http://www.couriermail.com.au/sport...e/news-story/99686ae36ed3d4edc689d267273430cb
Gold Coast Titans seek discount on Cbus Super Stadium deal to keep ground as home venue
TRAVIS MEYN, The Courier-Mail
April 26, 2018 5:50pm
THE Titans are chasing a $40,000 stadium discount in the hope of avoiding homelessness beyond Friday night.
The Gold Coast’s controversial contract to rent Cbus Super Stadium expires after Friday’s NRL clash against Cronulla.
The Queensland Government announced a review into its stadium operations on Sunday, but that is not expected to be completed until late in the year.
The Titans currently fork out about $1.3 million a year – at around $110,000 per game – to rent the 27,500-seat stadium at Robina.
The deal is worth nearly $500,000-a-year more than Newcastle’s arrangement to hire McDonald Jones Stadium.
The Titans privately believe Newcastle is a similar comparison and are hopeful of securing a long-term arrangement that will reduce their hiring costs by about $40,000-a-game.
Speaking publicly for the first time about the stadium drama, Titans co-owner Rebecca Frizelle said the club needed certainty.
“We are working with the Queensland Government to resolve the stadium issues,” she said.
“We are confident we will reach a resolution.
“We welcome the review for a long-term solution, however we still require an immediate short-term solution.”
After the Cronulla clash, the Titans have three weeks to nut out a new short-term deal with Stadiums Queensland before their next home game against Newcastle on May 19.
Given the lengthy review, a long-term arrangement is unlikely to be struck before season’s end.
The Titans have been signing two and three-game deals as they continue to push for a better deal.
The Gold Coast had a home attendance average of 13,688 last year, the ninth best figure in the NRL.
However their stadium hiring fees are among the highest in the game, although they have dropped significantly from the $220,000-a-game the club paid before it crumbled in 2015 and was taken over by the NRL.
With Frizelle and husband Brett along with Darryl and Jo Kelly assuming ownership of the club, the Titans are chasing a better deal to ensure they can invest into their football department instead of losing heavily on stadium costs.
The Titans only stand to make a profit from two games a year when they host the popular Broncos and Warriors.
Titans CEO Graham Annesley said the club was in discussions with government to ensure they could strike a new deal before the Knights game.
“We’re continuing to negotiate with the government,” he said.
“We’re hopeful of an outcome that will allow us to enter into a long-term agreement rather than these short-term agreements we’ve been entering into for the last three-and-a-half years.”
In 2015, the Titans threatened to take a home game against Brisbane to ANZ Stadium, only to reach an agreement a few days before the match.
