Gold Coast Suns could abandon Metricon Stadium barring changes to hiring costs.GETTY IMAGES
A long-term stadium lease deal that Australian Football League side Gold Coast Suns said is costing it A$2M ($1.5M) a year "could be dumped" as the Queensland government tries to resolve a "looming mutiny" among the city’s national football codes, according to Ryan Keen of the GOLD COAST BULLETIN. A source close to talks between the "frustrated" Suns and government-backed Stadiums Queensland, which manages the venues and pricing, said that the only way to fix the AFL club’s lease problems at Carrara’s Metricon Stadium was for the government to terminate the contract. The source said, "I have no doubt it is the way it is heading because it is the only way to resolve it." Another source close to the Suns said that a "very real scenario was the club abandoning Metricon Stadium if exorbitant stadium hiring costs did not change." Other avenues for cutting stadium costs "could include reducing police and transport fees." The city's other national sporting franchise, National Rugby League side Gold Coast Titans, signed a deal with Cbus Stadium on a game-by-game basis because of an "ongoing leasing argument with Stadium Queensland" (GOLD COAST BULLETIN, 5/17).
