ARLC eyes $40m surplus to invest in game’s future

[miguel de cervantes]

The Brisbane Broncos and South Sydney are the only clubs that make profits, a situation Smith wants to change.

Well done Crowe and PHaC. What a turn-around.

It would be great to see Smith involved with Welsh Rugby League in the future. Who knows.

 

[Garbler]

Hadley: "Dunce"
Reality: Bloody legend.

Amazing work Smith.

 

[DC_fan]

very impressed with Smith

In the past week my rating of him has gone up from zero out of ten, to around 7.

 

[God-King Dean]

I was the first one who liked Dave Smith!

 

[Dogs Of War]

Ticketing assets is intriguing.

Is this to suggest that the game would take control of the sale of tickets?

That could be a very handsome way of reducing prices.

I have no qualms laying all my faith in D. Smith with ventures such as this.

Funny that. I just made a comment on another thread, where ticketek are charging $6 handling fee per ticket. The Bulldogs had a promotion for 1988 prices into the game, and were charging $10 for a GA ticket, mates went to buy it, but once they realised it was going to cost $16, they just decided it would be better to buy them at the gate, and make sure the weather was good.

It also might be one way of getting free public transport to games, if the NRL could spread the cost of that element around all the tickets and negotiate with each state govt to a fair price. It would also mean that people would commit to going to the game earlier cause they need to prepurchase a ticket to take advantage of the free transportation to the game.

 

[ek999]

Funny that. I just made a comment on another thread, where ticketek are charging $6 handling fee per ticket. The Bulldogs had a promotion for 1988 prices into the game, and were charging $10 for a GA ticket, mates went to buy it, but once they realised it was going to cost $16, they just decided it would be better to buy them at the gate, and make sure the weather was good.

It also might be one way of getting free public transport to games, if the NRL could spread the cost of that element around all the tickets and negotiate with each state govt to a fair price. It would also mean that people would commit to going to the game earlier cause they need to prepurchase a ticket to take advantage of the free transportation to the game.

The ticketek fee is a joke. Absolutely no way it costs them that much and then they chuck a credit card surcharge on top of that. I would absolutely love it if the NRL took charge of tickets.

Another thought I had was for the NRL to subsidise tickets to matches for the away teams members - maybe make them half price. Would be a great way to boost crowds, especially at local derbies in Sydney. It could make most matches a sellout and make people become members to go to the games

 

[Marshall_magic]

But but but but Smith lost a lot of money working for a financial institution in 2008.....

 

[hrundi99]

I doubt that tickets would get much cheaper - more likely the NRL get's a bigger cut. Still a good result.

 

[Garbler]

Taking control of the tickets would be a smart business decision - but is it possible?

What are the existing contractual agreements venues have with Ticketek?

 

[Perth Red]

out of left field, given they have stated recently about poor clubs getting more income than rich clubs maybe they will take all income from ticket sales across the comp and give it out to clubs like they do with SOO and finals tickets? They could then control cash flow to clubs and give more or less depending on circumstances. Takes away the incentive for clubs to draw on the gate crowds but would give the game much more control of prices and promotions. Kind of like the AFL's ticket levy but centrally controlled.

 

[Dogs Of War]

The ticketek fee is a joke. Absolutely no way it costs them that much and then they chuck a credit card surcharge on top of that. I would absolutely love it if the NRL took charge of tickets.

Another thought I had was for the NRL to subsidise tickets to matches for the away teams members - maybe make them half price. Would be a great way to boost crowds, especially at local derbies in Sydney. It could make most matches a sellout and make people become members to go to the games

I don't mind that, but maybe those discounts should only be available up to 24hrs before the game, thus you would need to prebuy the tickets. Something like 30-40% discount. I used to use the $8 entry for away members quite a lot when it was around.

 

[Stormwarrior]

Dave smith has singled out ticketing and stadium deals as possible financial moves in the coming years. With this in mind I wonder if the NRL will put a business proposal to the qld government about buying Suncorp stadium. The qld government is considering leasing management rights to all stadiums in qld. That being said, if D Smith can work his financial magic and put a proposal forward to Campbell Newman about buying the stadium we to could own a stadium in the not to distant nrl future. Thoughts??

 

[Dogs Of War]

Dave smith has singled out ticketing and stadium deals as possible financial moves in the coming years. With this in mind I wonder if the NRL will put a business proposal to the qld government about buying Suncorp stadium. The qld government is considering leasing management rights to all stadiums in qld. That being said, if D Smith can work his financial magic and put a proposal forward to Campbell Newman about buying the stadium we to could own a stadium in the not to distant nrl future. Thoughts??

Shouldn't we just pick up the management leases then, rather than spend all our money on buying the stadium. Make other users of the stadium pay our way.

 

[Canard]

Dave smith has singled out ticketing and stadium deals as possible financial moves in the coming years. With this in mind I wonder if the NRL will put a business proposal to the qld government about buying Suncorp stadium. The qld government is considering leasing management rights to all stadiums in qld. That being said, if D Smith can work his financial magic and put a proposal forward to Campbell Newman about buying the stadium we to could own a stadium in the not to distant nrl future. Thoughts??

What would it cost? Im guessing not much change out of $250 M if not more + ongoing maintenance costs.

Hard to see it being value for money at this point.

 

[Desert Qlder]

To me it seems more important to own a stadium in Sydney, which could have up to four teams using it for home games and of course finals.

But never again should clubs have to negotiate deals like we saw with the Gold Coast, and this is where the strength of the new administration should be utilised. For instance, if Townsville is granted a new stadium the NRL should look to invest heavily into its development so the Cowboys can benefit. Likewise with the mooted stadium in Canberra.

 

[Stormwarrior]

I'm not the greatest at linking news articles but its not hard to find stadium costs on the net. But picking up management rights might be the first step but I think ultimately it would be best to have a high quality stadium in qld and NSW that the NRL can call their own. The costs are quiet high and the fact that we could somehow use the 2nd brisbane team as a bargaining chip. The reason I brought this up was the fact that qld gov is willing to sell most things to balance there budget. Why should the NRL gain from that??

 

[Canard]

To me it seems more important to own a stadium in Sydney, which could have up to four teams using it for home games and of course finals.

But never again should clubs have to negotiate deals like we saw with the Gold Coast, and this is where the strength of the new administration should be utilised. For instance, if Townsville is granted a new stadium the NRL should look to invest heavily into its development so the Cowboys can benefit. Likewise with the mooted stadium in Canberra.

Agreed 100%, Joint Venture's are the more economically feasible option at the moment.

TBH though, I can't see any new Govt funded infrastructure for a least the term of Abbot's government and maybe even beyond (12 or so years)

 

[juro]

If the NRL were to buy Suncorp Stadium, they'd need to ensure a second Brisbane team to get more value out of it.

 

[Stormwarrior]

If the NRL were to buy Suncorp Stadium, they'd need to ensure a second Brisbane team to get more value out of it.

Exactly... There has to be a 2nd Brisbane team!

 

[Perth Red]

Going back to the op, so they are going to put aside $40mill a year for the next 5 years so that in 5 years time we have $200mill in the bank. Does this mean the money available for spending over the next 5 years is actually going to be zero or at best just the interest from the investment of this capital money?

I think it is a good idea that at the end of this TV deal we have $200mill in the bank and around $10mill a year for new initiatives etc from that nest egg earnings but people need to realise that the $200mill isn't for spending, its for investing.