What's new
The Front Row Forums

Register a free account today to become a member of the world's largest Rugby League discussion forum! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

CEO

KiamaSaint

Coach
Messages
17,455
Inside the massive St George Illawarra shake-up with the Dragons to have new owner, new chief and new chairman
MICHAEL CARAYANNIS, EXCLUSIVE, The Daily Telegraph
13 minutes ago

Subscriber only


ST George Illawarra will usher in a new dawn with the club to undergo the biggest shake-up in its two decade history this week.

The Daily Telegraph can reveal that the protracted negotiations between the Dragons and WIN are over with the media giant agreeing to take a 50 per cent stake in St George Illawarra.

The club will also have a new chief executive and chairman in one of the most dramatic revamps of any club in rugby league history.

WANT TO WIN 2018 NRL TELSTRA PREMIERSHIP GRAND FINAL TICKETS? FILL OUT THE SURVEY BELOW FOR YOUR CHANCE TO WIN!

Love rugby league? Make your voice heard

Former St George player and ex-chief executive Brian Johnston will return to the position to replace outgoing club boss Peter Doust at the end of the season. Andrew Gordon will also be part of the sweeping changes with the son of WIN owner Bruce stepping up to become the club’s chairman.

The changes are expected to be announced as early as this week.

But the most significant facelift is WIN assuming 50 per cent ownership in the joint-venture after taking on the Steelers’ share.

e5693af4584d92113f0f9f565891f24a

The Dragons have entered a bold new era. Photo by Jenny Evans/Getty Images.
WIN’s first task was paying off the $6 million debt the Dragons owed the NRL. It is understood representatives from the Dragons and WIN went to NRL headquarters late last week and met with league bosses to finalise the deal where the club paid off the multimillion-dollar debt the Dragons had to the governing body.

BANG: Prince of Belmore sinks Warriors

UPSET: Raiders win a close one … seriously

The Dragons also owe less than $700,000 to a private benefactor.

WIN will nominate three board members while St George will provide three of their own.

Illawarra will nominate one board member but they would become a “Class B shareholder” and not have full voting rights.

WIN have appointed Andrew Gordon as chairman, replacing Johnston, who keeps his spot on the board. The chairman will not have a casting vote.

a675171e6c4cf32ba5c6ba720fe5ee04

Andrew Gordon (left) has been appointed as chairman.
The Dragons name, logo and colours are protected with a unanimous vote needed to change any part of the club’s identity. Matches will continued to be split between the club’s Kogarah and Wollongong bases.

Despite WIN Corporation publicly distancing themselves from purchasing the club in April, prolonged negotiations were still occurring behind the scenes.

Discussions have been going on between the two parties since 2015 with negotiations so developed — that an in-principal agreement had occurred as far back as May 2016.

69d57fed6e58c387dd352217c11574c9

It’s a massive overhaul for the Dragons. Photo by Jenny Evans/Getty Images.
There was a push from those within the St George side of the joint-venture to have the debt paid off by the St George Leagues Club. This was met with resistance from the Illawarra faction and could have led to the St George Dragons taking 100 per cent control of the joint-venture, as the Steelers would not have been able to maintain their financial side of the agreement.

Instead, WIN’s involvement will ensure Illawarra’s interest remain.

Johnston will step back into the chief executive role he last held in 2000, having been the inaugural boss of the joint-venture before he stepped away due to ill health as Doust replaced him.

The former Kangaroo has since forged a successful business career. He was chief executive of Office National before working in a number of senior roles within Suncorp Group.

More recently, he has been a business consultant for IAG.

Johnston has had a decorated relationship with the Dragons first as a player before becoming an established administrator. He scored 61 tries from 167 matches while he also represented NSW and Australia.

Doust will leave the club in October.
 

getsmarty

Immortal
Messages
33,485
WIN strikes St George Illawarra Dragons’ NRL ownership deal
  • Dragons Den
    r0_149_2575_1597_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg

    New model: St George Illawarra have finalised their ownership structure. Picture: NRL Photos

  • WIN Corporation and its multi-millionaire owner Bruce Gordon have finally struck a deal that will partially privatise the Dragons, just months after the television network walked away from negotiations to buy a stake in the club.

    Fairfax Media understands more than two years of on-again, off-again talks between St George Illawarra and the media company have finally reached an agreement, with the Dragons expected to confirm their new ownership structure on the eve of the finals series.

    It's believed an announcement could come as early as this week.

    Under the deal, it is believed the Dragons' multimillion-dollar loan sourced from the NRL will be repaid and their home-game allocation, with matches at Kogarah and Wollongong, will remain largely intact.

    And the sale will conclude one of the last points of business for retiring chief executive Peter Doust, the longest-serving NRL club boss, who has been in charge of the Dragons for 18 years. He will step down at the end of the season.

    The WIN sale will also cap one of the most tumultuous periods in the joint-venture's history after the Dragons first floated the idea of privatising the Illawarra Steelers' equity in the club in late 2014.

    WIN Corporation was always the preferred option, given its Wollongong headquarters and long-standing ties with both the Dragons and Steelers.

    But the company told St George Illawarra officials it was no longer interested in assuming a 50 per cent stake in the club back in April, casting doubt over the Dragons' ability to find a suitable buyer before the end of 2018.

    The Dragons were unbeaten ladder leaders at the time and had just been installed as premiership favourites with bookmakers.

    WIN had insisted it would maintain a commercial relationship with St George Illawarra and remain a sponsor of the club, but its reluctance to progress with ownership talks was thought to be a big blow to the Dragons.

    Gordon and his son Andrew, a St George Illawarra director, briefly considered launching a fresh bid independently of WIN Corporation to assume the Steelers' share in St George Illawarra as other interested purchasers circled. But later, under the guise of WIN Corporation, they quietly returned to the negotiating table in the hope of snapping up an interest in one of the NRL's most recognisable franchises.

    Private investment in NRL clubs has become a much more attractive option under a funding agreement that sees clubs paid $3 million above the salary cap for the length of the existing broadcast cycle.

    Football department spending has also been capped, putting an end to the arm's race in which clubs felt compelled to spend freely to remain competitive with their cashed-up rivals.

    The issue of private ownership has been a hot one for the NRL in the past year after deals were struck to take Newcastle and Gold Coast off the market while a raft of buyers were earlier this year being mobilised to take the Sea Eagles off the hands of the Penn family.

    The Dragons are guaranteed to be featuring in just their second finals series in the past seven years after a morale-boosting win over the Tigers at Leichhardt Oval on Saturday night, which powered them back into fourth spot.
https://www.illawarramercury.com.au...illawarra-dragons-nrl-ownership-deal/?cs=3713
 

Dragonslayer

First Grade
Messages
7,678
So:
WIN elect 3 members to the board
STG elect 3 members to the board
ILL no longer have representation only one "b" membership without voting rights.
Chairman A.Gordon has no voting rights.

This may turn out to be very advantageous to STG as I feel the 3 WIN board members will naturally look to recoup the investment as fast as possible. So underperformance which would have an impact on memberships, merchandise and gate takings may force some action to enact change.

I think BJ is a safe choice and his hands were tied as chairman. Hopefully now he can make changes without the shackles of chairmanship.

Also, with the debt paid to the NRL, we hopefully will never have to venture to that toilet for a home game ever again. Games, like this year, split between Kogarah and Wollongong is fine by me. We are 9/2 for home wins this year, that is evidence enough for me.

Jobs for the boys but not the worst result, remember McDonald was once the favoured candidate and that would have been a disaster.

Time will tell though, but as long as our heritage, name, colours and logo are protected, that is the paramount importance to me.

I expect McGregor will see out his contract, unless something drastic happens, but playing finals football this year, has saved his bacon, if only for a short time. The financial gain for the club is enormous for playing finals, and finishing 4th gives 2 bites at the gate receipts. However, next year is a totally different prospect and I'm very confident, the "Sack McGregor" thread will see its final year.
 

Frank Facer

First Grade
Messages
5,069
Is WIN/Gordon buying Illawarra's share of "the joint venture" going to improve our financial situation and our ability to compete with the big name clubs for the best players and is it going to make any difference to our ability to provide 3rd party payments?

If I was buying our club, the first thing I would want to make sure of is that we can provide the most 3rd party deals in the comp.
 

Frank Facer

First Grade
Messages
5,069
I like the idea of Brian Johnston taking over as CEO. He is an old Saints boy. He also has experience in the position. Lets hope that he can improve things and get our 3rd party payments up there with the likes of Easts and Brisbane.
 

getsmarty

Immortal
Messages
33,485
WIN Corporation agrees deal to buy stake in St George Illawarra Dragons
  • Dragon's Den
    r0_530_5184_3456_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg

    Faithful: St George-based Dragons fans can expect games to continue to be played at Jubilee Oval, Kogarah despite the deal with WIN Corporation. Picture: Chris Lane

  • The name St George, the famous red V and games at Kogarah are expected to be protected after WIN Corporation finally struck a deal to partially privatise the St George Illawarra Dragons.

    It is believed an official announcement could come as early as this week to confirm the deal just months after the television network walked away from negotiations to buy a stake in the club.

    Fairfax Media have reported the Dragons’ multimillion-dollar loan sourced from the NRL will be repaid and their home game allocation, with matches at Kogarah and Wollongong, will remain largely intact.

    The move will end years of speculation about the future of the Dragons, who will now be able to compete financially with rival NRL clubs.

    WIN have taken the Steelers’ 50 per cent share in the Dragons, according to a News Corp report, with former chief executive Brian Johnston to return to the role as Peter Doust’s replacement.

    Doust, the NRL’s longest-serving CEO, has been in charge of the Dragons for 18 years but will retire at the end of the season.

    Andrew Gordon, son of WIN’s multi-millionaire owner Bruce Gordon, has been appointed chairman according to the report while coach Paul McGregor is understood to enjoy support from the new Dragons’ ownership group.

    On the field, the Dragons will play in just their second NRL finals series in the last seven years next month.

    With two winnable regular season matches remaining, St George Illawarra are expected to hang on to a top four finish.

    The Dragons are fourth on for and against, just in front of Penrith and local rivals Cronulla.

    After a blockbuster clash with local rivals Canterbury at Jubilee Oval, Kogarah on Sunday, the Dragons head to Newcastle to take on the Knights in the final round of the season on September 1.

    St George Illawarra snapped a three-game losing streak on Saturday night, with the undermanned Dragons scoring a vital 20-10 victory over the Wests Tigers at Leichhardt Oval to see them take advantage of the Panthers’ slip up against the Knights.

https://www.theleader.com.au/story/5595914/win-agrees-deal-to-buy-stake-in-dragons/?cs=3833
 

Latest posts

Top