News Bulldogs to lose $500,000 in Thursday night's first NRL lockout

jof

Kennel Enthusiast
Joined
Jul 27, 2011
Messages
2,509
Reaction score
8,032
Canterbury are bracing for a whopping $500,000 loss on Thursday night as they become the first club to host an NRL game behind closed doors.

The Bulldogs were expecting about 10,000 fans for the ANZ Stadium clash against North Queensland but now face paying a hefty hiring fee of the Sydney Olympic Park venue with no way of recouping their money.

It has been a horror period for the Bulldogs, who are still reeling from a Port Macquarie sex scandal involving star forward Corey Harawira-Naera and winger Jayden Okunbor. The pair will learn their fate this week. Should they escape being deregistered by the NRL, The Sun-Herald understands they will spend a minimum 10 weeks on the sidelines.

Hill said the Bulldogs had been locked in meetings most of Saturday in a bid to get a clearer picture of the financial ramifications of the coronavirus pandemic.

"There is the potential to lose hundreds of thousands of dollars this Thursday alone based on gate receipts, hospitality, corporates,'' Hill said. "We've got the same expenditure, but we now have no revenue. That's what we're looking at. We still have to hire a ground and put a game on.

"I've spoken with stadium management and we've confirmed we'll definitely play there on Thursday night behind closed doors. But we need to work with the NRL and government to better understand that 500 number [the federal government guideline for public gatherings]. At this stage we're not sure who makes up that number, and does it include the players and logistical staff?"

Hill said if fans were frozen out of stadiums, he hoped broadcast numbers would improve, which would help clubs retain key sponsors. Canterbury, however, lost a $2 million front-of-jersey sponsor because of the Port Macquarie scandal.

If the fan lockout continued for months and possibly the season, Hill was unsure what would happen with refunding club memberships, "which is a scary thought".

The Bulldogs have about 15,000 members with a full refund expected to cost the club more than $2 million.

Hill confirmed the Canterbury board would meet before Tuesday to discuss the possible penalties for Harawira-Naera and Okunbor. While the NRL will make the ultimate decision, the Bulldogs can put forward their own recommendations.

The possible sacking of the pair is a bitter blow for coach Dean Pay, who needs results to earn a new deal beyond this season. One person who supports Pay is his good mate and Canberra counterpart Ricky Stuart.

It can be revealed the Dogs made initial inquiries on Saturday about signing former Canberra winger Jordan Rapana, who is keen on a return after coronavirus suspended the Japanese rugby competition.

Stuart, who played alongside Pay and employed him as an assistant at the Raiders, went in to bat for the third-year NRL head coach.

"I spoke to Dean during the week and I've never heard him as down as he was," Stuart said.

"He has wonderful moral values, as we've seen this week. That's what you want from your leader.

"You only have to see the way they finished last season, and what was a disruptive week this week and the way they came out and played for him against a red-hot Parramatta team.

"I've been very fortunate at Canberra because my board have given me the opportunity and time to create stability and build a competitive football team. That doesn't happen in two or three years.

"I always told our members it would hurt to start with but if we can't be patient things will never get fixed."

Rapana was linked with a return to the Raiders, but they have little room in their cap and the Bulldogs planned to reach out to the winger's management. The Kiwi flyer would be a logical wing replacement for Okunbor if he is sacked.

No rival club will be able to sign Harawira-Naera or Okunbor for this season if the NRL deregisters him.

https://www.smh.com.au/sport/nrl/bu...ight-s-first-nrl-lockout-20200314-p54a16.html
 

CrittaMagic69

Kennel Immortal
Premium Member
Gilded
SC H2H Champion
2 x SC Draft Champ
Joined
Nov 15, 2013
Messages
72,507
Reaction score
77,758
Nobody is playing footy next week lol
 

Moedogg

Kennel Legend
Joined
Apr 6, 2012
Messages
13,498
Reaction score
20,308
It's always the Bulldogs that get punished first....
 

CrittaMagic69

Kennel Immortal
Premium Member
Gilded
SC H2H Champion
2 x SC Draft Champ
Joined
Nov 15, 2013
Messages
72,507
Reaction score
77,758
BTW Rapana would be a nice signing if we were actually playing but I mentioned it on here previously so they probably just made it up like me lol
 

flamebouyant

Kennel Legend
Joined
Sep 27, 2016
Messages
10,032
Reaction score
14,767
This shot is getting out of control. Dont get me wrong, its the right decision to lock fans out and prevent the spread of coronavirus, but the financial ramifications can not possibly be absorbed by the clubs. Most clubs will not be able to support themselves without the gate takings. So how do you deal with it? Suspend the season? I sure as hell fucking hope not. But it has just been said the Jacinta Ardern has just come out and said that people returning to or arriv8ng in NZ will be quarantined for 24 days. Where does this leave the warriors?? They are in Newcastle right now. No team will be able to travel there to play either. This will become a total shit show, and May well result in a suspended season.
 

jof

Kennel Enthusiast
Joined
Jul 27, 2011
Messages
2,509
Reaction score
8,032
Related article about possible player payment scenarios:

NRL stars lose millions in coronavirus act of god clause: report

NRL players are facing the prospect of losing millions should the 2020 season continue to be played behind closed doors in response to the coronavirus.

With all 16 clubs facing shortfalls of millions following the NRL’s decision to play all matches after the conclusion of round one behind closed doors, reports emerged on Saturday that some of the costs will be passed onto the players.

The Australian’s Brent Read told Triple M NRL on Saturday the NRL and its clubs have a provision in the Collective Bargaining agreement that will allow them to slash and suspend payments to players in the event of a financial catastrophe on the game.

The clause, known as an “act of god” clause would give the clubs and NRL officials power to renegotiate the 2020 salary cap and slash payments.

Read reported the clause can be triggered by several financial milestones, including the NRL losing revenues of $10 million or more in any one year.

He said the potential hit to the players’ hip pockets is not even the game’s greatest concern at this point.

The entire season would be in jeopardy should any player contract the virus.

“The minute a player gets it… that’s the great fear for the game, that a player gets it because the financial damage would be immeasurable,” Read told Triple M.

“It would destroy clubs. That’s the thing we all live in fear of. The reason they’re talking about taking all the teams and players to one place is that not only would you reduce the travel, but all the players would be together and you could cocoon them in a way. That would help protect them from the virus as well.

“There’s actually a clause in the agreement that was struck with the players a couple of years ago that in the event that the game suffers a big financial catastrophe they can renegotiate the salary cap. So it could be that the players will have to wear some of this as well.

“They’re using the CBA, that’s in the CBA. It’s called an ‘Act of God’ clause. It may get to the point that the players have to wear some of it and the salary cap gets slightly reduced.”

The report estimated NRL clubs will lose up to $20 million if all matches are played behind closed doors for four rounds.

NBA stars are also facing a “doomsday” scenario, according to ESPN, with a similar clause allowing teams to cut players’ salaries by a percentage, should the suspended season continue to hit the game in the hip pocket.

According to the report NBA teams can slash the $US110 million salary cap and suspend payments to players.

Meanwhile, Canberra chief executive Don Furner fears for the financial future of NRL clubs, who will face a million dollar hit if the crowd shut-out due to the coronavirus crisis stretches beyond a few weeks.

The Raiders drew more than 10,000 to their round one clash with Gold Coast, which is the last open to Canberra fans for the foreseeable future due to the global pandemic.

But Furner said it had already affected their bottom line, with far worse to come.

“That (round one match) would have hurt us financially because we were tracking for 15,000 with our pre-sales,” he said.

“If we were having a home ground next week with zero crowd that’s a massive drop.

“We’ve got the Dragons in two weeks and that’s a really big draw for us so it’s going to be financially troubling.” He said with no ticket sales, refunds to season ticket-holders and corporate hospitality, they will be in the red up to $400,000 a game.

“If we have no crowds for one game, no crowds for another game — all of a sudden it’s up to a million bucks roughly,” Furner said.

He said that club bosses had been in ongoing crisis talks with the NRL about assistance packages but couldn’t see how that could stretch to 16 clubs if the entire season was called off.

“As far as I know insurance doesn’t cover it so three or four weeks maybe but can’t imagine they could cover a season,” Furner said.

“They can’t save 16 clubs.

“The costs aren’t there without crowds but neither is the revenue. “We still have to pay the players, still have to pay the staff — it’s hard to fathom.”

The Raiders are due to play the New Zealand Warriors next Saturday in an historic double-header in Auckland, also featuring a Super Rugby match between the Brumbies and Blues.

With only six diagnosed cases, the New Zealand government is yet to ban mass gatherings.

Despite the Australia government advising against non-essential travel, the Raiders were at this stage planning to travel on Thursday.

https://www.news.com.au/sport/nrl/n...t/news-story/f59b3f0052192b4dddf89b691a934e43
 

boggie23

Kennel Addict
Joined
Dec 20, 2004
Messages
7,194
Reaction score
4,986
Hypothetically. If the average game draws 750k tv rating. But with the lockout and suspension of other codes. Say it goes up to an average of 1-1.1 million (let’s say over 30% increase).

Couldn’t you go to television stations and say hey you pay this amount per game. You are getting more viewership. Can you pay this instead. And we will keep the league going.

Clubs were never making money from ticket sales. It was just venues didn’t charge them a leasing fee.

i brought it up yesterday that teams should move to suburban grounds.

why shouldn’t Souths at playing at Redfern oval? Or the tigers at concord. If the pitch is up to spec the only other people that will be there at the media, the tv crew and the club staff.
 

KLil

Kennel Legend
Joined
Aug 5, 2011
Messages
14,589
Reaction score
14,776
Pretty sure I heard there is an NRL emergency fund which is like a compo for clubs... Or was that AFL? Has to be AFL because the NRL is just pathetic.
 

Spoonman84

Kennel Immortal
Premium Member
Joined
Oct 1, 2013
Messages
17,736
Reaction score
31,795
Hypothetically. If the average game draws 750k tv rating. But with the lockout and suspension of other codes. Say it goes up to an average of 1-1.1 million (let’s say over 30% increase).

Couldn’t you go to television stations and say hey you pay this amount per game. You are getting more viewership. Can you pay this instead. And we will keep the league going.

Clubs were never making money from ticket sales. It was just venues didn’t charge them a leasing fee.

i brought it up yesterday that teams should move to suburban grounds.

why shouldn’t Souths at playing at Redfern oval? Or the tigers at concord. If the pitch is up to spec the only other people that will be there at the media, the tv crew and the club staff.
You need the big stadiums to come to the party and release them from their contracts while there isn’t any crowds to play at Redfern, Belmore, etc.
 

c-b-b

Kennel Addict
Premium Member
Gilded
Joined
Apr 23, 2014
Messages
7,386
Reaction score
12,689
Even if the game was suspended I'm sure ANZ stadium will come to the club and say you booked the ground "x" times this year and we can't use it so pay up.

I know we're the first club to experience it but every club will have the same issue.
 

bricktamland

Kennel Enthusiast
Joined
Jul 12, 2010
Messages
3,638
Reaction score
3,145
Fuck I’m over the bullshit surrounding this coronovirus it’s fucking weak as piss it slightly worse then the flu which has been around for years , no one young has died .. Tom
Hanks in his 50s or 60s and from all reports he’s recovering fine
 

DinkumDog

Kennel Immortal
2 x Gilded
Joined
May 15, 2017
Messages
22,709
Reaction score
41,533
Could the NRL and its broadcast partners increase advertising rates for lock-out games on the back of increased viewership with the difference in revenues raised going to a fund to help meet shortfalls across the game?
Has to be a start...
 

oldpuppy

Kennel Enthusiast
Joined
Sep 7, 2016
Messages
2,030
Reaction score
3,941
What are the odds if the season gets cancelled. Cameron Smith plays on. Then we make a play for Brandon Smith or Grant. Surely they can't wait to be understudies forever.
 
Top