There are a number of things written above that are incorrect. I am not oprimistic about Panthers being in a position to finds its way back. For a number of reasons.
From the above commenst:
* The Royce: Was meant to be a 50:50 joint venture but a minor issue during excavation saw Panthers share bought out by the other partner for a paltry fee. No Future Income from this. Asset gone
* The ESQ Development: the parcel of land owned by Panthers was sold for an amount that a good - great - deal for the buyer. Asset gone. Rental from the commercial components of the development were meant to be returned to Panthers, givining Panthers around $1m per year in rental revenue. This is either in jeopardy or already lost because Panthers failed to take action.
* The Hotel does not belong to Panthers, No rent there.
* The most valuable assets have already been sold.
When it comes time to re-open the doors, frevenues will be difficult to recover for the following reasons:
They just sacked the only senior manager there who knows anything about club operations, gaming or marketing.
The development at the front has caused much of the front carpark to be closed and the tiered carpark is hated by a large number of members - this alone has been causing signiifcant downturn in trade. Added to the damage that has been done to trade over the last 10 yearr and the changing demographic.
On that development. The feasibility study for it showed the returns do not justify the spend. They are continuing despite the increase in debt of about $80m.
There are a litany of things they have done over the past 10 years that have placed Panthers in a far worse position to recover fronm this crisis than many other places - and certainly all others club competitors that don;t have a footy team to support.
My guess is they will now try selling off the Port Macqaurie venue and maybe the other sites as well. They may get $30m from such a sale - I doubt it will be enough.
It was time for a reality check some time ago - I just hope it is not too late.
