www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/leag ... -kunn.html looks like they do lose $6 million pa. i thought the move to the new ground would be breakeven. after that its still $3 million pa and people want a club in perth. yeah these 2 clubs will bankrupt the game when funds are tight i cant wait to see AFL losing $100 million on its teams in the gold coast and western sydney

www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/leag ... -kunn.html looks like they do lose $6 million pa. i thought the move to the new ground would be breakeven. after that its still $3 million pa and people want a club in perth. yeah these 2 clubs will bankrupt the game when funds are tight i cant wait to see AFL losing $100 million on its teams in the gold coast and western sydney

The thing you fail to grasp, what a surprise!, is that the Storm spend an alleged $21mill a year, more than $6mill more than alot of skint Sydney NRL clubs. They could simply reduce their expenditure back to the level of the majority and cover most of those losses. Alot of News panic re ownership of the Storm is News Ltd guaranteed the Storm playing in the new stadium for x number of years to the Vic Govt. They can't walk away without that guarantee being met.

You also fail to comprehened that the tens of millions AFL have "invested" in Q'land and NSW so far is why they p155 all over us when it comes to media and sponsorship deals. Keep it a suburban Sydney comp and see where it gets us.

there was a story in the SMH today about how the sydney swans failed to sign a single junior in the draft from nsw and how previous nsw juniors failed to make the grade.

it made my day laughing at that and thinking of all the millions AFL is wasting in our territory.

they get more AFL players from ireland than genuine nsw juniors

if the NRL invested in Perth a fraction of what the AFL do in Sydney we would have a WA rep team by now!

you aussies are strange. Aussie rules just looks like me when I was a kid kicking a ball with me dad, it's well boring

It's been likened to Seagulls chasing a chip!

Been to a few derby games but spent more time at the bar than in my seat. Each to their own i guess. Having said that what it lacks on the pitch they more than make up for off it with teams and the league run in a way that RL could only dream about.

Can't see Storm breaking even by then TBH.

Yet for 2010 they join us in the NSW Cup and have a reserve grade side playing out of Melbourne. Where's that money from?

AS I said they have an alleged operating budget of $21mill. They have some of the biggest sponsorship deals in the country and are recognised as providing the best media value for money of any club in any sport in Australia. They have plenty of money, but they also spend alot.

News have been happy to cover any difference between income and expenditure as they know the value of a succesful Vic team (and it also gives them some justification for taking the $8mill grant from the NRL). It's like saying Penrith lose $4mill a year as that is what they require from the Leagues club operation to keep going or Roosters, Manly , Sth's etc as they all require extra funding from sugar daddies to keep them alive.

and when news ltd leave the game whose gonna cover those losses ?

Quick quetion, why do they lose SO much money? are their crowds THAT bad?

no idea why they lose so much

crowds at 14,000 are slightly below average but in a poor ground not bad

perhaps the storms cost are higher for travel, junior set up costs etc?

JB is right that many other clubs lose $3 - 4 million a year but they have rich Leagues Clubs behind them propping them up

Don't the leagues clubs give the money in advance? So if they've lost $3-4m that's inclusive of what clubs have given them? Can someone clarify?

I read that once but I think it was highlighting that they lost the money without input from the gambling addicts.
If a RL club wanted to make a fortune in this country buy their local Gala bingo (also makes a fortune with slot machines). My mate was the manager there in Warrington not so long ago and the amounts turned over a night were staggering! Huuuge place that serves food, alcohol and the top prize in a night is about £130,000 (rarely won though although it went twice last week, saw people piling out of there with champaigne).
The travel thing was a good point actually Dally, didn't think about that.
We'll see how they go this year but teams can't go on losing like that, if that was SL they'd be bust

They don't lose anything, they operate on a budget that they have. A part of that income is currently made up from their owners financial support. What we will see when News leave is that slice of income disappear. One of two things will happen, A) They will cut their spending accordingly and be dragged back to the pack or B) They will increase income in other areas and stay as the top club in the NRL.

You have to remember that 1. They have no FTA coverage in their home state and that has to impact on corporate support and 2. They have been playing in a woefully inadequate stadium. 2. is certainly about to change and will see more fans and mores corporates attending games and hopefully one day the NRL will grow some and sort out the FTA issue.