Australian Football League side Essendon's "journey back into September is set to be marked by a record profit" of more than A$4M ($3.2M), a result the club hopes will help make it "debt free within 18 months," according to Sam McClure of THE AGE. Club CEO Xavier Campbell, who dubbed '17 the "comeback story," said that Essendon's on and off-field success had "exceeded expectations." To put the club's expected financial position into context, Hawthorn, during its "mesmerising three-peat" from '13-15, recorded successive profits of A$3.1M, A$3.4M and A$3.3M, but never broke the A$4M mark. It means Essendon's "daunting" A$10.5M ($8.4M) debt -- "largely accrued due to the drugs saga -- could possibly be wiped" by the end of '18. The club has 68,000 members, "more than 10,000 more than last season and the single greatest increase of any club." Only Richmond boasted higher attendances than Essendon despite most of the club's home games being played at Etihad Stadium. This "directly resulted in match receipts exceeding budget projections" by more than A$1M ($800,000) and allowed the club to "continue to sign blue-chip sponsorship partners" such as Fujitsu and Kia. Campbell admitted that "despite some optimism at the start of season, there was still a level of uncertainty about how quickly the club would rebuild its brand" (THE AGE, 8/29).