Northern Territory can host AFL matches with fans from June 5
Fans are resigned to not seeing their teams live for most, if not all, of the 2020 season. But it doesn’t have to be that way. And the offer befor the AFL isn’t as crazy as you might think.
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The Northern Territory has dangled a huge carrot in front of the AFL, saying games could be played in front of crowds if a hub is established in Darwin.
Players would also be free to move around the community — where cafes, bars and restaurants will reopen on May 15 — rather than being locked down in resorts, NT Chief Minister Michael Gunner said.
The Northern Territory has begun a nation-leading lifting of restrictions that will see competitive sport resume on June 5.
Mr Gunner said crowds would be permitted at sporting events — including AFL matches — if the proper health protocols were in place.
“You can play a footy game, you can have a crowd, it’s the dry season up here in Darwin, it’s a magic place to be, so for me that’s a massive attraction I would have thought to anybody, including the AFL,” he said.
Mr Gunner said he had been in regular contact with AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan about the hub proposal.
He said he had sent Mr McLachlan the NT’s road map for reopening on Thursday and had offered the AFL briefings with government officials.
The issue was discussed at Friday’s national cabinet where the AFL presented health officials a 14-page document outlining how they would ensure player and community safety under the hub proposal.
While Southeast Queensland and Western Australia had been considered favourites to secure the hubs, the prospect of playing in front of crowds — a more attractive prospect for broadcasters — could help swing a decision in the Northern Territory’s favour.
Mr Gunner said seating at Darwin’s TIO Stadium could be arranged in a “chessboard” formation, with every second seat blacked out, to ensure social distancing protocols were maintained.
He said a bigger concern would be how to manage people coming in and out of the stadium.
The Northern Territory has no recorded community transmission of coronavirus and has not recorded a positive case for 24 days.
This has meant the more sever lockdown measures implemented in most states, such as limiting gatherings to two people, have not been enforced in the NT
The ability to move around outside the AFL’s quarantined “villages” could also help alleviate concerns raised by the AFL Players Association about players being separated from their families.
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Players and their families would be able to come to Darwin, however they would still have to complete a 14-day quarantine period in a hotel — at their expense or the AFL’s — before they could move around the community.
“My priority has been Territorians, we’re now the safest place in Australia, and in delivering what we are delivering for Territorians, we create an environment that would, I assume, be attractive to the AFL,” Mr Gunner said.
But the Chief Minister has made it clear the NT Government will not offer the AFL any money to bring a hub to the Top End.