AFL looking to extend partnership with Northern Territory

The AFL will soon begin negotiations with the Northern Territory to extend its deal with the state beyond 2026.

And while Gold Coast would like to scale back its presence from two to one game per year, it's believed Melbourne is open to upping their matches from one to two.

Currently there are three games per season in the NT, two in Darwin and one in Alice Springs.

For the Demons to commit to a game in Alice Springs and another in Darwin every year, other elements of their fixture would need to be right so that the club's membership is not disadvantaged.

But each of these games is worth $1 million and the Suns in particular have an excellent recent record in the top end.

It's believed the league is also keen to lock in an annual AFLW game in the Northern Territory as part of the deal, like a Richmond v Essendon Dreamtime encounter.

Late last year the Suns asked if they could revert to one game in 2026, but the NT government rejected them and held them to the contract.

The main issue for Gold Coast is they will spend four weeks away from home twice in 2026, which is seen as a competitive disadvantage plus less than ideal for a club trying to grow its presence in a non-traditional football market.

Gold Coast was away from home for a month after the West Coast game earlier in the season, and will again be on the road for the same amount of time after they face GWS in Round 8.

Handing a game back from Darwin to People's First Stadium would go some way towards allaying these concerns.