AFL goes from $1bn blackhole to Brisbane bonanza

AFL boss Gillon McLachlan will be a relieved man when the final siren sounds at the Gabba to end the game’s worst year.

AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan in Brisbane ahead of the 2020 grand final between Richmond and Geelong. Picture: Michael Klein

AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan has confirmed the league feared a loss of almost $1 billion for 2020 shortly after the season was suspended in March.

But the league’s ability to negotiate the coronavirus shutdown of Victoria, along with state border difficulties, to reach the end of the season has largely countered the deficit. The abridged season will conclude with a historic night grand final at the Gabba tonight between Richmond and Geelong.

From concerns of financial doom at the start of the season, McLachlan told club administrators this week that the league will walk away with a loss of about 10 per cent of the initial catastrophic estimate.

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“In March, April, when the season stopped, we had a notional hole of about $965 million,” McLachlan told The Weekend Australian. “Through sacrifice and commitment from all parts of the industry and hard work and great partnership with our broadcasters and our sponsors, and the incredible loyalty of our members and supporters and the commitment to get this season away, the industry loss between the clubs and the AFL will be something under $100 million. It will be significantly lower and (that is) a credit to our players and our clubs and our supporters.”

The costs of using hubs have been substantial, with McLachlan saying in September it had exceeded $60m.

For example, it is understood the cost of the Tigers’ hub near Metricon Stadium this week alone was about $130,000. But the AFL’s ability to complete the season, with significant assistance from the Queensland government and also co-operation in South and Western Australia, enabled it to secure a significant portion of its television rights income.

The improved bottom line adds an additional element to negotiations between the AFL and the players union, who are set to negotiate a new Collective Bargaining Agreement.

Both the league and all 18 clubs have endured a significant reduction in staff this season, while the football soft cap will be cut by one-third for 2021.

But the health of the competition is far stronger now than when McLachlan declared COVID-19 the greatest threat to the game in 100 years.

While quarantining at the Palm Meadows Mercure in early September, McLachlan said he was somewhat superstitious about the season.

Asked on Tuesday how frequently he had “touched wood” to avert a crisis, he replied: “It has been 100 or something days, and I have been doing it three to four times a day, so something like 300 to 400 times.”

“I reckon it has been as hard a thing as our game has had to go through and I don’t know if everyone thought we would get there,” he said. “So when we get it done on the weekend, I think I will have pride in our game, in our players, in our clubs, my team and frankly our supporters for sticking fat and leaning in, as well as all of our partners who, collectively, the game has found a way through. That will be the overwhelming thing.”

McLachlan consumed as much literature about Covid-19 as he could and its potential impact early in the season. But there were incidents that threatened to derail the season.

Breaches of the AFL’s Covid-19 protocols caused concern, most notably those involving Sydney’s Elijah Taylor in Western Australia and Richmond’s Sydney Stack and Callum Coleman-Jones on the Gold Coast. The incidents prompted rebukes from respective state premiers Mark McGowan in Perth and Annastacia Palaszczuk in Brisbane, while the AFL issued heavy fines to the clubs involved.

But given the number of personnel away, along with the rigour associated with the protocols, McLachlan believes the competition as a whole has done extremely well.

“I reckon it is a virus that requires discipline. If you open the door a little bit, it will walk right through,” he said.

“That has been our motto and the clubs and the players had to live it. We are getting close.”

As challenging as 2020 has been, uncertainty abounds about 2021. Will there be crowds at the MCG next season? Will hubs need to be enacted again?

McLachlan said no guarantees can be given. But he believes the flexibility the AFL has displayed this season stands the competition in good stead, regardless of the health situation in Australia next year.

“The uncertainty of Covid hangs over next year in terms of what we will need to do and we won’t really know until probably February next year (about that) but part of it is … that with the fixture, we will keep things more open and maybe that is better even without Covid,” he said.