Collingwood considering reclaiming share of Queen’s Birthday blockbuster from Melbourne
UPDATE: MELBOURNE champion Garry Lyon says the Demons will be eternally grateful for the generosity Collingwood has shown over their Queen’s Birthday arrangements.
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MELBOURNE champion Garry Lyon says the Demons will be eternally grateful for the generosity Collingwood has shown over their Queen’s Birthday arrangements.
Lyon said the Demons should thank the Pies “from the bottom of our hearts” for being allowed to host the annual blockbuster since 2001.
The Herald Sun on Tuesday night revealed the Pies are now reconsidering the deal.
The game, which is worth up to $900,000, drew 70,000 people in Round 12.
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Former Demons’ captain Lyon said the Pies were within their rights to take back hosting rights every second year.
Lyon said Collingwood should be applauded for its generosity over the past two decades, helping raise vital funds for the Demons throughout one of its toughest periods.
“Anyway you cut it – whether you like Collingwood or don’t like, it’s a fantastic thing to have done. It should never be forgotten,” Lyon said on SEN Breakfast.
“If Melbourne are starting to stand on their own two feet again and draw big crowds, if they want to go back to the share – one-year on, one-year off – then I would think that you would turn around to Collingwood and say, ‘from the bottom of our hearts, we thank you for what you’ve been able to do for us.’
“If they were ever in the same situation and the Demons were travelling well, then I’m sure they’d off the same sort of deal.”
Essendon icon Tim Watson agreed Collingwood was entitled to take back its lucrative share of the hosting rights.
“I can’t see any reason why that can’t take place,” Watson said.
Collingwood will formalise its position in next year’s fixture requests in part because of the funds the powerhouse club already contributes to rivals through the AFL’s equalisation policies.
The Queen’s Birthday match is worth $800,000-$900,000 to the home team, helping Melbourne raise vital funds throughout one of the darkest periods in the club’s history.
Significantly, Melbourne is now much less reliant on the yearly cash injection from the Queen’s Birthday blockbuster as the club eyes its fourth-straight profit under chief executive Peter Jackson.
The Queen’s Birthday contest has become one of the most popular on the calendar — more than 70,000 fans watched the Dees win their fourth-straight match against Collingwood in Round 12 this year.
Melbourne has built the game into a marquee fixture which has helped Melbourne great Neale Daniher raise more than $15 million for motor neurone disease research under the “Big Freeze at the G” banner.
The Demons noted the significance of the Queen’s Birthday game when declaring an operating profit of $720,000 last year.
“... Over 330,000 people attended home games this year — an increase of more than 72,000 from 2015,” president Glen Bartlett and fellow directors reported in the club’s 2016 annual accounts.
“In particular the club hosted significant crowds of over 60,000 for the Anzac Eve game against Richmond and the Queen’s Birthday game against Collingwood, which was also the second `Freeze at the G’ event raising funds for Motor Neurone Disease research.”
MCG crowd figures are expected to increase in coming seasons with the young Dees on the cusp of their first finals appearance in 11 years.
Collingwood’s rethink would redirect a significant chunk of the Queen’s Birthday money back into the Magpies’ coffers as it conducts a sweeping review of club-wide operations led by businessman Peter Murphy.
The Pies and Dees could alternate hosting rights or enter a gate-share agreement similar to the deal Collingwood has with Essendon for the Anzac Day blockbuster.
The latter model means the away team gets a set portion of the gate receipts from the blockbuster every season.
Collingwood would not comment on the issue.
Collingwood president Eddie McGuire orchestrated the initial deal with Melbourne to help build the rivalry with the Demons in the key timeslot.
The move also helped lock-in an extra away game for Collingwood at the MCG.
There was a push to strip the Queen’s Birthday rights from Melbourne in 2011 amid its on-field woes and poor attendances but McGuire resisted the move.
“We want to do the right thing by helping Melbourne and maximising the benefits for the whole competition,” McGuire said at the time.
“In fact, we’ve lobbied the AFL hard to maintain the game as Melbourne’s home game.”
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