AFL: Should the GWS Giants be the ones paying the big bucks to play in Canberra, instead of the ACT government?

ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr is well-versed in such conversations, and usually refuses to budge when sports come to his door with exorbitant funding requests.

And when it comes to the GWS Giants, he has the upper hand in negotiations thanks to the average crowd numbers at Manuka Oval and the Sydney Showground this year.

The government and the Giants are close to finalising a new long-term deal to keep AFL matches in the capital after a historic $23 million, 10-year arrangement ended last weekend.

The likelihood is the government will pay more than the $2.3 million per year it has spent for the past decade, with AFLW fixtures to be added to the men's content.

But after watching crowd numbers in Sydney dip, should Barr play hard ball with the AFL, an organisation notorious for refusing to bend over to accommodate others?

It's something Barr has done before. He said no to women's FIFA World Cup games next year because he said the per-match fee was too high. It's likely the men's rugby World Cup in 2027 will also bypass the capital due to the same reasons.

So who needs who in the AFL situation? There's an argument to be had that the Giants need Canberra more, and they should be saying, 'Please and thank you' when it comes to contract talks.

Manuka Oval produced two of the three biggest Giants home crowds this year - 11,661 and 11,207. The biggest was 25,572 at Stadium Australia against cross-town rivals the Sydney Swans.

But apart from that, the numbers at the Giants' regular home ground - the Sydney Showground - made for tough reading. The biggest showground crowd was just 8754, coming in fifth on the home grounds list behind the Swans clash and three of the four Canberra fixtures.

So if the government was critically evaluating its contract position with the Giants, it would appear they could offer less than what they paid in 2011 if success is measured by crowd numbers.

There are other elements: the development of Giants Academy players in Canberra; regular AFL content giving the capital a team to call its own; and the economic benefit of people visiting the city to watch matches.

But the Giants didn't really play their part before the game against Fremantle. The team didn't train in Canberra, and only sent three non-playing players to a school on Friday afternoon to promote the match.

Again, this gives Barr the upper-hand when it comes to negotiations. The Giants have given a lot to Canberra and have built a membership base in the city, but they also need to keep giving back.

The interest is clearly there from Canberrans, so why not build on it?

The four GWS games at Manuka this season attracted a total of 39,216 people - 2599 more than the total turnout for six games at Sydney Showground.

The average crowd turnout in the capital also outperformed the Giants' Sydney home. Manuka attracted an average crowd of 9804, compared to just 6103 at the showground.

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The Giants will argue they are giving Canberra something the city otherwise wouldn't have, and memories of North Melbourne treating the ACT like a cash cow are still a sore point for the AFL community.

Some AFL teams can command up to $1 million per game, with the Tasmanian government forking out plenty to get Hawthorn and the Kangaroos to play home games on the other side of the Bass Strait.

The Giants don't have the same bargaining power. They need Canberra.

Home crowds 2022:

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