Western Bulldogs President Peter Gordon says financial support for historically less profitable clubs is essential to maintaining a healthy and competitive AFL competition.

In August, Gordon as part of an AFL contingent, undertook a fact-finding mission to the US with AFL CEO Andrew Demetriou and club presidents Eddie McGuire and Andrew Newbold among others in attendance.

“We are way behind in terms of the way revenue is shared compared to those major franchises in the States and when we get to a point of doing it properly, we’ll see the benefits”, Gordon told SEN’s Kevin Bartlett.

The Western Bulldogs President also responded to concerns that clubs fundamentally disagreed on revenue sharing.

“I was thrilled with the camaraderie that evolved over the course of that week,” Gordon said.

“There’s not a lot in it for them [presidents of large AFL clubs], as people who run very, very large franchises, to come and say ‘we accept the need for revenue sharing,’ but they all did.”

Gordon said the trip had been worthwhile, and that its US counterparts had a strong grasp on the importance of smaller franchises.

“I thought there was a lot to learn, and what was striking about it was how much common ground there was in every major American competition about the need for revenue sharing,” Gordon said.

“Every major competition [in the US] has recognised that there is a balance to be struck between letting the big clubs be big clubs… and sharing the revenue in a way that permits the smaller franchises economically to continue to compete.”