THE COVID-19 situation is having an unprecedented impact on the AFL industry, yet the strategic plan laid out by the Carlton Football Club remains on track.
That was the clear message delivered by President Mark LoGiudice to members on Monday and was later echoed by CEO Cain Liddle on radio.
Launched just over 12 months ago, The Carlton Way outlined a series of key targets the Club has committed to achieve by the end of 2023.
"We are preparing for a number of scenarios relating to what a season would look like and the financial impact that may come."
— Carlton FC (at ??) (@CarltonFC) April 13, 2020
President Mark LoGiudice outlined the way forward in a letter to members earlier today.
One of those was ensuring the Club has zero historical debt.
Liddle was asked on 3AW’s Sportsday program on Monday night whether the financial impact of COVID-19 would result in that target being set back a number of years.
The Carlton CEO, like the President, was confident that would not be the case, factoring in the AFL’s commitment to play a 17-round season in 2020.
“No I don’t think that at all,” Liddle said.
“We are confident we can bounce back really quickly. Those non-traditional revenues we have established (Carlton IN Business and Carlton College of Sport) will still be there and will be more important than ever.
“I just could not be more complimentary of our supporter base.
“We had already broken our membership record this year. We were up significantly on last year which has given us a buffer and to this point the support of our members as this whole situation has unfolded has been incredible.
“I spoke to our membership team today and since this whole thing started, we’ve had more than 500 people who have actually come along and joined up.
“I just couldn’t be more appreciative of the support of our members.”
