Geelong chief executive Brian Cook says the prospect of moving Friday night’s home game against the Western Bulldogs interstate “didn’t sit comfortably” with the club.
Following discussions with the AFL, the Cats chose to keep the Dogs clash at GMHBA Stadium, despite the Victorian Government refusing to allow fans to attend games in the state.
The decision came as North Melbourne moved its game against the Brisbane Lions from Marvel Stadium to Hobart’s Blundstone Arena, while the Hawthorn-Essendon match was relocated from the MCG to Launceston’s UTAS Stadium.
Geelong stands to lose anywhere from $500,000 to $900,000 playing at an empty GMHBA Stadium, depending on whether supporters and members request a refund.
But Cook said the estimated return at a relocated game in Sydney, Canberra or Tasmania was not enough of an incentive to subject the side to what would be the second of three consecutive interstate trips.
The Cats played in Adelaide last week and have the Brisbane Lions at the Gabba next Thursday.
“Basically, you keep the gate. You take the game elsewhere, you get a crowd and you don’t know what you get,” Cook said.
“If there’s a $100,000 return, which was the indication I was getting, we were thinking: ‘Is it worth playing three interstate games in a row with the possibility of losing a couple of those or playing one at home and having a home ground advantage for the sake of $100,000?’
“I went back to the AFL and said the only way I can consider this (relocating) is if the compensation gets close to what we think we’re going to lose or you give me an offer which is too good to refuse. And they didn’t come back to me on that one. I didn’t hear from them again, so we never really got an offer.”
Perth aside, attendances at relocated games this season has been poor.
“The other things is, from a commercial point of view we still get all the signage from the broadcast, which is worth about $200,000 to us. That signage isn’t guaranteed interstate,” Cook said.
There have been suggestions the Geelong-Western Bulldogs game could still end up with a modest crowd should the government relax its stance in the coming days, but Cook said that wasn’t a factor in the decision.
“There might be (a crowd), but I doubt it. You certainly can’t plan for it,” he said.