Capital Football Fees - Are they Daylight Robbery?

Does anyone else think these are ridiculous and astro(turf)nomical?

Playing for one season in a 15 man squad will cost me about $265 - that's $14.70 per game IF I play every game which few players do.

• Shouldn't we encourage more people to play the beautiful game? Seems beauty comes at a price.
• Any increase due to artificials should be offset by less grass ptiches being used.
• Why is it SO more expensive than Rugby to play? 
• What do I get for my money? No ref, poorly marked grass pitches, locked or disgusting changing rooms.

When I asked about this last year, they gave me a generic answer and then refused to breakdown what I was actually paying from. 

Shouldn't I be able to ask?

Have a read of the financials

http://www.foxsportspulse.com/get_file.cgi?id=2966644

The affiliation fees that we pay UPWARDS are the killer. Shouldn't the money flow downwards from NZF in to the regions who are supposedly carrying out their 'vision'?

When a club adds what they need to make due to no cash coming in, it can cost a lower grade team $4000 - $4200 to enter a team for season. That's over the top.

Sure you can ask  - Did you attend & ask at the AGM ? That's the time to do so. Stuck record every year, grizzling when it's time to pay & play again. Do you also moan about having to pay full car rego & insurance even though you only drive 5,000km/year?

Be part of the family or go and play rugby!  

It's not a very democratic system, but only because nobody participates in it.

Cap Footy currently has three elected vacancies on the Board. They'll almost certainly be appointed unopposed even if anyone stands (last time nobody did). So you could always put your hand up.

I agree with you that the fees are getting high, or are too high already, but playing numbers keep going up so market forces rule.

this related to RNZ sniffing round for a story today?

Easier to complain then put yr hand up. Volunteers hard to come by these days and those that are at the coalface are very conscious of funding grants becoming more and more difficult and are therefore moving to a self sustaining pay to play model. Yes, subs are high in relation to rugby, but then it isn't rugby. Compare it with ponies or dance lessons, that'll make you feel a whole lot better instantly!

Better still, join your club committee and see what's involved and what it feels like from the other side of the table.

10cc - Pull your head in. I've been part of 'The Family' for 20 years and sick of seeing the prices go up year on year. Been on committees for clubs and have had plenty of club representatives take our thoughts along and for nothing. Last year, I actively tried to engage with them, get an understanding and was stonewalled when I asked about the justification and breakdown of what they charge. 

When it comes to car insurance - I pay it to protect my own asset and I can also choose from many competitively priced options. With rego...did you note that is coming down in price 10cc?

Smithy - who controls Capital Football? Are they truly self governing or are they really just a lapdog for NZ Football?

RNZ talked to a few guys from my team last year about it after some back and forth on Twitter and not sure they ever finished the story. Might be getting a bit more fuel for that story maybe but that's not what prompted the post - what prompted the post was being told what our fees would be for this year.

You know what, been on the committee for football before and currently on the committee for my Cricket Club for years (and still am) and what I can tell you is that for similar income levels, Cricket Wellington is significantly more in tune with its club players that Capital Football has ever been with its players. What I know is that unless you have a silver fern on your jacket, you don't get heard.

Putting the cat among the pigeons - do clubs pay/subsidise their top players from funds raised by social/less competitive players?

You are aware that (for all his flaws) Smithy is a former board member of Capital Football among a myriad of other roles in local football?

Now.  There is a can of worms for you.

If money flows downwards in Rugby and Cricket, why does it flow upwards in Football?

Because historically sponsors, media support and TV audiences have all generated revenue for those two sports which cover the costs.

Both have much larger revenues for the national body, smaller player bases and bigger support in local councils which means the burden on the rank and file is much less.

Because the NZRU get $117 million in revenue each year?

Cricket doesn't have a downward flow. If club players are given a cap or shirt,

the cash for it comes from fundraising via pokies and trusts, not from the

Black Caps. The Firebirds mostly do not charge at the gate.

And NZF get $10m each year.

50% of Cricket Wellingtons revenue comes from a Cricket NZ grant.

Rugby is a tough one to match, sure, but does that really equate to fess that are half of Football fees and refs for all games (volume of refs is another discussion I know). 

NZC get $47m per year.

So is there any light at the end of the tunnel or are we destined to fund the sport ourselves?

What is required? Corporate involvement? Government Funding?

No rationale for Govt funding. Plenty of other sports in the same boat.

If you take the clubs add-ons away completely, I think you end up with about $3200 in fees. These funds are generally used for kit, equipment and anything that grants don't cover - and bear in mind that there is a proposal to ban all alcohol related sponsorship from sport in New Zealand - that'll be fun.

If only we played football in yachts 

If it was happening then it's happening at all clubs. All have similar add-ons.

Comment was in support of Smithy's post - targeted at LeighboNZ.....

Try attending an AGM

Already pulled my head in LeighboNZ - It is a good discussion!

Point I am trying to make is that everyone is looking for someone else to pay for them, be it corporate sponsors/grants/pokies, social players, whatever. If we all individually paid for what the sport is costing at that point in time, then junior and social subs would be lower, and competitive grades would be totally unaffordable. Result is no pathways. Clubs therefore need to employ an all-in bucket approach to try and balance out a fair and reasonable subscription for all members. The ones that pay too much complain. They are usually senior social grades that no longer see the benefit in supporting 'the family' forgetting they may have enjoyed being on the other side of the ledger in their younger years.

What is the answer? No idea!  I'm picking you don't either.     

From the presentation to clubs 18th December 2014 - Full presentation available on CF site to the public

a fair portion probably goes into funding first teams doesn't it? 

$202 per player in  15 person team is club base cost add ref fees in a few divisions, may a small allowance annually for kit, ball etc. Then factor in Clubrooms cost - have a few players not pay fines or all of subs and who is subsidising who

If there is any subsidising it would be Futsal. A loss of $80k plus.

See that post suggests you're either totally clueless or just trolling. Not sure which it is but it's an easy question to answer if you look at the relative incomes of those three sports.

Group hug.

There are some clubs that don't use this model - it's tough going trust me but for me it's the right way to do it.

Maybe Leighbo is from the Wairarapa and his subs are funding Paul Ifill's new Martinborough dream home? (thought I would detract from the seriousness of this thread and just chuck in some old fashioned banter). I lack maturity!

If all this is the case, if it's simply the case that we need to fund the sport because no one else will, then why be secretive about it when I asked Capital Football last year?

Why not just say "We need cash to keep the sport going, this is how much we need and this is why".

Providing balance sheets is one thing but they need context for Joe Public like myself. 

• If you're poor, tell me you need some help and I'll help.
• If I don't know why you're asking me for a wedge of cash, then of course I'm going to have questions

I shouldn't have to be on a board or attend an AGM to find that kind of infomation out surely. Maybe I should, maybe I have to go out of my way to find justification for things that don't seem right. Apologies for asking the question but I'm sick of just accepting what appears to be a massive amount of money for the little attention any grade below Cap 1 and above gets.