THE AFL’S three Marvel Stadium tenant clubs have secured a cash boost, putting them on par with rivals who landed a multi-million windfall in a deal with the MCG.
The six MCG teams – Collingwood, Melbourne, Richmond, Hawthorn, Carlton and Essendon – were earlier this year told they would receive home game payments ranging between $150,000-$200,000.
The unexpected match returns for those clubs, when they expected none in 2020, had put pressure on the AFL to strike a similar deal for Marvel Stadium sides St Kilda, North Melbourne and the Western Bulldogs.
Carlton and Essendon split their home games between the two venues.
The cash injection doesn’t fully compensate the clubs’ usual gate returns, but the acts of goodwill have been welcomed.
Melbourne Cricket Club chief executive Stuart Fox earlier this month told SEN that the MCG deal was “really important”.
“It’s such a difficult year for everyone and we’re all hurting financially,” Fox said.
“Under normally circumstances we’d all have contractual obligations to each other, but this year it’s impossible to deliver on those.
“I think we’ve come up with a really good deal. The AFL will obviously pass some money to the MCC as the ground manager of the MCG and we’ve agreed to pass a large percentage of that back to the tenant clubs of the MCG.
“It’s the right thing to do. It’s about partnerships. The way we treat each other in these difficult times is extremely important.”