Sydney Swans chief executive Myles Baron-Hay says the club has to alter its financial structure to become less dependent on results on the field.

The Swans announced a $797,520 loss for the year ending October 31 including a $500,000 provision for Club Swans, a related entity.

Baron-Hay said the club's board must now focus on implementing a financial model which relies less on success on-the-field and more on growing the code within Sydney.

"Today's result means we're financially challenged," Baron-Hay said.

"These are extra challenging times for most sporting organisations and we, like others, aren't immune to the global economic crisis.

"Over time we need to reduce our dependency on our on-field performance and... return the club to profitability."

Baron-Hay wouldn't be drawn on whether the figures should make the AFL stop and consider their plans to add another team to western Sydney.

But he did concede a belief that Sydney's sporting market was stretched to the limit.

"There's over 22 clubs in Sydney in what I would suggest is the most competitive market in the world, with four codes and a population of about 5 million people," he said.

"Competition is something we're used to... we support the AFL and their ambitions, we understand they have a clear mandate to expand the competition."

Announcing the result, chairman Richard Colless said sponsorship, membership, attendances and merchandising sales were all down on the past financial period.

"The major issues continue to be that too large an amount of revenue is linked to on-field performance, and too high a percentage of our costs are fixed," he said.

"While we have consistently looked at a range of variations to the business model, including an investment into gaming and hospitality, the board has no simple solution other than to contain costs."

Brought to you by AAP © 2024 AAP