A BREAKTHROUGH deal over food prices at Etihad Stadium could be announced within weeks.
In a rare media appearance on Wednesday, Etihad Stadium chief executive Paul Sergeant confirmed talks with the AFL had been progressing well, revealing there would be an announcement within weeks.
New AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan pointed to the cost of food at venues as a priority issue when he took charge last year.
In 2014, a bucket of chips at Etihad cost as much as $6.60, a meat pie $4.80 and a bottle of coke $5.20.
“We’re going to roll out a raft of changes before the start of the season,” Sergeant said.
“We’ve been heavily involved in discussions with Gill and Gill’s team as to what we’re doing in terms of coming to the party.
“We’re not in a position to announce what they are at the moment but they will be announced before the start of the season.”
The Docklands stadium has been undergoing a make-over of sorts, with new LED lighting on the fence lines around levels one and two, the installation of 1600 new television monitors and improvements to WiFi connectivity.
Sergeant said the improvements were made to ensure the stadium was up to the standard fans expected.
“We can’t let the building fall into disrepair,” he said.
“It’s a cost to us, it’s a cost to our business, it’s a cost of doing business.”
But the stadium chief insisted the upgrade didn’t mean a deal to sell the stadium to the AFL was imminent.
Under contracts from when the stadium was built, the AFL will own the venue outright in 2025.
“We normally expect some speculation at this time of year - we’re just on the cusp of the start of a new AFL season, so something’s got to make the news, but it’s old news,” he said.
“It’s business as usual, we’re not having those discussions.”
Sergeant insisted the stadium surface would be ready for the NAB Challenge, despite thousands of people and huge staging being out on the ground for this weekend’s Foo Fighters concert.
“It’s what we do, so in terms of the turf, we’ll replace what needs to be replaced,” he said.
“We’re talking probably less than a thousand square metres.”
Etihad hosts its first pre-season game on March 19 when St Kilda meets Hawthorn.
After this year’s AFL season, the stadium will be turned into a speedway circuit with thousands of tons of dirt to be trucked in, before the venue then hosts soccer and cricket matches over the off-season.
