The Australian Football League agreed to move to the new Perth Stadium for the '18 season after "lengthy negotiations" WA Premier Mark McGowan described as "robust," according to the AAP. The league reportedly "threatened to remain at Domain Stadium in Subiaco into next year" after the state government rejected its demand to have other sporting codes subsidize "any shortfall in income it may suffer by moving to the new facility." But West Australian Football Commission Chair Murray McHenry rejected those claims. McHenry said, "Who made the threat? It was only ever written in the paper -- it was never said by the board at any stage." AFL Chair Richard Goyder "backed him up." Goyder said, "Mark and I looked at each other and we just said, 'There's no way that we're not playing football at this stadium in 2018. Now let's sort this out.'" Under the deal, A$10.3M ($8.1M) of income generated by football at the stadium will be provided to the WA Football Commission each year for an initial 10-year period, which McGowan said "will ensure grassroots football continues to prosper." As part of a second deal between the WA government, stadium operator VenuesLive, the AFL, the West Coast Eagles and the Fremantle Dockers, 50,000 seats will be available for members of the teams for their AFL home games (AAP, 10/22).
