Concerned Australian Football League club presidents Peter Gordon, Ben Buckley and Peter Summers could approach the AFL Commission next month to "lobby for a better deal for their clubs at Etihad Stadium," according to Caroline Wilson of the SYDNEY MORNING HERALD. Disappointed in the refusal from head office to compensate the Western Bulldogs, North Melbourne and St. Kilda for "years of financial inequity" dealt to the three co-tenants, the three club bosses who spoke last week are "planning a further meeting to push their cause and review whether to take the step of directly intervening in AFL talks." The Victorian government, still considering the AFL's plans for a A$300M ($234M) redevelopment of the stadium and the Docklands precinct, is "closely watching the protracted negotiations with the clubs for a better deal as it moves towards an election year." The Daniel Andrews government is looking at a "widespread funding package of stadium revamps in key sports" in next year's pre-election state budget but is "concerned over how the financially struggling Etihad Stadium clubs will benefit from the new deal." The AFL is "close to a deal" with anchor tenant Essendon after a protracted year of negotiations but is "some way from achieving agreements with the Bulldogs, Kangaroos and Saints." Hailed as a "game-changer" for the financially struggling tenant clubs when the AFL purchased the stadium for an estimated A$200M ($156M) more than a year ago, those clubs "fear that undertaking looks far removed from reality" (SMH, 10/23).
