Time to sell off the Parramatta Eels, urges business heavyweight Bill Moss
Date
June 23, 2015 - 10:00PM
Adrian Proszenko
Chief Rugby League Reporter
Former Macquarie Bank heavyhitter Bill Moss believes Parramatta must be privatised and is prepared to play a role in the process to prevent his beloved Eels from further inflicting more pain on long-suffering fans.
The Eels have lurched into yet another crisis, this time in the mishandling of Kieran Foran's contract, prompting fresh queries about the competence of those in charge. The club is a strong chance of earning its third wooden spoon in the space of four years despite consistently overspending its salary cap, which will result in a $525,000 fine and the prospect of starting 2016 four competition points in arrears. The latest dramas come on the back of yet another toxic election cycle which again put the club into the headlines for the wrong reasons.
Moss, a multi-millionaire businessman and lifelong Eels fan, believes the best way to bring business acumen to the dysfunctional club is to sell it off.
"I reckon it's time to privatise the Eels," Moss told Fairfax Media.
"The current model just doesn't work. For the fans' sake, it should be privatised. There are problems in the structure, problems in the management, problems in the way it is run. A private company would run this a lot more efficiently and streamlined.
"I'd encourage anyone out there who is interested in privatisation to start a dialogue because I believe it's time we took a serious look at privatising the Parramatta Eels.
"[The Foran contract] is bread and butter stuff that they can't manage right.
"The only way to get serious discussions about privatisation is to put it into play and who knows what will come out of it."
Moss has twice attempted to lend his own business expertise to Parramatta, only to be turned away. Initially, he was offered up to the board as an "independent" director, but the motion - which required 75 per cent of members to vote in favour of it - was shot down. He then attempted to bring the big end of town to the blue and golds via his 'Premiership Club' networking venture, but the bold project was also a casualty of club politics.
Moss was initially against selling off the club but is now convinced it's the only way to stop factionalism and mismanagement.
"You get to the point where you actually appoint people to run it as a business," Moss said.
"Parramatta's caught in the middle with people where there isn't a lot of business acumen there. You've got fans who are passionate, you've got ex-footballers - it's time for a professional management group to run this thing and look at how to access this incredible wealth that exists in Western Sydney for business potential.
"Who would have thought, if you roll back a few years, that the family that owns Presto Foods would have bought the Wanderers? They need passionate people who have got money and want to be involved in the privatisation. They can get together, talk about it with the NRL and put a proposal forward for the future. That's what the fans deserve, they really do.
"It would be nice to see Parramatta win a premiership before I die."
Asked if he was the potential white knight the Eels needed, Moss said: "I would be happy to try and help facilitate [privatisation] because it's in the interests of the team.
"I couldn't do it on my own but I would be happy to be part of a syndicate and would be prepared to work with other people to get good outcomes.
"There are endless opportunities here that no one has explored because there is no discussion. I'd love to see a discussion for 12 months on how you privatise the Eels. It's about looking at how you unlock the value in Sydney to get a team to win the competition."
