The ACT government has signed off on a new $28.5 million deal to bring GWS Giants games to Canberra - a steep $5.5 million hike on the previous deal which provided Manuka Oval with regular AFL content.

The government's decision to strike an even more expensive deal with the Giants is set to be a point of tension for Canberra Raiders chief executive Don Furner and his ACT Brumbies counterpart Phil Thomson.

It is one of the most divisive issues in Canberra's sporting scene - but after building a partnership with the Giants over the past 10 years, why abandon it now? Perhaps the argument should be about giving the Raiders and Brumbies more rather than pinching pennies set aside for the Giants.

The cash-strapped Brumbies will soon look to negotiate a new deal with the ACT government with a two-year, $3.5 million partnership to expire at the end of the 2024 season. The Raiders' $13 million deal with the territory government runs until the end of 2027.

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When the figures are broken down on a per-game basis, the Giants' new deal dwarfs those of the Raiders [about $210,000 per home game] and Brumbies [about $250,000 per men's home match]. Both Canberra-based clubs have been angered by the major difference in per-game fees.

But wind the clock forward to the end of the 2032 season. Manuka Oval will have been a regular home for AFL games for 20 years with something close to 50 matches - a figure encompassing men's, women's and pre-season fixtures - having been played on that patch of turf in the previous 10 years.

You would love to think plenty more Canberra kids have risen through the GWS pathways and onto AFL lists just like Tom Green before them.

Blockbuster AFL games in Canberra - like the Giants' clash with the Western Bulldogs in Saturday's primetime slot during round eight next year - come with guaranteed free to air coverage to showcase the capital. Rugby codes are in part hidden behind paywalls, so too is the cricket unless Canberra can jag a rare Test match.

Australian rules was the area's main code before a new mob of rugby league players turned up at Seiffert Oval in lime green jumpers. There's a history that goes beyond a decade of Giants games - just ask anyone among the 10,600 they say turned up to watch the ACT beat the Victorians at their own game in 1980.

Giants games in Canberra have turned into a genuine money spinner for Manuka. Crowds have been on the rise, fans from the Riverina and interstate travel for the AFL roadshow.

The idea to hand more cash to Canberra's two major teams passes the pub test and is easy enough to punch out on a keyboard - but those decisions are made by political power brokers with access to the city's back pocket that few among us have.

The impact of the Raiders and Brumbies on this city and surrounds transcends that of the Giants. That much is indisputable.

Giants chief executive David Matthews says GWS were "born in Canberra as much as Sydney", but they were more adopted by the capital. The Raiders and Brumbies are as Canberra as Lake Burley Griffin, Parliament House and Mooseheads.

So the Brumbies will go to the government armed with knowledge of the Giants' new and improved deal, asking for a bigger piece of the pie. So too will the Raiders when their time comes - and so they both should.

For now they wait, some with gritted teeth, to see what kind of impact an extra $5.5 million on top of an already divisive sum can have on football in Canberra.

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