AFL Grand Final off to Sydney??
This has to be the biggest bluff in Australian sporting history. There is no way the AFL would ever move the Grand Final anywhere
We'll move grand final to Sydney
Greg Denham and Patrick Smith | May 19, 2009
THE AFL has threatened to take the grand final away from its traditional home, the MCG, if a satisfactory financial deal cannot be struck with the Melbourne Cricket Club and the MCG Trust over increased revenue to clubs.
MCG Trust chairman John Wylie confirmed last night that AFL Commission chairman Mike Fitzpatrick had warned that the league was prepared to shift the biggest match of the season to Sydney unless it extended the offer placed before the AFL last Friday.
The league and the 16 clubs last week rejected a new offer over the next 10 years from the MCC and the MCG Trust because of the fear factor associated with what they describe as a short-term fix.
A 14-year "black hole" appears to be the major stumbling block in negotiations between the MCC and the AFL and its clubs as the football industry strives for a better financial deal to play at the MCG.
Western Bulldogs president David Smorgon, acting as chief delegate for a sub-committee acting on behalf of all clubs, yesterday said the murky area in negotiations related to a 14-year period leading up to 2032, when the current MCC-MCG Trust/AFL contract is due to expire.
The MCC-MCG Trust is only prepared to guarantee clubs an additional $60 million in match returns and benefits for the next decade, and Smorgon said clubs feared they would have to take a backward step, and possibly again "go cup-in-hand" after the new offer expired in 2019 and before the MCC-MCG Trust's current contract with the AFL ends.
"Andrew Demetriou (the AFL chief executive) and us have said all along we want a long-term fix, not just for the short term," Smorgon said. "A 10-year deal is a short-term fix."
MCC chief executive Stephen Gough said yesterday a 10-year goodwill deal was better than nothing, adding that the MCC and MCG Trust were unable to offer the clubs a longer-term financial commitment.
"That's the big issue," he said. "The MCC is responsible for debt and responsible for upgrading the facility. Our existing debt will be roughly $200 million by 2019 and because of the potential unknowns, we can't possibly commit beyond then."
Gough said that if the MCG's Southern Stand needed to be upgraded within the next 15 years, "we couldn't take on more debt, as well as continue to provide extra money for the clubs".
Wylie said the trust was prepared to extend the deal in line with its current contract with the AFL, which runs until 2032.
"We told the AFL we were prepared to look beyond 10 years so long as any new extension was of mutual benefit and that there was no obligation to extend it," Wylie said.
Gough said: "In 10 years' time, we'll know the landscape a bit better and if, when and what funding will be needed for capital works. We are going outside the contract as a matter of goodwill to assist the clubs and in return we are seeking a short extension to the contract."
The MCC currently carries a debt of about $320 million for its redevelopment of the northern side of the MCG.
It is understood the AFL considered the MCG Trust's offer for this year only, which would have enabled it to extend its contract by a year to 2033. But that also hinged on a full contract review involving all parties over the next six months.
Under the current contract the AFL has with the MCG, it must play a minimum of 45 home-and-away games each season and a minimum of four finals, including the grand final, at the ground. It also carries a "reasonable endeavours" clause to play 10 of the 12 highest-attended matches during the premiership season, and a similar clause that ensures the venue is attended annually by at least 2.1 million football patrons.
The latest 10-year MCC-MCG Trust offer to the AFL and its clubs is to provide an additional $100,000 per home team to MCG tenant clubs, and an additional $1 per patron over an annual attendance of 2.1 million each year. It would extend that to a $2-per-person deal for attendances over 2.5 million each year.
In exchange, the trust wants the AFL contract extended by five years to 2037 with a minimum commitment of 46 matches each year, including the grand final.
It is believed the AFL's comeback position was that it would not commit to playing any games other than the grand final at the MCG during the five years. The AFL also wants a $1 million bonus payment for each year attendances pass three million.
It is understood the AFL will press the Victorian Government to fund future capital works at the MCG. Demetriou and Fitzpatrick are scheduled to meet the Victorian Premier John Brumby and Wylie on the issue later this week. Smorgon and Collingwood president Eddie McGuire will also be present.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au...012432,00.html
