That's not right.
If we had less than 28,000 turn up then we had to write a cheque for the short fall to the stadium. And when you're scheduled at Sunday 4.40 vs Freo.... you're writing a cheque. We also got no direct part of the catering at the ground.
It is one of reasons our finances are where they are.
The move to Seaford would probably be a major contributor
How North have had the same deal and paid down their debt i don't know. But credit to them. Especially with getting rid of the pokies which is to be admired.
Here's Butterss from a while ago....
He said that playing home games at the ground had cost his club 20,000 members since 1997, when the AFL began investigating the sale of the Saints' former home ground Waverley Park.
The AFL struck a compensation deal with St Kilda after the sale of Waverley to play home matches at Telstra Dome. The three-year arrangement ends at the end of this year.
Butterss told ABC Radio's pre-match program the club would have no hesitation in moving away from the much-maligned venue. "If we cannot negotiate an arrangement that sustains the club from a financial standpoint, we will not be playing here," he said.
"We will not be playing at a facility, we cannot play at a facility that we lose money week in, week out."
Butterss said the numbers the AFL had projected when St Kilda moved home games to the venue after Waverley became defunct had "failed dismally".
So basically, the AFL pressured/forced them into a terrible deal and offered to compensate them for the first three years....then hung them out to dry.
Nice.