The South Australian National Football League (SANFL) and the Adelaide Crows and Port Adelaide Australian Football League (AFL) clubs have reached a formal agreement on a new model for revenue sharing at Adelaide Oval.
The model provides the AFL clubs with new revenues and inventory to enable them to share an estimated additional A$3.1m (US$2.3m) in 2015, rising to A$4.1m (US$3.1m) in both 2016 and 2017.
The main points of the agreement include: rewarding clubs for driving attendances through attendance bonuses (the higher the crowd, the higher the return to the clubs); providing the clubs with additional reserved seating income and corporate inventory; delivering incentives for playing home finals at Adelaide Oval; and protecting the SANFL’s ability to continue to drive game development in South Australia.
SA Football Commission chairman, John Olsen, said the agreement was “a good outcome” for all parties. “The first year at Adelaide Oval was a fantastic success for South Australian football and this review has been all about reassessing the revenue model to ensure it delivers the fairest outcomes for all parties
“We now have an agreement that delivers the lion’s share of the uplift from the move to Adelaide Oval to the two AFL clubs while also protecting the SANFL’s ability continue to develop the critical pathways to elite football in South Australia.
“This has been an exhaustive process but it’s a complex model and we had to ensure we got it right. We are now in a position where football in South Australia has a springboard for the future.”
AFL CEO Gillon McLachlan said the new Adelaide Oval had been a great success in 2014 with the best fan experience in the country and attendances beyond expectations, resulting in significant financial benefits for football in South Australia.
The new agreement will be in place for the next three seasons (2015-17 inclusive).
