THE deal to lock in Anzac Day in Wellington until at least 2018 provides St Kilda with a valuable point of difference according to CEO Michael Nettlefold.

St Kilda announced over the weekend that it would host one game a year on Anzac Day at Wellington’s Westpac Stadium.

Nettlefold said the new arrangement with New Zealand was a big coup for the Saints.

“It certainly gives our footy club a point of difference and that’s important. It is a pretty competitive market, particularly in Melbourne,” he said.

“Last year we delivered somewhere in the order of $8.5 million worth of economic value to Wellington. As well as that we delivered $9 million worth of media exposure for Wellington back in Australia.

“The economics are really strong, we had almost 3000 members go across the Tasman for the game last year on Anzac Day.”

While the Saints work to bring New Zealanders across to the idea of following Australian football, the club has also brought over a strong contingent of Australians happy to follow their team to uncharted football waters.

“I think they voted with their feet last year. We had almost 5000 Australians across there last year. It is an extraordinary outcome,” he said.

“We offer members a replacement game so not only do they get the New Zealand game as part of their membership package for no extra fee, they get a replacement game. It is very similar to Hawthorn’s arrangement in Tasmania where they have four games down there and they give them four replacement games. So you will get your entire 11 game package as a member in Melbourne.”