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Share the spoils: Roosters open the gate on equal takings for clubs

Brad Walter | June 24, 2008

Roosters chief executive Brian Canavan will propose the introduction of gate sharing at today's think tank of NRL officials and club bosses, amid a push to develop a stadium policy for all Sydney games.

With the Roosters set to be deprived of up to six of their biggest stars for Friday night's home match against the Bulldogs because of Origin duty, officials estimate the club could be up to $400,000 out of pocket from the huge drop in attendance compared with the previous clash between the two teams, which drew a crowd of more than 36,000 in round four at ANZ Stadium.

The scheduling of matches around representative fixtures will also be on the agenda at the day-long meeting, called to consider the direction of the competition and to explore ways of increasing revenue for the game.

"The day will be broken into a series of workshops to discuss important issues affecting the game such as competition structure, season scheduling, representative football, development projects, player movement, administrative structure and stadia," NRL chief executive David Gallop said.

Despite playing in the two biggest Sydney premiership matches of the season so far, against the Bulldogs and the season-opening clash with South Sydney, which attracted more than 29,000 fans to ANZ Stadium, the Roosters do not receive a cent from either match and, unless the form of the Rabbitohs continues to improve, the round-26 derby against Souths at the SFS may also be a fizzer.

"In round four, we played in a game against the Bulldogs that attracted a record crowd for a Sydney premiership match but in round 16 - with four players or more likely to be missing because of State of Origin, including Willie Mason - we're hoping just to get 15,000 people to our game," Canavan said. "The situation could be the complete reverse in 2009 but if we had gate sharing [where the round's total gate takings are shared equally between the 16 clubs], the two clubs would at least get a share of the money from the games they played."

Bulldogs chief executive Todd Greenberg indicated he would support the proposal and said clubs had to look at the best venues for playing matches and promote them together.

"We've got to find new ways to make more money so we can take away the reliance on leagues clubs," Greenberg said.

Aside from the cuts to annual grants from licensed clubs due to the effects of the NSW Government's increased poker machine tax, the threat from Super League and European Rugby Union has also increased the need to find new revenue sources.

The $575,000-a-season deal that St George Illawarra prop Jason Ryles agreed to with French club Catalans last week has caused a lot of people in the game to realise the payments to players must increase for the NRL to retain its stars.

"The main thing I'll be interested in is ways to keep our players in the NRL," Penrith chief executive Michael Leary said. "I think we've got to look at greater [salary cap] discounts for long-serving players and getting more third-party sponsorship deals."

The alternative, according to Manly CEO Grant Mayer, may be to introduce transfer fees for players going to Super League. Mayer's comments follow speculation that Warrington were planning to offer the Sea Eagles $1 million to release Jamie Lyon.

"If there is no such thing as loyalty in the game any more, that may be the way to go," Mayer said. "We haven't heard anything from Warrington or Jamie at this stage so I don't know if there is anything in it."

Mayer will table his proposal to play an entire round of matches at Brisbane's Suncorp Stadium next season - as Super League does at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium - with the backing of the Queensland Government. The NRL could then look for opportunities in other cities, including Auckland or Wellington, after that.

A number of Sydney clubs have indicated they want the NRL to decide where some matches are played, and it is understood the idea of three-stadium policy - the SFS, ANZ and Parramatta - may be discussed.

Brisbane, Melbourne and North Queensland are keen on the game returning to Adelaide and Perth, possibly at the expense of Sydney clubs, but any proposal to do so in the short term will meet strong resistance today.