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GILLON McLachlan's biggest hurdle in introducing the greatest equalisation measure of them all — a 17-round season — is money.
But as the league enjoys a fresh start under a new man, it is a hurdle worth sizing up before new deals with broadcasters and the players are struck for 2017 and beyond.
McLachlan was asked if he was wedded to a 22-match season on Fox Footy's AFL 360 on Wednesday night.
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He said he wasn't, but neatly summed up the difficulties of change.
"The reality is we have an economy set up around 22 games and it is hard to go back from that to 17 games to play everyone once," he said.
"We could do it, but there is a financial cost that is incredibly difficult for the industry to bear — players don't want to get paid less; clubs don't want to receive less.
"Yes, we could make that decision but the consequence is extraordinary for the industry, and very difficult to execute."
The financial hit for an organisation that pulled in $445 million in revenue last year would mainly be a lesser broadcast deal and a smaller return on ticket sales.
Gillon McLachlan and AFL Chairman Mike Fitzpatrick. Picture: Wayne Ludbey Source: News Corp Australia
It's hard to quantify what the losses might add up to, and TV deal-makers weren't buying in yesterday.
The other sticking point is that the AFL has pushed in recent times to "own" more of the calendar, particularly in expansion areas, and give other codes as little oxygen as possible.
In his remarks on Wednesday, McLachlan said he would serve four masters as the league's new boss: the fans, the community, the clubs and the players.
The question for those four groups is: are we willing to bear that hit to the bottom line if in return we get a truly fair season?
The pros to a 17-round season are many, and clearly a competition where every team plays each opponent once is the biggest draw.
It puts a higher premium on each game — an argument surely easily understood by TV bosses.
It creates a bigger incentive for fans to turn up to games, with each one a unique event.
It means less dead rubbers and meaningless encounters.
It could even be a higher value proposition for club members, who — the AFL's data shows — now don't turn up to anywhere near all of the games they have paid for.
It would allow space in a packed calendar for meaningful representative footy, which the players say they want.
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And perhaps we could mercifully put to bed arguments about who should have the MCG for the first weekend in March.
Broadcasters, who paid $1.258 billion for the 2012-16 rights, could be mollified by an extended finals series and a representative carnival.
By 2017, the average wage for an AFL player will be more than $300,000. They won't fall, no matter the length of season.
As to controlling less of the calendar, that doesn't seem to be a bother for the NFL — an organisation widely recognised as the pre-eminent sports administration in the world, and from which there have been many "learnings" in the whole equalisation process.
It makes do with 16 regular season games.
McLachlan said much of his work would be consolidating after a period of "extraordinary growth" in the Demetriou era.
Clearly he would know best whether the numbers could be made to work for a 17-game season.
But after all that growth, maybe he shouldn't be judged on whether the next TV rights deal brings in more, but whether it is better.
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