Cronulla boss Lyall Gorman says Sharks can have A-League team up and running by 2017
December 8, 2014 - 11:00PM
Michael Chammas
Rugby league reporter
"If you own a venue today, you want content": Cronulla Sharks chief executive Lyall Gorman.
Photo: John Veage
New Cronulla Sharks chief executive Lyall Gorman believes the club can own the next A-League franchise and says they could be ready for the 2017 season when the FFA is expected to expand the competition.
Gorman, who joined Cronulla last month after two years at the Western Sydney Wanderers, isn't afraid to dream big and believes an A-League franchise is a logical option to help build the Sharks brand.
While Gorman has held only preliminary discussions with the club's powerbrokers over the prospect of entering a Sharks A-League team, he is confident a team could be up and running in time for the 2017-18 A-League season.
"Absolutely it can be ready," Gorman said on Monday.
"That's a conversation with the board to have within the Sharks, but you own your own ground, it's rectangular, you're in the heartland of the participation base. I have no doubt if the board thought it was the appropriate thing to do, time wouldn't be a challenge.
"If it ever came to fruition, it would be naive of the Sharks not to look at that and the business model and to see whether they can make it work. When you look at the leverage that shared services could provide you, one brand is a very strong case for that sort of model."
Gorman's vision, which would be boosted by the club's property development, also includes the Wollongong region, and Gorman is adamant the Sharks would have to embrace the south coast in order to reach their potential as an A-League franchise.
It's understood the FFA are also keen to include the St George region in any potential expansion team involving the Sutherland Shire, which has long been regarded by Sydney FC as their backyard.
"The fundamental principle is to get the current 10 clubs strong, financially viable and sustainable, that's the FFA's focus right now and rightly so," Gorman said.
"But logically a third team in Sydney makes sense with our population base. If you're going to look at where that might be, there's only two possible corridors. There's the south-west of Sydney, and you have to have that debate over whether the Wanderers own that fertile ground or not. The other logical place is the Sutherland Shire with the largest registered player participation in the country, going down into the rich multicultural diversity of Wollongong.
"A perfect model for me would be the marriage of the rich history of football that both areas bring and the cultural diversity it brings, therefore you get the passion, pride, parochialism, love and respect for the game of football that just flows from that. I just see it as a logical extension. You need solid population bases to run professional sporting franchises. If you can broaden that population base under a brand, it makes a lot of sense."
Despite rejecting interest from the Penrith Panthers to purchase the Western Sydney Wanderers last year, Football Federation Australia chief executive David Gallop is open to interest from the Sharks given there are sporting organisations around the world that have enjoyed success with teams in multiple codes, like the Seattle Seahawks and Seattle Sounders in the NFL and MLS competitions.
"Expansion is not on our immediate agenda, but clearly we want to move to more than 10 teams," Gallop said.
"We will need to carefully consider not only the financial viability of any new franchise but the impact of that new franchise on the league as well as the existing clubs. The big metropolitan areas of Sydney and Melbourne currently have two clubs and whether a third club would work is something we will look at in great detail.
"It's too early to consider a joint venture with a club from another code but there are models around the world where it has worked."
Remondis Stadium, which is owned by the Sharks, is currently used about 12 times a season for NRL, costing the club $50,000 per match in maintenance and utilities, as well as another $70,000 in operational costs.
Gorman said it was important for the business to get the most out of the venue.
"If you own a venue today, you want content," Gorman said.
"You want other diverse revenue streams flowing around. You go to the greatest football clubs in the world, they've got hotels, retail and commercial, plus content. The venue the LA Galaxy use is used 275 times a year. To make stadiums viable, you always need content.
"We have seen a model with football and rugby league with the Hunter Sports Group. We probably learnt some positives and negatives with that we could do differently moving forward. With the learnings that are there, it will be interesting to hear the FFA's view on that over time."
