AFL boss vows to back Suns

THE AFL injected a record $27.5 million into the Suns last season – the biggest distribution handed out to a club – but the league is staying strong in its belief of the Gold Coast.

Documents filed with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission reveal the Suns’ membership and ticketing revenues slumped by more than $2.1 million last year to just $5.1 million.

Merchandise sales totalled $243,983 as the Gold Coast club finished the year with 18 consecutive losses.

Sponsorship and “supply rights income” at the Suns climbed slightly from $6.5 million to $7.7 million, but funding from the AFL head office accounted for 63 per cent of the club’s total revenue.

Bizarrely, the club reported a profit of $248,795.

The AFL has put more than $250 million into the league’s 17th franchise since establishing it in April 2009.

But AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan – a key figure behind the club’s creation – said he believed the sun would never set on the AFL’s Gold Coast push.

McLachlan has repeatedly said the formation of the Suns was a generational decision and nobody at AFL House had any intention of backing out.

Gold Coast have never played finals and were handed a monster rescue package at the end of last season, including an unprecedented three years worth of priority picks.

Last year they had the first two selections in November’s national draft and the opening pick in the second round.

The Suns were also gifted Darwin as a regional academy, giving them exclusive access to the Top End’s best talent – without having to match bids on draft night – and can sign up to 10 rookies, up from the standard six.

The Suns received $23.7 million in AFL distributions in 2018 and $24.7 million in 2017.