WITH the construction of its new Arden Street facilities underway, North Melbourne has now moved to strengthen its presence in regional Victoria.

North has approached the AFL about playing a pre-season NAB Cup or Challenge match in Ballarat every year, with a view to tie it in with its Telstra Community Camp or a second family day.

The club held its community camp there last month and in 2009 enters the fourth season of a successful affiliation with VFL premier North Ballarat.

Chief executive Eugene Arocca said that it was "natural progression" to pursue a partnership with the historic gold mining town, which is situated around 100km north of Melbourne.

"We want to take small, considered and responsible steps in this relationship and our unqualified position will be to push and lobby for a NAB Cup game there," Arocca said.

"If it doesn't happen, it will only be because of the facilities."

The League would need to endorse or perhaps invest in the playing surface and existing infrastructure in Ballarat, however, Arocca has flagged the development of Tasmania as a blueprint.

Once a pre-season venue, Launceston's Aurora Stadium now hosts four of Hawthorn's home games each year.

"When you factor in that we played in Canberra on the weekend in front of 1600 people – the ground obviously had capacity to handle a lot more, but the ground also had a fantastic surface," Arocca said.

"If you had a ground that had a fantastic surface and a capacity to handle anything from 1500 to 5000 people, we certainly would say that's a positive first step."

It's "Ballarat or bust" for Arocca, who said that North wouldn't consider an alternative regional partnership if this one can't be accommodated.

Ballarat is also the home-town of Roos vice-captain Drew Petrie.

North officials hope to meet with the City of Ballarat within the next two months to discuss the club's proposed commitment, which could also see school children invited to Arden Street's life and learning centre once construction is complete.

Arocca added that the ongoing shortfall of the financial arrangement with Docklands (formerly Telstra Dome) is "killing the clubs that are an integral part of the game" and is forcing North and the Western Bulldogs to look at other options.

"Whether or not you could actually play AFL matches there (in Ballarat) for premiership points, a lot of things would have to fall over before that could come onto the page," he said.

"[But] the more we get screwed by a stadium that doesn't help us, the more that comes into focus."

North receives just two dollars per patron for each of its home games at the venue – a deal in stark contrast to Geelong, which earns up to $600,000 from a crowd of 24,000 at Skilled Stadium.

"I would defy anyone in the world to find a home-game tenant earning two dollars a head. It's disgraceful," Arocca said.

"We don't have a stated objective to play home games out of Melbourne. We would prefer that Etihad Stadium (Docklands) comes to its senses and understands the importance of the North Melbourne footy club, the Western Bulldogs and comes to a deal with the AFL.

"We don't get any corporate money, we don’t get any advertising revenue, we don't get any catering revenue. We get two bucks a head out of a possible 25 or 30 (dollars per head). That is untenable."

Arocca said the AFL commissioners and club presidents were increasingly aware of the issue and is confident the League is committed to resolving it.