Demetriou talks up third Melbourne stadium plan
Nick Sheridan | March 29, 2009
THE AFL may consider building a third football stadium in Melbourne if it cannot solve its impasse with the MCG and Etihad Stadium over financial deals with their tenant clubs, the league's chief executive Andrew Demetriou said yesterday.
Demetriou, in doing the rounds of Melbourne's radio stations, also flagged a possible extension of the season to 24 rounds when the proposed Gold Coast and Western Sydney teams are introduced into the league and predicted the next broadcast agreement would be "more than we got last time".
"When we go to 18 teams, and if we go to 24 rounds, which is a possibility — or 22 rounds, who knows — but there's probably an extra 30 or 35 games. But the way that things are happening (at the MCG) and at Docklands, I don't know why we'd actually bring the games here," Demetriou said on radio station SEN yesterday.
The league chief executive did not say where he thought a new stadium could be built or how it would be funded, but said it was an issue that was discussed at a meeting between the AFL commission and the club presidents last week.
The AFL and its 16 clubs are engaged in a public campaign to force a re-write of the terms of their tenancy deals with the two Melbourne stadiums and AAMI Stadium in Adelaide to deliver more money to the clubs.
Demetriou told 3AW that the Melbourne Cricket Club, which manages the MCG, had offered the AFL $45 million to extend its current contract, which is expires in 2032, for another 10 years.
"From 2032 onwards for 10 years, we estimate the MCG will make around $1.6 billion in revenue, which they'll probably earn out at somewhere between $150-$200 million of which they offered us $45," he said. "So then again it's the same old story — one for you and three for us, and the clubs don't like it."
Demetriou has appealed to the Victorian Government to intervene in negotiations with the MCC on the league's behalf as they "won't talk and have a constructive dialogue", he said.
While the league is looking forward to its next broadcast negotiations, Demetriou said the AFL was cutting costs to cope with the tough economic times — including a $500,000 budget slash for grand final entertainment.
The AFL has three years to run on its record $780 million broadcast deal and, despite the state of the economy, Demetriou remains bullish about the upcoming negotiations.
"I think we'll get more than we got last time, but the world has changed … we'll put our best foot forward," he told the ABC.
Demetriou did not deny that a broadcast executive had informally asked him at a function whether the AFL would accept $780 million for a new deal now. "But we're not in formal dialogue with the broadcasters … it's probably not the right time to be talking about it. If you're a broadcaster, you'd probably like to do the same deal again."
http://www.realfooty.com.au/news/rfnews/demetriou-talks-up-third-stadium/2009/03/28/1237657211205.html
