The AFL is leading the race to buy Waverley Park from Hawthorn Football Club, in a deal that would keep the former prized stadium as a football facility.
While the deal is not finalised, and other parties have been engaged in the bidding process, three competition sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed that the AFL had become increasingly keen to buy the ground, as the league recognised the value of Waverley Park to the code.
A deal could be concluded in matter of days between the club and the AFL.
Hawthorn’s training base at Waverley Park.Credit: Pat Scala
The AFL would have multiple options for using Waverley – it could house the umpires, pathways programs for junior, host games at junior or VFL level and even provide a facility for another AFL club, if there was a sudden or temporary need.
While there was a mooted asking price of $20 million, the eventual deal will be for significantly fewer dollars, according to sources with a knowledge of the bids.
But it will still represent an incredibly profitable deal for the Hawks, who acquired Waverley Park – formerly VFL Park and the league’s major asset until it was sold – for just one dollar.
And the ground, which has a gym and a training and administration facility, represents a rare opportunity for the league to find that kind of facility, without requiring massive building or works.
The sale was made with a series of conditions, and much of the land developed as housing by Mirvac with the Hawks taking over the freehold on the buildings at their administration and training base which is to replaced by the huge new facility at Dingley, the Kennedy Community Centre.
Waverley has restrictions on the buyer, such as that the oval must be maintained for sporting/recreational use.
Asked for a comment on the AFL’s interest in Waverley, a league spokesman said on Friday that the league was always looking for ovals to expand growth in the game.
“The AFL has targeted having 10 million attendees at AFL/AFLW games, events or festivals, two million AFL club members and one million participants and in order to achieve the target for participation we need two ovals a week every week for the next five years,” the spokesman said.
“We are always looking for ovals, either already in the system that we can continue to use for football, or new greenfield developments so we can continue to expand the space we need to accommodate the strong national growth in people playing our game.″
The Hawks moved into Waverley in 2004, the ground having hosted its last game, between the Hawks and Swans, in late 1999. The sale of Waverley was used to fund the purchase of what became Marvel Stadium at the Docklands, which was paid off by hosting games from tenant clubs.
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