Footy Budget Goes Digital

The iconic SA Football Budget will be published from this weekend as a digital-only magazine.

Due to Covid-19, the decision to go totally digital has been made to:

• Reduce handling of cash and the magazine itself, in line with health advice from government
• Reduce the cover price for footy fans (down from $3 last year to $2.50 per issue this year, $5 for the Grand Final and $29 for a season subscription – which is a $16 saving).
• The decline in print and the general move by society to digital platforms.

SANFL will publish the magazine in a digital format in rounds 1 and 2 for the Adelaide Oval fixtures, with the decision to be reviewed after round 2.

SANFL General Manager Commercial Neal Matotek said the transition to a digital only publication mirrored the major shift in society away from print products, which were no longer as profitable due to the decline in print advertising.

“The League has been considering a move to digital for the Budget for several years and Covid-19 has accelerated that,” Mr Matotek said.

“The Budget has been part of the fabric of SANFL footy since it was first published in 1914 so we’d love for it to continue to be a part of the match day experience for supporters in 2020.

“The first two rounds of the year at Adelaide Oval are the logical choice to trial this move.”

The digital-only Budget is now much more than a match day magazine, with great reading for SANFL fans that can’t make it to games, as well as full team lists for those that can.

The first issue is a bumper page 40 pages (up from 32 pages for round one last year).

The pages are viewable on phones, tablets and desktops. That means fans at the game can easily read each article and refer to team lists on their phone.

“There will be more editorial content this year, so there are plenty of stories to read for people not going to a weekend’s games but who love their traditional SANFL footy fix,” Mr Matotek said.

Contents in the first issue include:

• Season predictions for each team
• Dare To Dream: how Glenelg’s rise gives hope to other clubs
• The anatomy of Covid-19 and its impact on football
• Identifying the players most likely to have breakout seasons in 2020
• SANFL Statewide Super Women’s Footy Preview
• Men’s League, Reserves and Women’s League team lists
• A swag of statistics

Fans can purchase a digital copy of the Budget at issuu.com/boylen

(Note the Budget can only be purchased via the issuu.com website, not the Issuu app.)