Panthers City: A five-star hotel, aqua golf and 900 apartments - take a look inside the Penrith empire
The Penrith Panthers are a juggernaut on the field and a powerhouse off of it, FATIMA KDOUH reveals the deals that have secured the club’s financial future.
Fatima Kdouh
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Fatima Kdouh takes us inside the Penrith Panther's $400 Million Empire.
The Panthers are building a $400 million empire to match their on-field exploits, creating their own city in the heart of Penrith to cement themselves as an NRL powerhouse.
The vision for a ‘Panthers city’ is well and truly in motion.
On a site that stretches over 60 hectares and snakes along Mulgoa and Jamison road in Penrith is ‘The Precinct’.
It’s the jewel in the Panthers’ burgeoning asset portfolio which is home to Penrith’s first five-star hotel, a state-of-the-art conference centre, an aged care facility, a sprawling leagues club and the NRL side’s centre of excellence.
But Panthers Group CEO Brian Fletcher doesn’t just want Sydney’s west to come play at The Precinct, he wants them to stay.
It’s the reason the Panthers are working with a developer to build 860 apartments on the site where they also lease land to fast food restaurants and have a money spinning aqua golf business and a wakeboarding and aqua park.
Already, the Panthers have made a windfall on the development of the new apartments. From each apartment built, the Panthers will receive $20,000.
“The aim when I started back in 2016 was to build a city around the club, if we could do that it would future proof the business,” Fletcher said.
“We’re building 860 apartments with the idea that you get a couple of thousand people right at our front door.
“The population is increasing steadily. There are a lot of new hotels, breweries. It’s a really go-ahead sort of city.
“With the new airport opening in 2026 that’s only going to create even more opportunities for the Panthers and the area.”
The Panthers have developed a mini-city in the west.
THE PRECINCT
Fletcher wants to be at the forefront of that growth in Sydney’s west.
It’s why they spent $121 million to build the 153-room Pullman, Penrith’s first luxury hotel, and the 1000-seat Western Sydney Conference Centre.
Last year, The Precinct generated around $22 million in after-tax earnings – excluding football operations.
Operating at full capacity, the hotel and conference centre are expected to add $10 million a year to the coffers by 2027.
Aqua golf has turned into a revenue bonanza after Fletcher has the nous to take over the lease of the unassuming business.
Panthers CEO Brian Fletcher chatting to staff at the Aqua Golf driving range. Picture: Max Mason-Hubers
“It’s a marvellous business, we make around $1.2 million a year out of that,” Fletcher said.
“When I first started I would walk past the aqua golf. I was multiplying the bays in my head and I thought ‘we should be getting around $1-2 million per year depending on the lease agreement’, but it had expired. Now we own the lease and make a great return on it.”
The Royce, an aged care facility named after club legend Royce Simmons and owned by Tulich, also operates from the site. It boasts 151 senior living apartments and 128 fully serviced rooms.
Debt levels have risen while they expand but Fletcher is confident of paying down the liabilities within the next 10 years.
“We do have $100 million in debt now but we’ll have in excess of $300 million net assets once we revalue the new property,” he said.
“We are asset rich.”
A display of the club’s three 2021-2023 NRL premiership trophies in the club foyer. Picture: Max Mason-Hubers
FOOTBALL OPERATIONS
Between 2011 and 2019, the football club lost $50 million and made just one preliminary final. But since winning three straight premierships, it is now $30 million in the black.
CEO of football Matt Cameron said it was driven not only by on-field success, but community buy-in.
Corporate boxes at the stadium are sold out for next season and they’ve already reached 90 per cent of their 2024 membership goal.
“We aim to be a source of community pride and we really feel like the community is coming on this journey with us,” Cameron said.
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TOP FOUR OR BUST
Cameron knows Penrith’s NRL exploits will keep the football club in the black and strengthen the entire organisation.
“We’ve got to stay in the top four, that’s the sweet spot,” Cameron said.
“It will get harder and harder to win competitions every year no doubt for the next 10 years, but the financial model works if you can be a top-four team.”
The Minns government, in August, scrapped $300 million plans for a new stadium. Instead the Panthers will do a $300 million refurbishment on the existing BluetBet Stadium, with the western stand to be rebuilt and the eastern stand to be upgraded.
It’s expected to increase the capacity by 2500 seats to 25,000 when it reopens in 2026.
The Panthers are attempting to wean themselves off of gaming revenue. Picture: Max Mason-Hubers
GAMING AND HEADWINDS
Diversification is the buzzword in league circles as clubs try to reduce their reliance on gaming revenue.
The Roosters recently unveiled the Waverley Bowling Club redevelopment, which included 55 luxury apartments, as clubs scour to find similar business opportunities.
Fletcher said gaming revenue for 2023 was tracking to be around 10 per cent lower than last year, when it generated around $65 million.
“We’re only 40 per cent reliant on gaming at the moment, and we are hoping to be even less reliant in the coming years,” Fletcher said.
The recently completed Pullman hotel. Picture: Max Mason-Hubers
FROM UNTOUCHABLE TO BLUE CHIP
Penrith will field their richest ever jersey next season, thanks to a three-year front of jersey sponsorship with MyPlace, which will include supporting a women’s NRLW program as the Panthers aspire to a 2026 licence.
The club is looking to build a women’s facility next to their existing $22 million centre of excellence.
For head of commercial partnerships Jeremy Tuite, it’s a far cry from the days when major commercial partners weren’t willing to come to the table when the side was struggling on the field.
“Oak and Hertz started supporting us at a time when the club was at the other end of the table. It helped us out of a really bad time. So there is a lot of loyalty on our end,” Tuite said.
THE PANTHERS GROUP
Penrith also operates licensed clubs in Port Macquarie, Bathurst, North Richmond and Glenbrook, which along with Panthers generated around $143 million in revenue in the last financial year.
Fletcher revealed the Panthers were “looking to expand precincts” in Port Macquarie, where a fully serviced aged care facility is planned, and in Bathurst with a new hotel.
