Whitten Oval redevelopment will allow AFL fans to be married at Western Bulldogs’ home ground

If the doghouse is where you want to start your marriage, you’ll love Western Bulldogs’ plans for Whitten Oval, which include hosting weddings in a glitzy function room.

Images of the proposed redevelopment of Whitten Oval, which will include a lucrative function room.

Western Bulldogs are banking on a surge in membership and a glitzy new Whitten Oval function room to help offset the rivers of gold it gave up by selling 65 pokies machines last November.

Chief executive Ameet Bains said a multifaceted business plan to cover the loss of gaming dollars also included key sponsors reaching deeper into their pockets in support of the ethical move.

“You can’t go and replace a seven-figure income stream in an immediate sense,” Bains said.

“It’s looking at a collection of those different opportunities.

“Longer term, in the context of our redevelopment aspirations for the VU Whitten Oval, it’s looking at what other facilities we can build here that generate income revenue for us.

“Like a function room or other commercial facilities.”

That initiative will see Bulldog diehards tie the knot at the club’s spiritual home in a money-spinner for the club.

Bains said the “prudent commercial decision” to exit gaming took years of planning and was based on “strong social reasons”.

Weddings could be held at Whitten Oval after of Western Bulldogs’ redevelopment plans are finalised.

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The Dogs are targeting 50,000 members for the first time. As of Wednesday, they had 37,500 signed up.

Bains also revealed the Dogs;

• Have lodged a business case with the Victorian government, seeking funding for the Whitten Oval upgrade in the May budget;
• Wanted to extend its lucrative commitment to play two home games at Ballarat beyond 2021;
• HAVE told the AFL it is time to lock in North Melbourne’s Good Friday opponent to let the game grow like other marquee timeslots

The Whitten Oval masterplan would see capacity upgraded to 17,000-18,000 with the possibility AFL games for premiership points could return to the club for the first time since 1997.

Western Bulldogs chief executive Ameet Bains at Whitten Oval. Picture: Michael Klein

“We completed upgrades of the AFLW match day training facilities, away rooms, umpires rooms and the new scoreboard last year,” Bains said.

“We’re currently in design phase of the next stage of giving effect to that masterplan,” Bains said.

“(State funding) is clearly a key element to being able to get the project started.”

Kangaroos legend Brent Harvey said before the inaugural Good Friday game in 2017 that the AFL should lock in the Dogs and grow the game into a blockbuster worthy of the MCG.

But the league rotated St Kilda (2018) and Essendon (2019) through the timeslot, before returning the Bulldogs this year.

The Dogs are thrilled with their 2020 fixture – which includes four Friday night games plus Good Friday – after pitching their sexy brand of football to Channel 7 boss Lewis Martin last year.

“It’s really exciting for our fans and for the broader coverage that the team will get through free-to-air,” Bains said.

Images of the proposed redevelopment of Whitten Oval, which will include a lucrative function room.

“Our view (on Good Friday) is, and we’ve expressed this again, to really make it work like some of the other marquee match-ups – whether it is an Anzac Day or a Queen’s Birthday – you’re actually best-placed by giving a couple of teams the opportunity to grow it properly.

“So you know you’ve got that opportunity and when you’re building the game you’re doing it with two or three years in mind, rather than just that one game.

“That’s the message we’ve continued to push back to the AFL.”

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Originally published as Whitten Oval redevelopment will allow AFL fans to be married at Western Bulldogs’ home ground