AFL Players Association CEO Matt Finnis Says League Needs To Conduct Economic Review

Australian Football League Players Association CEO Matt Finnis said that "the crowded Melbourne market continues to impact financially on clubs and that the league needs to conduct an economic review," according to Jon Pierik of THE AGE. While insisting club relocation was "not our focus," Finnis said that having 10 Victorian clubs, with nine in Melbourne, had implications in terms of equalization "that needed to be addressed." Finnis said, "I think there is evidence to say Melbourne is the kind of economic part of the game. But the number of teams in the one market does put pressures on the competition which are structural in nature when you consider the historical level of support for those teams, but also policies around fixturing which do combine to continue, I guess, some of those disparities." A rich TV deal and its need for 18 clubs should ensure their safety, but Cats CEO Brian Cook said last year that "relocation could be on the agenda when this broadcast deal expires" in '16 (THE AGE, 7/23).