Richmond says playing at Marvel Stadium and not the MCG is costing it hundreds of thousands of dollars

Richmond will host a ‘home’ game against GWS at Marvel Stadium on Saturday night, and the MCG tenants aren’t happy about it.

Back-to-back premiers Richmond has slammed the AFL’s decision to schedule Saturday night’s “home” game against Greater Western Sydney at Marvel Stadium.

Despite being an MCG-tenant club, Richmond is one of several Melbourne teams forced to stage home matches at the cross-town Docklands ground because of AFL contracts.

“Our members and supporters are incredibly frustrated that we are playing a home game at Marvel this weekend and we completely understand why they feel that way,” Tigers chief executive Brendon Gale told the Herald Sun.

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“To have the MCG — one of the world’s great sporting stadiums — empty this weekend just makes no sense. We should be playing at the MCG.

“Playing at Marvel this weekend will minimise crowds and that goes against everything the industry wants to deliver. We want fans at games.”

Gale said “playing home games at Marvel costs us hundreds of thousands of dollars and those revenues are critical as we try to recover from the impact of Covid”.

Richmond has to play a home game against GWS under the roof at Marvel Stadium.

“Clubs have done it hard — they need every support to get through this period,” he said.

“We need to build the fiscal strength of clubs — they and their fans are the lifeblood of the competition.

“We understand the situation under the previous ownership but the industry now owns Marvel.

“There has to be a way to resolve this once and for all. Our members and supporters deserve better.

“This is a frustration of all MCG tenant clubs, not just Richmond. The AFL owns Marvel — there must be a way to avoid this situation happening again.

“To be clear, this isn’t about on-field. We will play anywhere, any time. This is about the fans and the business of football.”

The AFL took ownership of the Docklands stadium in 2016.

An AFL spokesman said the arrangement with MCG tenant clubs to play a home match at Marvel Stadium had been in place for many years and would continue.

Richmond is one of four clubs set to lose Australian-owned United Petroleum as a major sponsor after the AFL did a deal which will see gloabl burger giant McDonald’s take over the naming rights of all match-day balls.

Thursday’s Herald Sun revealed United has decided to walk away from the game after being blindsided by the AFL deal.

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Asked about the sponsorhip stoush on Thursday, AFL boss Gillon McLachlan said: “Sponsorship generally goes well but sometimes it’s contested. I think it’s an amazing partnership with McDonald’s.

“The clubs have been rewarded for that and it’s not as though the money’s been taken off them.

“There’s always a bit of a jigsaw on categories and sponsorship stuff. Sometimes there’s a bit of argy-bargy, but generally it all works out just fine.

“There are lumps and bumps but our clubs generally work in very well with our team and I think the growth across the league – club and AFL – indicates the approach (is working).”

Originally published as Richmond says playing at Marvel Stadium and not the MCG is costing it hundreds of thousands of dollars