There has never been a free bus ticket to the AFL in Adelaide

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Power’s Brad Ebert and Crows Sam Jacobs on a MAC Bus during a press conference at Montefiore Hill in North Adelaide.

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RE-INSTATED State Treasurer Rob Lucas (a man with great patience considering his long wait to get his hands on the state’s purse) has set off the alarm bells with the prospect of changing the deal on the Footy Express buses, trams and trains to AFL games at Adelaide Oval next year.

The current three-year agreement between the State government, Motor Accident Commission (that has all those campaigns featuring Crows ruckman Sam Jacobs and Port Adelaide midfielder Brad Ebert), the Adelaide Oval Stadium Management Authority and the Adelaide and Port Adelaide football clubs has expired.

The State government says the Footy Express service will continue next year.

But detail is short, particularly on the financing.

New Transport Minister Stephan Knoll is on the record saying there is the need for a “better full cost-recovery arrangement” with the football clubs and Oval mamagement.

If, as expected, this leads to Lucas demanding the Crows and Power pay more for the public transport scheme to AFL games, no-one should believe the ride to Adelaide Oval was ever free.

When the Footy Express was to and from Football Park at West Lakes, the “free ride” was actually covered with a $6.05 levy on each season ticket. If a fan bought a ticket for a single match on game day or on the Internet, there was a $3.30 surcharge for the Footy Express service - whether the fan used the bus or not.

So much for a free ride.

The recent Footy Express deal had the Crows and Power paying a total of $1.4 million a year - $700,000 each - of the $3.1 million it cost to get its fans to Adelaide Oval on the public buses, trains and trams. The AFL clubs simply passed the fee to their season ticketholders - and everyone else felt the $1.7 million covered by the government or the SMA was money well spent to stop extra traffic choking the roads around the Oval.

And this will continue with the new Footy Express ride next season and beyond.

It is no free ride at all.

Welcome to edition No. 4 of the e-newsletter Roast.

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