Gold Coast to play at home
18/11/2008 4:45 PM
Coast Football Club has the foundations for success," he said.
"We understand the AFL still has some work to do before making a final decision on the license and we remain extremely confident of a positive outcome for the Gold Coast."
However the new club is free to play its home matches at Carrara despite the league initially being tied to playing the new Gold Coast team at the Gabba until the end of 2015 as part of financing the re-development of the ground.
As part of the new deal, the Gold Coast team will still have to play its home game against Brisbane at the Gabba until 2015 but will be able to play all its remaining home games at Carrara.
The league has also guaranteed the Gabba the right to stage the Easter Thursday night match until 2020 while the Lions will also be given the opportunity to play an extra game in Brisbane each year until 2020 by convincing another club to sell a home game to them as was the case for several years with Melbourne.
That could mean the Lions enjoying up to 13 home games a season (including both matches against the Gold Coast) at the Gabba until 2020 while as part of the deal the league will also pay for the costs of new change rooms to be built at the ground.