Tigers, Blues agree to share AFL spoils

[Hotdog60]

Richmond and Carlton have agreed to a 10-year gate-sharing deal for their AFL season-opener. (AAP)

Richmond and Carlton have agreed to share the spoils from their lucrative AFL season-opener for the next decade.

Richmond and Carlton will once again share the spoils of their AFL season-opening blockbuster after they agreed to a new gate-sharing deal.

The Blues walked away from a similar revenue-sharing deal in 2015 but the appointment of former Tigers executive Cain Liddle as Carlton's CEO appears to have smoothed the way for a new agreement.

The clubs have faced each other 10 times in round one since 2007 and announced on Friday they will share ticket revenues from the blockbuster for the next 10 years.

Collingwood hosted Fremantle at Etihad Stadium to open the 2014 season but the Tigers and Blues hope the new deal helps cement their hold on the marquee clash.

"Both Richmond and Carlton have invested heavily in building this game into a major event and this announcement further underlines that joint commitment and investment for the future," Tigers chief executive Brendon Gale said.

"Both clubs love playing in the marquee match and we know our members and fans love it too.

"This traditional season-opener has been an enormous success and we're looking forward to working closely with Carlton to continue to grow it further."

The matches have averaged crowd figures of around 75,000 fans, with the record of 87,043 set in 2009.

A sell-out crowd is forecast to attend this year's season-opener when the Tigers unfurl their premiership flag in front of their home fans.

"It's a great privilege for Carlton and Richmond to be given the opportunity to open the AFL season each year and we are excited to formalise our shared commitment to growing what is one of the AFL's greatest rivalries," Liddle said.

The Tigers have won the past four season-openers against the Blues, with the record squared at five wins each on the 10 occasions the clubs have kicked off the season.

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[Hotdog60]

The rich get richer and the .............

[Bulldog Joe]

This is the sort of thing that is really irritating along with ANZAC day.

We are often singled out (along with North, Saints and Dees) as being on the drip funded by the AFL Heavyweights.

These games should actually be either shared across all teams or attract a fee for clubs to retain.

I believe ANZAC Day is worth in the vicinity of $2M each to Collingwood and Essendon with the additional membership and sponsorship they get as a result.

While the season opener is not as lucrative it must be worth around $500K to the sponsorship deals these clubs can get.

The AFL should tender the games out if they are not going to share them equally.

[Twodogs]

The rich get richer and the .............

The poor get the picture The bombs never hit you when you're down so low

[bornadog]

We did a deal to open with Collingwood every year, and that lasted one year. Same with Good Friday.

We are back to playing interstate teams for opening round.

[Prince Imperial]

We did a deal to open with Collingwood every year, and that last one year. Same with Good Friday.

We are back to playing interstate teams for opening round.

Both away games with very large turnouts of our fans - dollars ended up in the pockets of Coll and North.

[bornadog]

Both away games with very large turnouts of our fans - dollars ended up in the pockets of Coll and North.

Should have been shared each year