Politis is 80. The guy is finished and so are the roosters when he retires. Do you think anybody is going to fork the bill like politis is when his gone, lol the roosters will be the first Sydney club moved they don't have juniours they dont have a leagues club. Once they start asking for handouts from the nrl the nrl's going to tap on there shoulder and say yeah boys you had a good run time to move.
Do you think Uncle Nick is going to leave the Roosters high and dry? lol
The NRL is going to move Easts along eventually? You're off your head
You obviously have no idea, but have a read through Nicks portfolio for the Roosters. He also hasnt done to bad since taking the chair in 1993.
For the past 25 years, Roosters chairman
Nick Politis has sat in the same seat — row N, bay 62, seat 1 — at Allianz Stadium to watch his beloved team.
When the stadium is knocked down following next Friday’s
Michael Buble concert, the SCG Trust will give Politis the seat as a souvenir.
It's a nice touch but a more pressing question is how much longer will Politis, 76, be sitting on the throne of the Roosters?
Will a grand final victory over the Storm on Sunday night prompt Politis to step back and hand over the chairmanship?
“No mate,” Politis said. “I haven’t thought about retirement”.
Then he let out his signature giggle.
“Can we just wait and see if we win first? One step at a time. But I won’t be retiring.”
Politis certainly understands, though, that he can’t run the club forever and is preparing for the future. His end-game is to deliver a property portfolio worth $500 million before he finishes.
He might have made his way in the world selling cars but much of his fortune can be attributed to property. He was last year ranked No.82 on
The Australian Financial Review's Rich List with an estimated wealth of $773 million.
On his watch, the Roosters have snapped up Waverley Bowling Club, Berkeley Sports, Kingswood Sports Club and Woy Woy Leagues. They also plan to turn North Bondi Golf and Diggers Club into a multi-purpose sports centre.
The centrepiece is a redeveloped Easts Leagues in Bondi Junction. The club has snapped up most of the property on the L-shaped block on the corner of Spring Street and Bronte Road with a long-term plan to turn it into a lucrative high-rise development.
Politis knows his club can’t survive on poker machine revenue forever and wants to leave it in safe hands for the next custodians of the club.
“That should be any chairman's objective,” he said. “At the moment, our commercial property is valued at $120m and we have no debt. Next year, we will have $10m in cash in the bank. We’re in a very good position financially.”
Now to the small matter of finding the next chairman.
This column raised the question at the start of the year when rumours started floating around that Politis was about to stand down. It is no closer to being answered.
Former David Jones boss
Mark McInnes was being prepared to take over but he’s since left the board. Former Nine boss
David Gyngell is a possibility. So, too, is businessman
Mark Bouris.
Powerful TV executive
Mark Fennessy is an important board member who was fundamental in getting fullback
James Tedesco to the club when Politis refused to deal with Tedesco’s manager,
Isaac Moses, after a spectacular fallout.
But Fennessy, like many on the club’s high-powered board, doesn't have the time to juggle work life and Roosters’ life.
“I want to make sure whoever takes over has the time, enthusiasm and passion to make sure the club continues to be successful,” Politis said. “We have some good candidates on our board. We’ll sort something out.”
Uncle Nick usually does.
