AFL club presidents have left open the possibility of radical action following a breakdown in negotiations late last week with the Victorian Minister for Sport, James Merlino, over their poor stadium deals at the MCG.
Western Bulldogs president David Smorgon, acting as delegate for all 16 clubs, last night told The Australian that unless better financial match returns are struck at the MCG, Victorian clubs would consider playing one home game each year interstate, away from their heartland.
For this premiership season, which starts on Thursday night, 46 games have been scheduled at the MCG and the same number at Etihad Stadium, which are above the minimum requirement.
"It's an idea, nothing threatening," Smorgon said. "But we're not going to sit back and do nothing. We've got other options and they include engaging our fans and briefing the 360,000 members we have."
Following last week's gathering of major Melbourne Cricket Ground stakeholders - the AFL, its clubs, the Melbourne Cricket Club and the Victorian Government - clubs met again yesterday with the AFL as a matter of urgency.
Smorgon said all 16 clubs were unified even though what is initially at stake is a richer deal for clubs who play home games at the MCG.
Under a new arrangement brokered by the AFL and specifically for the nine Victorian clubs who play home games at the MCG, clubs are seeking an additional $200,000 a home game in match returns from the venue.
The only Victorian club which does not host a game at the MCG this season is St Kilda.
But for the financially struggling Melbourne, which has 10 home games at the MCG in 2009, a new deal could benefit it this year by as much as $2million in additional revenue, which would almost ensure the immediate future of the embattled Demons.
While Smorgon would not specify what clubs were demanding, the AFL and its clubs are understood to be seeking a total of $8million extra each season from the Government via the Melbourne Cricket Club Trust.
Last week they walked away from the negotiation table after being offered about $4million annually in extra funding, a figure Smorgon yesterday described as "totally inadequate".
"I'm not going to be drawn on a figure (we require), that would be inappropriate," he said.
The AFL and its clubs are annoyed at being overlooked in a time when state government spending includes $300million for the new "rectangular stadium" for rival codes at the Olympic Park precinct and an upgrade of Melbourne Park (Tennis Centre) which is expected to cost $500million.
"We're the ones that put the bums on seats at the MCG," Smorgon said.
Following yesterday's crisis meeting, Smorgon spoke to Merlino by telephone, encouraging the minister to come up with a more suitable offer.
"He's got to re-look at the numbers and come up with a better deal than last Friday's offer," Smorgon said. "The ball's back in his court. The Government is the only party that can influence its authority to come up with a more reasonable deal."
Smorgon said that for every dollar Victorian fans spent going to matches, only 30 cents filtered back to clubs, whereas that figure rose sharply to 75 per cent for clubs outside Victoria.
Smorgon said that clubs would apply the same pressure on Etihad Stadium, formerly Telstra Dome, once a resolution was achieved at the MCG.
Under the AFL-MCG contract, which expires at the end of 2032, the AFL commits to 2.1million spectators under a "best endeavours" clause, but last year attracted combined crowds of almost 2.8million.
At last Friday's meeting, the MCC requested that any additional match-day funding to home clubs be incorporated into a new deal with the AFL to extend the length of its contract to 2042.
The AFL is not willing to extend the length of its present deal.
An external view of the Melbourne Cricket GroundAustralian Football League clubs in Melbourne have threatened to move their matches interstate after a breakdown in negotiations over poor stadium deals at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

Western Bulldogs president David Smorgon, who was acting as the delegate for the league's sixteen clubs, said that Victorian teams would consider moving matches interstate or to Visy Park in Carlton.

"It's an idea, nothing threatening," Smorgon said. "But we're not going to sit back and do nothing. We've got other options and they include engaging our fans and briefing the 360,000 members we have".

Both options - playing at Visy Park and interstate - were conditional on a fairer deal for clubs not being struck. Clubs stressed, at a meeting with the AFL, that they did not want to resort to those measure.

"We've talked about such things as writing to all of our fans, all of our members, explaining it to them, so they get a full understanding of it, about the seriousness of the situation," Smorgon said. "We've talked about maybe Victorian clubs have to play a game or two interstate, but these are just a range of options that we do have. But we want to back in the Government again, to go back and see whether they can have another go at getting a fairer deal".

James Merlino, the Victorian state Sports Minister, responded by stating that the government had already spent $176 million on AFL football, and that "no code gets better support in either the grassroots or the elite from the Government than AFL football".

The AFL and its clubs are asking the Victorian government for AU$8 million a year in additional funding.