Essendon's legal fight against alleged performance-enhancing drug use by its players has cost the AFL club almost $5.5 million over the past three years, its financial report shows. 
Essendon's 2015 annual report, released on Friday, showed costs related to its legal battle with the AFL, the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority (ASADA) and the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) were $460,681 this year, contributing to the club's $1.3 million net loss.
The 2015 costs add to the $1.07 million in 2014 and $3.9 million the previous year, which including a $2 million fine as part of a series of sanctions imposed by the AFL for Essendon's 2012 conditioning program that may have included the administering of banned drugs to 34 current and now former team members.
Essendon players still face potential bans, with a WADA appeal before the Court of Arbitration for Sport taking place last week in Sydney. While the club hopes a decision will be announced by Christmas, it is likely the matter will drag into next year.
Club chief executive Xavier Campbell said the $1.3 million loss for 2015 was "as the result of a number of unforeseen costs to the business [including] a combination of abnormal costs associated with the ASADA/WADA issue and the impact of a disappointing season on the field".
Essendon sacked coach James Hird, who had previously been suspended for 12 months for his role in the conditioning program, during the season and the team eventually finished 15th.
Revenue for 2015 fell to $58.2 million from $60.9 million the previous year, while the club also had to pay $200,000 to field additional players in the 2015 pre-season and contributed $270,000 in AFL club equalisation levies.