Chief operating officer Matt Green looks at the club’s profit model and how it correlates when striving for the ultimate success

THE ‘BASE Camp’ analogy is a great one for our club.

We have made some significant progress as a club over the last couple of years.

In my sphere, nothing has been more satisfying than seeing the smiles on the players’ faces when they are training in the new AAMI Park facility.

And it’s also worth mentioning Debt Demolition, our re-alignment with the MCC, our long term commitment to the Casey community and the new facilities at Casey, and a return to profitability for the last two years - lots of positive steps.

However, we are acutely aware that there is still a long way to go.

All of the above has allowed us to set a platform for the future and reinvest in key areas of the club.

Particularly in the football department where over the last two years we have increased spending by more than $4m on players, staff, facilities and equipment.

We are now back ‘In the Game’ in this area, but no-one is satisfied with just being in the game - we want to have an edge, a competitive advantage.

The new benchmark in the AFL is Collingwood, who spent a massive $20m on their football department last year.

This brings us to the key challenge facing the club at the moment - how to create a sustainable business model (profit model) that allows the club to grow in all key areas; increase investment in the football department and recruit and retain the best people.

I should note that I don’t subscribe to the theory that you can buy a premiership.

A review of our competitors over recent years shows that increased spend in the football department does not necessarily guarantee results.

However, there is certainly a level of investment required to give a club the chance and then above that success depends on the ability to make informed, intelligent choices about where to invest those additional dollars.

So now that we have established the platforms for a stable business, the work starts to analyse ways to improve our current profit model.

Increasing revenue is the key - we have already gone down the path of trimming back to ensure our survival - the next phase has to be growth.

The first priority is to establish what maximum potential from our current revenue streams (membership, corporate hospitality, sponsorship, retail etc.) can be.

We have already invested in some of these areas and are seeing improved results - both internally and when compared to other clubs. The drive to maximize these areas will continue.

As you would expect, many of these areas can be heavily influenced by team performance, so the challenge is to deliver solid results, regardless of wins and losses, so that the club can continue to grow with confidence.

Other key areas of focus will be:

Talk of profit models and finance is not necessarily the most exciting part of the club for members and supporters.

But we hope that you take comfort and confidence from the knowledge that we are focused on long-term planning to give the football department every chance of achieving not only the ultimate prize, but sustained success.