• Enemies under the same roof
• Gallery: The redeveloped Adelaide Oval in pictures
FOOTBALL'S return to Adelaide Oval this weekend has been rightly painted as the return of the game in South Australia to its spiritual home.
But for Port Adelaide, it is more than that.
Adelaide Oval by the numbers: a quick history
Port was dying a slow death at AAMI Stadium. Crowd figures were anemic, finances were dwindling and the club was finding it increasingly difficult to escape from the shadow of the Crows, whose mighty edifice they saw every time they ran out onto the ground from their own rooms on the other side of the stadium.
It should never have got to that stage. Port Adelaide won the premiership in 2004 but unlike Geelong, Hawthorn and Collingwood, of recent times, was unable to parlay that success into cementing its long-term future.
There are various reasons for that, but the deteriorating condition of AAMI Stadium was a contributing factor. By 2007 AFL CEO Andrew Demetriou was describing the stadium as run down and the repair bill was being estimated at $150 million.
After reaching the Grand Final in 2007, Port Adelaide's on-field performances started to dip following a decade of regular finals appearances, so when the crowds started to drop off and the bank balance started to decline, Port found itself in trouble.
"It was clear that the financial model for Port Adelaide hadn't worked at AAMI Stadium. Port is the smaller club in a two-team town and that was the reality," CEO Keith Thomas told AFL.com.au.
"The commercial and membership opportunities were naturally more challenging for Port Adelaide. Part of that was to do with the limitations of the stadium that we had there."
Which explains why from the outside, Port appeared to more eagerly embrace the move to Adelaide Oval.
Whereas the Crows had established themselves as a financial powerhouse at West Lakes, with a gleaming administrative and training base just metres from the boundary line, Port simply moved in and out about a dozen times a year from its home base at Alberton.
Port Adelaide had a great deal of success as the Magpies at AAMI Stadium in the SANFL, winning 13 flags at the venue since the doors opened in 1974.
"But from an AFL perspective, to our people, we always felt like the visiting team," Thomas said, by way of explaining why Port was so keen to make the move.
"For the Crows, it (Adelaide Oval) is also a better situation, but it doesn't mean the difference between life and death, which puts a different slant on it from our point of view. Port would have not have survived at AAMI Stadium without ongoing AFL and SANFL support.
"What Adelaide Oval gives us is an opportunity at financial independence, and that's a big deal," he said.
Port will get a 'clean' stadium at every home game, which Thomas described as "a game changer". Industry experts estimate that revenues from signage, sponsorship and other match-day streams are expected to improve Port's financial position by as much as $7 million a year.
Which explains why from the outside, Port appeared to more eagerly embrace the move to Adelaide Oval.
Whereas the Crows had established themselves as a financial powerhouse at West Lakes, with a gleaming administrative and training base just metres from the boundary line, Port simply moved in and out about a dozen times a year from its home base at Alberton.
Port Adelaide had a great deal of success as the Magpies at AAMI Stadium in the SANFL, winning 13 flags at the venue since the doors opened in 1974.
"But from an AFL perspective, to our people, we always felt like the visiting team," Thomas said, by way of explaining why Port was so keen to make the move.
"For the Crows, it (Adelaide Oval) is also a better situation, but it doesn't mean the difference between life and death, which puts a different slant on it from our point of view. Port would have not have survived at AAMI Stadium without ongoing AFL and SANFL support.
"What Adelaide Oval gives us is an opportunity at financial independence, and that's a big deal," he said.
Port will get a 'clean' stadium at every home game, which Thomas described as "a game changer". Industry experts estimate that revenues from signage, sponsorship and other match-day streams are expected to improve Port's financial position by as much as $7 million a year.
"For us, it just made a whole lot of sense," Thomas said.
As recently as 2010 Port had just 29,000 members. The numbers have ticked over nicely since then and members who signed up in subsequent years received the first opportunity to buy the best seats at the redeveloped Adelaide Oval.
Port finished with 41,500 members in 2013, helped along by an exciting playing list and an unexpected top-six finish. The membership figure for this year ticked past 48,000 earlier this week.
Rising membership is a sure indicator of a club on the march. So too is sponsorship, and in Renault and Energy Australia, Port has two national sponsors for the first time in a decade. "For them Adelaide Oval is very appealing from a corporate point of view," noted Thomas. "They like the idea."
Port hosts its cross-town rival in the first game since the ground was redeveloped at a cost of $535 million. The move rankled the Crows when the draw was released and sparked the quickly aborted move by the club to wear a near-imitation of the South Australian state jumper for the clash.
"It's significant to have the first game," Thomas said.
"Perhaps not as much for people inside the club as it is for our members, but to be able to have that game on in front of our crowd is great and our members will love it because it's a game of historical significance.
"South Australia and South Australian footy will be on show."
