The Blues want to play more home games at the MCG in the coming years, club president Luke Sayers has confirmed.
Carlton will play only five home games at the MCG in 2024, with six at Marvel Stadium. The only Victorian teams they host at the Docklands are North Melbourne in Round 19 and St Kilda in Round 24.
Their MCG home-game opponents will be Richmond, Collingwood, Melbourne, Geelong and Hawthorn – all five likely to draw significant crowds if the Blues remain a top side this season.
The Blues ranked third in the AFL for average attendance in 2023 at 56,000, only behind the Magpies and Tigers, who both play more home games on the hallowed turf.
Sayers believes Carlton fans showing up in droves will continue to send a strong message to the AFL.
“We’re always in conversations to try and move us to more games at the MCG,” Sayers told SEN’s Untitled Carlton Podcast.
“It’s not as easy as one year we’re here at Marvel and then the next year at the MCG, but the aspiration is to try and move to one more blockbuster game at the MCG in the coming years and we’ll continue to work it from there.
“I can guarantee you that if the crowds keep coming like they’re coming at the moment, then it’ll send a fantastic message to the AFL and that will be very helpful.
“So, the more everyone can keep supporting us and coming along to games, it does make a difference on game day, but also to the strategic plan than we’re obviously prosecuting.”
According to reports in early 2020, Carlton’s deal with Marvel Stadium expires at the conclusion of the 2024 season.
Carlton hosts Richmond at the MCG in Round 1, with nearly 90,000 fans anticipated for the blockbuster clash.
