Port Adelaide wants confirmation of Shanghai game - and new AFL opponent - in next two months

PORT Adelaide says its China experiment is now so well placed that the AFL should not wait until the fixture is announced in October to confirm the Shanghai game.

Local AFL players are seen during the Round 9 AFL match between the Gold Coast Suns and the Port Adelaide Power at the Adelaide Arena at Jiangwan Stadium in Shanghai, China, Saturday, May 19, 2018. (AAP Image/David Mariuz) NO ARCHIVING, EDITORIAL USE ONLY

PORT Adelaide will urge the AFL to confirm its third Shanghai game in the next two months - and not wait until the league fixture is announced in October.

And there is increasing expectation the opponent will be St Kilda with the Victorian State government’s bidding wiping out the $600,000 annual fee the Power has paid Gold Coast to buy an away game.

Port Adelaide president David Koch told The Advertiser his club will push for an early declaration of the Shanghai game being on the AFL’s 2019 fixture.

“There are huge benefits with an early announcement,” Koch said. “Having the game confirmed earlier - and the opponent announced as well - helps with the significant planning we put into this game.”

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Local AFL players are seen during the Round 9 AFL match between the Gold Coast Suns and the Port Adelaide

AFL officials on Thursday will have their debrief on Saturday’s Power-Gold Coast game at Jiangwan Stadium with the second edition of the Shanghai Cup reaffirming Port Adelaide’s $2.5 million annual investment in China is ready to deliver big dividends.

The pay-off is not just in China - where the Power has found $15 million in new revenue and has backers who completely underwrite the Shanghai game - but in Australia, in particular with the Victorian State government.

Victorian Trade Minister Phillip Dalidakis not only wants a Victorian rival for the Power in Shanghai but also an AFLW game in China.

“We now have State governments keen to be involved because they see the power of our game driving trade and business opportunities,” Koch told The Advertiser. “There is no other match on the AFL calendar that has the power to drive trade, politics and tourism for Australia - on those levels, our game in Shanghai is unique.”

Port Adelaide has at least four AFL clubs prepared to consider China. This includes, as The Advertiser reported last year, Greater Western Sydney. Giants chairman Tony Shepherd recognises the off-field benefits in China through his roles in the Australia-China Business Council.

Power players run onto the field during the Round 9 AFL match between the Gold Coast Suns and the Port Adelaide Power

Port Adelaide is reliant on finding an AFL rival prepared to sell a home game. The Power cannot move any of its 11 home games from Adelaide Oval by an agreement with the SA State government that funded the Oval’s redevelopment.

But the cost of buying a rival’s home game is now falling with multiple bids - and could be completely covered by State governments sponsoring the Shanghai match. This enhances the Power’s potential profit on the game.

Koch’s pre-game speech in Shanghai hit on the prospect of Port Adelaide being squeezed out of China - just as North Melbourne was from its successful Friday night football experiment in the late 1980s.

Koch emphasised China is a “joint venture between Port Adelaide and the AFL” - and is heavily reliant on the Power’s work in China.

The Power’s investment in China is reflected in having six full-time staff dedicated to the project, a $150,000 game development program of which the AFL contributes $25,000 and a new five-year, multimillion-dollar agreement with sponsor Shanghai Cred.

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