BRISBANE and Gold Coast could be forced to spend a significant stretch of their 2032 seasons away from their home venues as the AFL begins exploring contingency plans around the Brisbane Olympic Games. 

While the Olympics are six years away, AFL.com.au understands discussions have already started around how the season could be structured should key venues be unavailable for extended periods as the League looks to get ahead of the challenge. 

With cricket returning to the Olympics for the 2028 Los Angeles Games, it is widely believed that the sport will continue for 2032, with an announcement expected later this year. 

The addition of cricket for Brisbane could see the Lions' home ground, the Gabba, and also People First Stadium, the home of the Suns, required as cricket venues, which would place additional demand on access to major ovals across south-east Queensland during the AFL season. 

The 2032 Olympics are due to be held in late July and early August, with the Paralympics to be held in late August and early September. 

The Gabba is expected to remain operational until the Olympic period, before football and cricket move to Brisbane's new Victoria Park stadium following the Games, while Carrara is also earmarked as a potential Olympic venue as planning continues. The Queensland Government's current venue blueprint has the Gabba remaining in use through to 2032 before its eventual decommissioning.

Should cricket be part of the Olympic schedule for men and women, both venues could be required for lengthy preparation, operational and competition windows, which would force the Lions and Suns away from their traditional home grounds for significant periods of the season.

The Brisbane Olympics are slated to start in August, but under IOC rules for venues hosting Olympic sports, there is an exclusivity period around that time. The gold medal matches in the cricket events are expected to be played at the Gabba, if the sport is ticked off. Afterwards, all cricket in Queensland would be played at the Victoria Park stadium.

AFL.com.au understands both clubs have already had talks with the AFL about various scenarios, with road trips, blocks of away fixtures, neutral venue arrangements and altered scheduling around the Olympic period expected. The Suns and Lions are hopeful they won’t face extended disruptions. 

The last Olympics in Australia – Sydney's 2000 Games – was staged in September, which saw the AFL season moved forward a month and the Grand Final held on September 2.

The League has experience managing venue disruptions, having worked through stadium redevelopments, COVID-era fixture changes and event clashes. However, the prospect of two clubs simultaneously losing access to their home venues presents a complex challenge in fixturing given the rest of the competition will not be impacted in the same way. 

The League would likely explore playing more games in different locations as well as the potential for the Queensland clubs to spend blocks of the season on the road in hubs. 

The Southport Sharks have revealed plans to build a stadium of up to 20,000 fans down the track – with the venue's next phase to be an upgrade that would seat 9000 spectators – but that may also be required for Olympics use if more venues are used for cricket games.