AFL Barwon is confident that holding GFNL grand final day at GMHBA Stadium is sustainable after announcing the venue will again host the showpiece event for local football and netball.<\/p>\n
Working closely with the Geelong Football Club and Kardinia Park Stadium Trust, AFL Barwon ticked off GMHBA Stadium in recent days.<\/p>\n
The local governing body also confirmed West Oval would host the first three weeks of finals.<\/p>\n
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The return of last year\u2019s decider to the Kardinia Park precinct for the first time since 2019 attracted a crowd of more than 10,000 people.<\/p>\n
However, concerns over the viability of returning this year were raised after AFL Barwon reported a $170,000 loss for the 2024 season, with nearly half of that amount attributed to an increase in finals expenses of more than $80,000.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile last year\u2019s Grand Finals were a major success, it also highlighted some key challenges that we needed to address in order to proceed,\u201d AFL Barwon Commission Chair Michelle Gerdtz said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have undertaken thorough due diligence, working closely with the Geelong Cats and Kardinia Park Stadium Trust to develop a sustainable model for 2025. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe event simply wouldn\u2019t be viable without their continued support and the valued contribution of commercial partners.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re appreciative to all involved for recognising the importance of delivering a high-quality
finals experience for our community.\u201d<\/p>\n
To be played on the AFL Grand Final public holiday, Friday, September 26, after being trialled in that slot last year, AFL Barwon has left the door open for a later start.<\/p>\n
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\u201cAFL Barwon have not yet confirmed the start time for matches and continue to work with the
KPST on further enhancements to the experience. This will be announced in due course,\u201d it said in a FAQ section of its media statement.<\/p>\n
AFL Barwon also addressed questions regarding ground access for spectators, changeroom access for club supporters, the opening of ticketing booths to avoid the long queues experienced last year, and the opening of additional sections of GMHBA Stadium.<\/p>\n
It states that a decision on spectators will be made closer to the date, based on weather and ground conditions, while capacity limits govern access to the changerooms.<\/p>\n
Ticketing booths will be opened, and additional seating areas will be discussed between AFL Barwon and the Kardinia Park Stadium Trust.<\/p>\n
Both the Cats and KPST welcomed AFL Barwon\u2019s decision.<\/p>\n
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\u201cWe are thrilled to see the GFNL Grand Finals return to GMHBA Stadium in 2025,\u201d Cats chief operating officer Marcus King said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Kardinia Park precinct plays host to a number of major sporting and entertainment events for the region, and along with Kardinia Park Stadium Trust and AFL Barwon, we\u2019re looking forward to seeing marquee community football and netball take centre stage in the precinct in September.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kardinia Park Stadium Trust CEO Gerard Griffin said: \u201cKPST is delighted to welcome back the local Geelong Football Netball League Grand Finals at GMHBA Stadium in 2025. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt has been fantastic to see the collaboration between our organisations to make this event happen again this year, and to ensure these flagship community sport events remain within the Kardinia Park precinct.\u201d<\/p>\n
2025 Blood Toyota Geelong Football Netball League Finals Series<\/p>\n
Week 1 \u2013 West Oval
Saturday, September 6 \u2013 Qualifying Finals
Sunday, September 7 \u2013 Elimination Finals<\/p>\n
Week 2 \u2013 West Oval
Saturday, September 13 \u2013 Second Semi-Finals
Sunday, September 14 \u2013 First Semi-Finals<\/p>\n
Week 3 \u2013 West Oval
Saturday, September 20 \u2013 Preliminary Finals<\/p>\n
Week 4 \u2013 GHMBA Stadium & Kardinia Park Precinct
Friday, September 26 \u2013 Grand Finals<\/p>\n
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X: @krockfootball<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"AFL Barwon is confident that holding GFNL grand final day at GMHBA Stadium is sustainable after announcing the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":22659,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,55,639,85],"class_list":["post-22658","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-afl","tag-afl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australian-football-league","tag-australianfootballleague","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22658","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22658"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22658\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22659"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22658"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22658"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22658"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}