Parramatta Eels' major financial backer sticks by club as NT government floats more Darwin games
Date
July 3, 2016 - 8:00PM
Adam Pengilly
Sports reporter
The Parramatta Eels' major financial backer won't walk away from the strife-torn club, with the Northern Territory government trying to lure a second NRL match to Darwin next season when the Pirtek Stadium rebuild begins.
At the end of a week in which star winger Semi Radradra was charged with domestic violence offences and marquee man Kieran Foran was stripped of the captaincy and handed a breach notice over missing rehabilitation sessions for his injured shoulder, Northern Territory chief minister Adam Giles has reaffirmed the government's commitment to the bumbling Eels.
Parramatta's four-year pledge to play one competition fixture in the Top End is due to expire next year. The deal is worth $4 million to the Eels and Giles threatened to rip it up last year over the club's ham-fisted governance, hinting taxpayer money might be better spent elsewhere.
But, speaking to Fairfax Media, Giles confirmed his government would continue to throw its support behind the Eels and was in negotiations to prolong the agreement past 2017.
"We want it to be a long-term relationship and not just a flash in the pan," Giles said. "While there might be some off-field dramas ... from a tourism point of view we see Parramatta as having a big marketing brand and we want it to be a long-term relationship.
"It's up to us to be able to work with Parramatta. From our point of view, it's the third largest economy in Australia that being western Sydney and if we can continue to work there from a marketing point of view, it helps us out through our tourism. We're in negotiations to extend [the deal]."
It will be music to the ears of Eels fans, who can ill afford their club to lose any sponsorship amid a season of turmoil punctuated by the salary cap scandal.
The $300 million Pirtek Stadium makeover, which will provide greater capacity for major tenants the Eels and A-League's Western Sydney Wanderers, will begin in January and is slated for completion in early 2019.
The Northern Territory government's pitch will include a suggestion that the Eels, who are expected to play the majority of their home games at Homebush while away from their traditional base, to take an extra game on the road from next year.
"There's the chance with the redevelopment of Parramatta Stadium for us to try to bring a second game [to the Northern Territory] while that is occurring," Giles said. "It's a pretty good supporter base up here and everyone enjoys it when the Eels are in Darwin."
The Darwin visits have not only been lucrative for the Eels off the field they have won all three matches they have taken interstate despite grappling with the scorching mid-winter temperatures.
