AFL boss Andrew Demetriou has vowed his game will do "whatever it takes" to improve its Melbourne clubs' stadium deals as its battle with Etihad Stadium threatens to escalate to full-blown legal action.

Demetriou says the AFL will press ahead with court proceedings against the Docklands stadium's owners after a partial win in its bid to extract documents from them on Thursday.

The Victorian Supreme Court granted the AFL access to agreements involving the stadium's recent naming rights deal with airline Etihad.

But it rejected the AFL's bid to gain access to details of the stadium's deal with A-League club Melbourne Victory, which the AFL sees as critical to help leverage a better deal for its Melbourne clubs.

The Victory are understood to have secured a far sweeter deal than the AFL managed for its Melbourne clubs in 1997 - an agreement which remains in place until 2025 when the league takes over as stadium owner.

Demetriou confirmed the AFL would pursue the battle with the stadium as far as it needed to in order to renegotiate the terms under which its clubs played at the venue.

"We will be going forward with the discovery of these documents and constructing our case," he said.

"We plan to take this forward legally to make sure we get the best outcome for our Victorian clubs.

"Whatever it takes on behalf of our clubs - that's how important it is."

Stadium boss Ian Collins said his organisation could look at renegotiating its deal with the AFL, but the league had to be prepared to offer something in return.

"We have a deal with the AFL which was negotiated on arms length terms more than 12 years ago and runs until 2025," Collins said in a statement.

"We respect the AFL's position as our largest customer and the ultimate owner of the stadium.

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