Thats going to be news to the operators of HBF Park who hosted 5 matches during the Cup.
Its 7 weeks. Not six. And a Bledisloe clash in their as well. And besides it seems that Football Australia just assumed things, and never made formal enquiries or requests to either the MCG, or the AFL, or the Victorian Goverment for that matter. Under the terms of the 2018 AFL-Docklands funding deal, Docklands must be made available to other sports and to events the Vic Gov classes as major for the next 30 years.
ref:
https://www.smh.com.au/sport/soccer...ren-t-playing-at-the-mcg-20230717-p5doxk.html
The average crowd at AFL matches in Melbourne this year exceeded the capacity of Geelong by some margin. Theres no way the MCC or the AFL allow their grounds to sit largely unused for 2 months in the middle of winter.
The AFL doesnt really need protecting in Victoria.
Its not the biggest sport in Victoria by any metric. Not TV, not attendance, not grassroots.
I mean they also claim it based on its hosting the Melbourne Cup, the Australian Open, the Australian Grand Prix, Bledisloe and Originwow attendances, the Boxing Day test, and the 3rd highest average attended domestic sporting competition on the planet - noting that the AFLs attendance at Docklands and the MCG alone is also higher than the entire NRL competition. {4.154m v 3.9m].
Everyone but soccer is happy enough.
Which is easy to do when your competition has average crowds of less than 20,000. You can literally host matches almost anywhere. Its a little less tenable when you average 36,000.
Western Australia is literally one of three states getting matches. Victoria never even bid for matches.