Roos would demand a wage of about $1 million a season, with significant costs to move on contracted assistant coaches.

Carlton last year failed to declare a profit for the first time in six seasons, attributing its $680,000 loss in large part to termination payouts.

Jackson admitted recently the 2013 loss might balloon to $1.5 million after the AFL's equalisation funding, but there are fears it could end up double that.

"I do know that we are looking at an operating loss of $1 million. If crowds do continue to decline, then the consequences of that might be a little bit north of that," he said.

"We've also got some abnormal one-off expenses like the AFL fine and the legal costs associated with that, and the changeover of CEO.

"So we can't sit there and just accept that, because going forward, the expectations of 2014 from a revenue point of view may not be much different to what they are this year."

The Demons used fundraising from their Foundation Heroes night to declare a modest profit last year, but will struggle to again ask benefactors to dig deep.

The Demons will receive a total of $9.1 million in equalisation funding from the AFL in 2012-2016, the third highest in the league.

Former Melbourne president Paul Gardner said yesterday the club was in an unenviable position regarding sacking Neeld.

"It is awful to see a team struggling and a person struggling. Football is about hope," he said.