AFL scores new deal at MCG for grand final - and eases non-Victorian clubs’ concerns

THE MCG will stay the AFL grand final venue well beyond 2037 - and non-Victorian clubs will have their concerns eased with greater access to the Melbourne venue

The AFL grand final will stay at the MCG well beyond the current contract that expires in 2037 by a new deal the league will strike with the Victorian State government next year. Picture: Phil Hillyard

AFL grand finals will stay at the MCG well beyond the current deal holding Australian football’s biggest match at the Melbourne venue to 2037.

But non-Victorian clubs will have their concern for being disadvantaged against Melbourne-based clubs in the grand final eased with new concessions ensuring greater access to the MCG.

The Victorian State government has agreed to a redevelop major sporting venues in Melbourne, including the AFL’s Etihad Stadium and the MCG. In return, the AFL will abandon any plan of putting the grand final on offer to other Australian cities, as is done with American football with the Super Bowl and in Europe with soccer’s Champions League final.

The AFL and Victorian government next year will renegotiate the league’s current contract at the MCG that expires in 2037.

AFL Commission chairman Richard Goyder has accepted non-Victorian clubs’ concerns on the advantage handed to their Melbourne AFL rivals in the grand final - as noted in Richmond’s triumph against Adelaide in September.

Richmond’s 48-point win against the top-ranked Crows marked the fifth consecutive AFL grand final won by a Melbourne-based club against a non-Victorian team. For the fourth successive season, the lower-ranked Victorian team has gained the “home-field advantage” at the MCG.

Goyder has offered each of the eight non-Victorian clubs in the 18-team national competition:

A MINIMUM of two home-and-away games on the MCG every season.

Both Adelaide and Port Adelaide this season have two matches at the G. But fellow non-Victorian clubs Brisbane and Gold Coast have just one this year.

ACCESS to the MCG for one training session before a home-and-away game. This would most likely be the light, 40-minute “captain’s run” on the day before the match.

Non-Victorian clubs are repeatedly locked out of the MCG for training sessions, particularly on Fridays when there is an AFL game on the ground that evening.

ACCESS to the MCG for two training sessions in grand final week.

CHARTER flights - rather than commercial flights - after preliminary finals to get teams to their home bases to prepare for the grand final as soon as possible.

CHARTER flights to Melbourne - at the club’s preferred departure time - in grand final week.

The Victorian State government’s multimillion-dollar offer to redevelop the MCG and Etihad Stadium is based on the AFL delivering a longer commitment to keeping big games - such as the grand final - in Melbourne.

The AFL accepts the “Super Bowl” dream for the grand final hinges on an increasingly unrealistic plan to start major bidding auctions among State governments to build venues with capacity to match the MCG’s 100,000 seats.

There also is a concern that a grand final in Perth could fall flat if the match-up involves two lowly supported teams, such as the new expansion franchises Greater Western Sydney and Gold Coast.

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Originally published as AFL scores new deal at MCG for grand final - and eases non-Victorian clubs’ concerns