AFL Gather Round: Adelaide certain to retain rights in 2024 as Peter Malinauskas makes bold pitch to Gillon McLachlan
Gillon McLachlan retreated from a commitment on Gather Round staying in Adelaide. But a discussion between him and the South Australian premier was revealing.
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Adelaide is certain to retain the rights to Gather Round next year despite Gillon McLachlan strategic retreat from an early-morning declaration the state would keep the event in 2024.
McLachlan told Melbourne radio station 3AW on Friday morning that “Adelaide just feels the right spot” for Gather Round in the coming years given every single game is sold out across the weekend.
The AFL chief executive later walked back that position, clearly aware there is no bidding war for the league if it has only a single party involved.
McLachlan’s comments came as Sydney president Andrew Pridham told the Herald Sun the league needed to bring the game to his state by 2025 at the latest, stating “footy in NSW needs help”.
South Australian premier Peter Malinauskas immediately seized the opportunity by asking for a four-year deal from the AFL at an afternoon business lunch where the pair shared the stage.
McLachlan countered by asking if the SA government would match the league’s commitment dollar-for-dollar to the development of new grounds, female changerooms and lighting across the state.
While McLachlan’s position changed across the afternoon the instant friendship between the pair is apparent and will help Adelaide strike a new deal for 2024.
Malinauskas confirmed the state government would be prepared to build the infrastructure for a new ground in the Barossa Valley after the Herald Sun revealed it was the centerpiece of the plans for the 2024 event.
McLachlan kicked off the day after Adelaide’s triumphant Adelaide Oval clash against Carlton making clear his views that the event deserved to stay in Melbourne.
“I think if I am direct we anticipated moving it next year if it worked. But Adelaide just feels the right spot I guess,” McLachlan said.
“We knew about the city and Adelaide Oval, the fact it’s in the middle of Australia and people can drive from Melbourne and you can get here from Perth, there are so many people here from West Australia, that’s an asset as well.”
“I think there is a pretty strong case that probably it’s got its roots down here and it’s here for a while.”
By mid-afternoon McLachlan’s admiration for Gather Round was undiminished even if he was keen to drive up the financial commitment for Adelaide in coming years.
“It has been a huge success here to this point. However the Commission and AFL would like to take it to other markets. But something is happening here. The alternative narrative is to consolidate. Potentially, premier, if you want to make me an offer… Other than that we will assess later in the week and work it out. There is something a bit subjective here that it’s the right feel. You feel it when you know it.
“We have also got to reward initiative and hard work and commitment. The premier made a commitment to the game that they would deliver and they have done that.”
Pridham made clear his admiration for the concept but made clear that if the AFL wanted to grow the game it must consider Sydney, proposing a rolling two-year cycle which gave states a chance to build the concept.
“I think it’s absolutely fantastic. The vibe is great, it is economically good for the state and it’s a great development and marketing tool and if it was here next year I would have no objection,” he told News Corp.
“But if you are focusing on development you need to move it around. And certainly NSW needs all the help it can get, so it’s a logical next step. Whether it is even here next year, but ultimately it needs to move to Sydney. Maybe it’s two years rolling through each state, then it can move to Brisbane.
“I think footy in NSW needs help. It’s not thriving the way it should, particularly at grass roots level and anything we can do to promote the game and build excitement is important.
“I don’t think it’s necessarily the case (that we wouldn’t sell out). A lot of people in Melbourne and Adelaide would love nothing more than to come up and watch games so I suspect we would sell out. I am not sure about ANZ Stadium but I can see the SCG and Giants Stadium selling out for Gather Round.”
The league has been thrilled that people from across the country have found a way to get to Adelaide given its central location across the school holidays.
The former South Australian who went to school and university in Adelaide said the vibe he has experienced in his old home town gave him “huge pride”.
“Frankly to be wandering around, going to meetings and other stuff, and just (seeing) kids ever bouncing footballs down the street. So many families from interstate – 60,000 People have come from outside South Australia.
“There’s people are still now jumping on planes to Adelaide and trying to get tickets, so Adelaide has done an amazing job and they have a great case, and I’m not shying away from it. But, you know clearly other states wanted it, and they probably want it more now they’ve seen this.”
Mr McLachlan said South Australian football fans should be confident that every possible political angle was being pursued.
“South Australians can be very confident that your premier is pushing your position very hard and he and his government has done a great job to get it and in what they’ve done so far.”
SA’S BOLD GATHER ROUND REPRISE PLAN
South Australia is determined to reprise its much-hyped Gather Round in 2024 with a regional game that showcases the Barossa Valley wine region.
The Tanunda football club’s local ground is right in the heart of the Barossa and has already been earmarked as a potential venue.
The ground would need widening and lengthening — plus the kind of expanded seating capacity that has been organised at Mount Barker — but feasibility work is already under way.
With eight of the nine games sold out across the weekend the AFL has already committed to holding Gather Round as an annual fixture.
South Australia is believed to have committed $15 million of its $40 million major events budget to the event, with AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan already joking of the ferocity of premier Peter Malinauskas’ sales pitch for 2024.
With only six months notice the South Australian major events team is understood to be thrilled to have pulled off the staging of the event, but are aware of its potential for expansion.
With another 12 months to plan the ideal execution of the event would be playing one of the nine games in wine country to showcase it for domestic tourism.
The AFL and its broadcasters understand the rich possibilities of eventually bringing Gather Round to Sydney.
But a South Australian government that initially pitched for a two-year event will be hard to ignore for 2024.
Malinauskas told a South Australian tourism lunch on Thursday the state had already committed to spending on major events to stimulate an economy where Covid had adversely affected restaurants and hotels.
“And then the AFL came up with the idea of Gather Round and it struck me it was a major opportunity to use our national game, our Indigenous sport, to generate unprecedented activity in our state,” Malinauskas said.
AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan said on Thursday it would be obvious after the weekend’s event what direction the league should go in.
“You will know in your gut if everything has worked. Objectively we are close to 200,000 people (buying tickets). Friday night is a bit of a barometer. Hopefully there are over 30,000 at that game. We have to execute well, so it’s getting through all of that and everyone having success,” he told SEN.
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Originally published as AFL Gather Round: Adelaide certain to retain rights in 2024 as Peter Malinauskas makes bold pitch to Gillon McLachlan
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