If we want too make money instead of losing it, we need to change venues when we play interstate clubs at home.

Canberra (Extra games)? Adelaide and possibly keep Sydney

Darwin? Port Adelaide

MCG ? Brisbane (old Fitztroy) and Sydney (old South Melb)

Tasmania? Fremantle and West Coast

Interstate teams could possibly rotate between venues.

Any ideas?

I'm not sure there are any small grounds in Melbourne up to AFL standard, are there? Stynes comments today seem to indicate that.

The competitive disadvantage associated with selling games probably doesn't matter too much now (some might say it'd be a bonus). A neutral ground would be ideal though, if we can find someone to give us moolah for playing there.

However, as we get better the prospect of selling games becomes less palatable from a footy perspective. We should also start drawing better crowds, so we shouldn't be writing out cheques.

Wouldnt it be nice if a multi-billionair took over the club

I wished Princes Park would still be an option. I used to love going down there for the odd Melbourne game. We had one of the best records of all teams there in this decade - 4 wins out of 5. We actually played better footy at Optus than at the G, in my opinion.

I couldn't believe all those nuffy Melbourne supporters refused to attend our home matches there in 2002 even though a win was on the cards.

I'd be happy for them to play 2 Princes Park games a year, as long as the break-even crowd was 8-10,000.

Yes..typically wonderful foresight of the AFL to opt out of Optus wasnt it..sigh !! Much preferred it myself to Docklands..

still now some folk are toying with the idea of another stadium..push for new stadium Probably just scaremongering ..but who knows

If we were to look at playing some matches at another stadium Princess Park would be the best option once their development is completed. And play say 3 home games against interstate sides there a year. Idealy it would be wonderful if we could develope Casey, however that just isn't realistic.

As far as neutral venues go, Bulldogs are talking about getting out of NT, so that would be an option, or possibly even playing three games a year down at Belrieve Oval in Hobart?

NO.

Start moving games away from the G to interstate/Princes Park/the moon and you alienate your supporters, get smaller crowds, less exposure, smaller chance of victory. Just terrible. Our home is the G and we need to be strengthening our ties with the ground, not vice versa. Close the top section of the ground, but moving games away from the G is only going to lead to our downfall.

NO.

Start moving games away from the G to interstate/Princes Park/the moon and you alienate your supporters, get smaller crowds, less exposure, smaller chance of victory. Just terrible. Our home is the G and we need to be strengthening our ties with the ground, not vice versa. Close the top section of the ground, but moving games away from the G is only going to lead to our downfall.

I admire your position on the issue and hope that we are able to do that. Ideally we wont have to move any games away from the G in the near future.

I wished Princes Park would still be an option. I used to love going down there for the odd Melbourne game. We had one of the best records of all teams there in this decade - 4 wins out of 5. We actually played better footy at Optus than at the G, in my opinion.

I couldn't believe all those nuffy Melbourne supporters refused to attend our home matches there in 2002 even though a win was on the cards.

I'd be happy for them to play 2 Princes Park games a year, as long as the break-even crowd was 8-10,000.

I'll take it the step forward. If a ground such as casey/ballarat/show grounds is not developed I would rather us play in geelong then canberra etc. I really believe this is better for the long term of developing local supporter bases etc. Geelong have a perfect stadium for these small games and I'm sure would be happy to discuss a mutually benificial arrangements with clubs such as us, nth and the doggies. I can't believe the AFL have not used geelong as a bargening tool vs the mcc and docklands for better deals for clubs. This in my opinion should happen as of next year for the sml interstate games.

20000 at the 'G and we lose money.

20000 at Shell Stadium and the Cats make $500,000. Thats the difference between having a good stadium deal and a bad one.

20000 at the 'G and we lose money.

20000 at Shell Stadium and the Cats make $500,000. Thats the difference between having a good stadium deal and a bad one.

hence why even if it was 50/50 thats still a min 250k per game more a year the club gets then now. As a member I would have no issue paying an extra $5-10 for access to a members area/reserved seat at geelong for a couple of games ala the old Dome deal.

20000 at the 'G and we lose money.

20000 at Shell Stadium and the Cats make $500,000. Thats the difference between having a good stadium deal and a bad one.

This is it isnt it. Its all very nicey nicey and heart tugging to suggest we must play all games at the G..but if we play games at 20000 or less attendance we lose money..SO al those that cant seen there needs to be some sort of flexibility and th eoption of another venue then I want YOU to cough up the difference. Its just no tenable long term to keep haemoraging under these circumstances. Either the MCC comes to the party with a sweetheart deal..and I have always wanted that to happen ( not sure why they dont/cant ) given new relationship with us, or we have no choice but to play at a thrid venue. Still dont know why Casey cant be vdeloped.. A little money splashed there and its no worse than Manuka , surely. !!

We need to start playing attractive Hard Footy, then the prospect of a good crowd at the 'G will not be a problem.

I hate the concept of "the Boutique" stadium" its too much like separating the A sides from the B sides. "Toss the Demons the scraps & they can play at Princess Park or whatever toy ground they have in mind.

Fu@#$%ck Princess Park there is no parking, the sun is in your eyes all day, & worst of all Carltank get Paid.

Last Sunday was a disgraceful fixturing decision. But the 'G is our HOME

Yes..typically wonderful foresight of the AFL to opt out of Optus wasnt it..sigh !! Much preferred it myself to Docklands..

still now some folk are toying with the idea of another stadium..push for new stadium Probably just scaremongering ..but who knows

The old E Gate site. Interesting. By 2017 too. I can't believe Etihad Stadium pulled out of negotiations with the AFL and the clubs for better returns to the clubs. I wonder if this is the Real McCoy or just a threat. If it's for real, Etihad will be a little nervous come 2017.

Just make sure when or if they build it, they must take into consideration the sunglare and positioning of the goalposts this time.

Two comments:

Viability of a small ground

Moving games away from the G for crowds of less than 20,000 would be eminently sensible, but don’t move them to Canberra or the Gold Coast.

For a couple of games a year (eg MFC v Freo and MFC v Gold Coast) - just move them to Casey.

Casey can accommodate 20,000 people, albeit mainly standing. Run on a theme of taking footy back to the suburbs, it might attract people with a nostalgic bent (I used to stand every week, and from 1/2 time in the reserves). It would also still be attractive to most Melbourne based member. And it would be super-attractive to the Casey demographic the club is seeking to engage with.

With the upgrade of player/administration facilities to follow the (hopefully soon) agreement between the Council and MFC, it could be further developed to be a basic AFL venue. It wouldn’t be awash with spectator facilities and it wouldn’t have corporate dining etc, but it could run at a very tidy profit with very little additional investment.

The 3rd Stadium

It would cost around $350 million to build a 40,000 seat stadium (the 31,000 rectangular stadium is costing $270 million).

That is a lot of money to build another stadium around the corner from the 50,000 seat Etihad Stadium.

The argument is that development of the E Gate site would generate sufficient profits to minimise the expense of building the 40,000 seat stadium in the Docklands precinct.

My argument would be not to build a new major stadium at Docklands – just upgrade Casey Fields:

• use the E Gate site for additional residential development instead of a stadium

o you would get to accommodate more of Melbourne’s 1 million population growth by 2026 in a development close to central Melbourne

o you would generate more development profits than turning over a large part of the site to a stadium

• use $50 million of the profits to develop Casey Fields as a Carrara/York Park/Manuka equivalent standard site to accommodate 20-25,000 people seated in basic stands.

Benefits:

• you would save a lot of money

• you’d get a venue in the suburbs instead of concentrating everything in the inner suburbs

• you wouldn’t be over-capitalising on a venue when all the AFL needs to look at is a venue to cope with small crowds involving interstate teams v lower drawing Melbourne teams.

If we want too make money instead of losing it, we need to change venues when we play interstate clubs at home.

Canberra (Extra games)? Adelaide and possibly keep Sydney

Darwin? Port Adelaide

MCG ? Brisbane (old Fitztroy) and Sydney (old South Melb)

Tasmania? Fremantle and West Coast

Interstate teams could possibly rotate between venues.

Any ideas?

We dont need a change of venue. I love the G.

It is all very simple. Play on a Saturday afternoons.

When I was a kid going to the MCG (70's), there was a big banner that went around the Southern Stand, (This is before Advertising boards)

Melbourne "Masters of the MCG"

We need to be the Masters of the MCG again!!

We need to start playing attractive Hard Footy, then the prospect of a good crowd at the 'G will not be a problem.

I hate the concept of "the Boutique" stadium" its too much like separating the A sides from the B sides. "Toss the Demons the scraps & they can play at Princess Park or whatever toy ground they have in mind.

Fu@#$%ck Princess Park there is no parking, the sun is in your eyes all day, & worst of all Carltank get Paid.

Last Sunday was a disgraceful fixturing decision. But the 'G is our HOME

Great post !!!! I couldn't agree more. If more of our members and supporters (14,000 pathetic) showed up the 'G' we would getbetter returns. The main reason I live in Melbourne is to go and watch my beloved DEES, If we start moving games from the 'G' we disillusion the people that matter most THE MELBOURNE MEMBER !!!! As Chris Connelly said ' THE MCG IS OUR HOME GROUND, EVERY BODY ELSE ARE JUST TENANTS'.

TURN UP ON SATURDAY AND SHOW THEM WHAT WE GOT !!!!! GO DEES

Two comments:

Viability of a small ground

Moving games away from the G for crowds of less than 20,000 would be eminently sensible, but don’t move them to Canberra or the Gold Coast.

For a couple of games a year (eg MFC v Freo and MFC v Gold Coast) - just move them to Casey.

Casey can accommodate 20,000 people, albeit mainly standing. Run on a theme of taking footy back to the suburbs, it might attract people with a nostalgic bent (I used to stand every week, and from 1/2 time in the reserves). It would also still be attractive to most Melbourne based member. And it would be super-attractive to the Casey demographic the club is seeking to engage with.

With the upgrade of player/administration facilities to follow the (hopefully soon) agreement between the Council and MFC, it could be further developed to be a basic AFL venue. It wouldn’t be awash with spectator facilities and it wouldn’t have corporate dining etc, but it could run at a very tidy profit with very little additional investment.

The 3rd Stadium

It would cost around $350 million to build a 40,000 seat stadium (the 31,000 rectangular stadium is costing $270 million).

That is a lot of money to build another stadium around the corner from the 50,000 seat Etihad Stadium.

The argument is that development of the E Gate site would generate sufficient profits to minimise the expense of building the 40,000 seat stadium in the Docklands precinct.

My argument would be not to build a new major stadium at Docklands – just upgrade Casey Fields:

• use the E Gate site for additional residential development instead of a stadium

o you would get to accommodate more of Melbourne’s 1 million population growth by 2026 in a development close to central Melbourne

o you would generate more development profits than turning over a large part of the site to a stadium

• use $50 million of the profits to develop Casey Fields as a Carrara/York Park/Manuka equivalent standard site to accommodate 20-25,000 people seated in basic stands.

Benefits:

• you would save a lot of money

• you’d get a venue in the suburbs instead of concentrating everything in the inner suburbs

• you wouldn’t be over-capitalising on a venue when all the AFL needs to look at is a venue to cope with small crowds involving interstate teams v lower drawing Melbourne teams.

It's too far out of town to upgrade Casey-it won't happen. I just Hope the Present MFC administration can work out a good & solid deal with the MCC into the Long term

The MCC & 'G are our home. We must generate money from there.

We dont need a change of venue. I love the G.

It is all very simple. Play on a Saturday afternoons.

When I was a kid going to the MCG (70's), there was a big banner that went around the Southern Stand, (This is before Advertising boards)

Melbourne "Matsers of the MGC"

We need to be the Masters of the MGC again!!

What`s a Matser, and where is the MGC??

We dont need a change of venue. I love the G.

It is all very simple. Play on a Saturday afternoons.

When I was a kid going to the MCG (70's), there was a big banner that went around the Southern Stand, (This is before Advertising boards)

Melbourne "Matsers of the MGC"

We need to be the Masters of the MGC again!!

MGC?? Is this some kind of cryptic word puzzle, an attempt at Humour or bad spelling due to excitement of using BIG DARK LETTERS

If we were to look at playing some matches at another stadium Princess Park would be the best option once their development is completed. And play say 3 home games against interstate sides there a year. Idealy it would be wonderful if we could develope Casey, however that just isn't realistic.

As far as neutral venues go, Bulldogs are talking about getting out of NT, so that would be an option, or possibly even playing three games a year down at Belrieve Oval in Hobart?

Stuff that, I can't stand the place, or going there. Hate that ground.

I would definitely prefer Casey or even Moorabbin, or the Junction.

PS: Playing games at Princes Park will shoot ourselves in the foot re establishing Casey as a Boutique ground for our future.

Stuff that, I can't stand the place, or going there. Hate that ground.

I would definitely prefer Casey or even Moorabbin, or the Junction.

PS: Playing games at Princes Park will shoot ourselves in the foot re establishing Casey as a Boutique ground for our future.

I will never part with $$ to get into Princess Park EVER. It's owned by Carlton. Enough said.

We dont need a change of venue. I love the G.

It is all very simple. Play on a Saturday afternoons.

When I was a kid going to the MCG (70's), there was a big banner that went around the Southern Stand, (This is before Advertising boards)

Melbourne "Matsers of the MCG"

We need to be the Masters of the MCG again!!

Just checkin to see if you are awake!

Just checkin to see if you are awake!

Go the Matsers!!!

We dont need a change of venue. I love the G.

It is all very simple. Play on a Saturday afternoons.

When I was a kid going to the MCG (70's), there was a big banner that went around the Southern Stand, (This is before Advertising boards)

Melbourne "Masters of the MCG"

We need to be the Masters of the MCG again!!

It has been a long bad day!