Western Force could become a fan-owned side after the Australian Rugby Union’s $800,000 buy-out of the club’s Super Rugby licence.
The deal digs the Force out of a financial hole but leaves them in control for the next 10 years with an option to buy back the licence. The financial issues put ownership back on the agenda after it was first discussed by the Force board 18 months ago.
A supporter buy-in is a favoured option.
Force chief executive Mark Sinderberry admitted the club might not have survived without the cash injection.
“We went to the ARU and said ‘we’ve got an issue here’. We discussed a number of options, they came back with this option, we took it,” he said.
“Without it we would have had to make drastic cuts to survive but we were adamant we wanted to protect the rugby program.”
The $800,000 covers losses made in the second half of last year.
“We knew what was coming but it got a whole lot worse very quickly,” Sinderberry said.
“The problem was exacerbated by a declining economy as our traditional supporters, the mining industry, came under pressure and because of the team’s decline in performance.
“We’ve still got historic problems, an accumulation of debts, that are hurting us. That will take another year to get ourselves back on track.”
Sinderberry does not like sole ownership, having seen it first hand as chief executive of English club Saracens when the club was bought by a South African investment group.
“We’ll start looking at it seriously again this year, but it won’t be about one person,” he said.
“I’m a fan of multi-ownership. There are models where lots of people own the club, where membership can expand into ownership. Ownership for rights is the debate we need to have.”
The ARU already owns the Rebels’ intellectual property and have offered to buy the rights to the other Australian clubs. The Brumbies and Reds are considering the option.
The buyouts are not comparable to the millions of dollars spent by the ARU bailing out the Rebels, Reds and Waratahs in previous years.
