NORTH Melbourne president James Brayshaw believes a breakthrough is imminent on the vexatious Melbourne stadiums issue and is hopeful a deal on gate-sharing is also in the pipeline.
Imbalanced club agreements with Docklands management and the MCC, which runs the MCG, have been the centre of an increasing storm.
Clubs are forced to 'pay to play' if crowds don't reach the required minimum – around 32,000 patrons at Docklands, North's home ground.
North's matches against Port Adelaide (round seven) and Fremantle (nine) attracted crowds of just 14,342 and 15,436 respectively, with each game costing the club around $100,000 to stage.
Brayshaw said he was confident the negotiations were moving in the right direction.
"It depends on what you describe as soon, but I think there's definitely light at the end of the tunnel from what I'm hearing and so there should be," he told afl.com.au on Tuesday evening.
"We haven't [got a timeframe], but the AFL is negotiating on the clubs' behalf – or the game's behalf. They're much happier with the direction it's all heading and we should have a result hopefully soon."
The growing notion of the partial equalisation of gate-takings would allow clubs like North, which traditionally pull far smaller crowds than their higher-profile Melbourne and interstate counterparts, to take some benefit from contributing to the strength of the competition.
"I think it's a really good idea. The traditional revenue streams are memberships, and they won't be affected," Brayshaw said.
"I think they're talking about a percentage, and it's not a large percentage of that money (from ticket sales on the day) being centrally pooled and potentially distributed to all clubs.
"Everyone can benefit from the health of the game."
Brayshaw said playing the lower drawing non-Victorian clubs was not an issue for North because it understood the landscape it was operating in.
"We're aware that the Collingwoods and West Coasts and Essendons are always going to have significantly higher revenue because they've got a critical mass that clubs like the Western Bulldogs and North Melbourne can't match," he said.
Brayshaw added the bigger clubs had nothing to fear because it would only concern a percentage of people who pay at the gate.
"Some people are jumping up and down and saying, 'We're being discriminated against' and all the rest of it, but that's got nothing to do with it," he said.
"You're talking about a game in Sydney being pooled just as much as a game in Melbourne as a game in Adelaide as a game in Perth.
"But clubs like Collingwood and Essendon don't have too much to worry about because I think their traditional revenue streams are extraordinary. They'll always make a hell of a lot of money, and so they should, when they're as big as they are."
