Berkeley_Eagle
Current Status: 24/7 Manly Fan
NRL premiership win helps Manly Sea Eagles out of financial black hole
A $1.3 million premiership windfall has released the financial pressure valve on Manly's co-owners, who were forced to rely on NRL grant advances to keep the club running earlier this year.
Last week's bonanza outstripped the 2008 bounty by about $500,000, all but relieving the need for Sea Eagles benefactors to stump up more cash than the $600,000 they have already contributed to balance the books so far this season.
The Daily Telegraph can also reveal the new premiers are in negotiations to open their title defence in blockbusting style next year, with a grand final re-match in Auckland followed by a round two showdown against bitter rivals Wests Tigers in Gosford.
Without a major sponsor and relying on the NRL's generosity, the code's one-time glamour club was bracing for a $1.4 million loss just a few short months ago.
But the acquisition of jersey-front naming rights holder Kaspersky and some finals series initiatives pinched from last year's premiers, St George Illawarra, have been instrumental in putting Manly back on even keel.
New CEO David Perry - a former sponsorship boss at the Dragons - unashamedly copied his former club's business model, setting-up a live site at Brookvale Oval and ramping-up membership and merchandise campaigns well in advance of the decider.
As a result, more than $650,000 worth of gear was sold during grand final week, and the club's 2012 membership already stands at 2600.
"Historically the club has had challenges because of limited corporate facilities at Brookvale Oval," Perry said.
"The key was being prepared to take full advantage of making a grand final. We were prepared better this year than 2008 to take advantage of the commercial opportunity."
Manly Leagues Club chairman Bob Reilly said the heat was on him and fellow co-owners - the Penn family and Quantum - to balance the books until the team triumphed.
Manly sought multiple advances on annual grants to get by, and weathered months without payment to be back on even terms with the NRL."This really gets us out of a hole," Reilly said.
"It would have been another case of open the chequebooks to cover losses, but we all might not need to contribute anything extra after this fantastic result."
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/nrl/nrl-premiership-win-helps-manly-sea-eagles-out-of-financial-black-hole/story-e6frexnr-1226158481902
A $1.3 million premiership windfall has released the financial pressure valve on Manly's co-owners, who were forced to rely on NRL grant advances to keep the club running earlier this year.
Last week's bonanza outstripped the 2008 bounty by about $500,000, all but relieving the need for Sea Eagles benefactors to stump up more cash than the $600,000 they have already contributed to balance the books so far this season.
The Daily Telegraph can also reveal the new premiers are in negotiations to open their title defence in blockbusting style next year, with a grand final re-match in Auckland followed by a round two showdown against bitter rivals Wests Tigers in Gosford.
Without a major sponsor and relying on the NRL's generosity, the code's one-time glamour club was bracing for a $1.4 million loss just a few short months ago.
But the acquisition of jersey-front naming rights holder Kaspersky and some finals series initiatives pinched from last year's premiers, St George Illawarra, have been instrumental in putting Manly back on even keel.
New CEO David Perry - a former sponsorship boss at the Dragons - unashamedly copied his former club's business model, setting-up a live site at Brookvale Oval and ramping-up membership and merchandise campaigns well in advance of the decider.
As a result, more than $650,000 worth of gear was sold during grand final week, and the club's 2012 membership already stands at 2600.
"Historically the club has had challenges because of limited corporate facilities at Brookvale Oval," Perry said.
"The key was being prepared to take full advantage of making a grand final. We were prepared better this year than 2008 to take advantage of the commercial opportunity."
Manly Leagues Club chairman Bob Reilly said the heat was on him and fellow co-owners - the Penn family and Quantum - to balance the books until the team triumphed.
Manly sought multiple advances on annual grants to get by, and weathered months without payment to be back on even terms with the NRL."This really gets us out of a hole," Reilly said.
"It would have been another case of open the chequebooks to cover losses, but we all might not need to contribute anything extra after this fantastic result."
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/nrl/nrl-premiership-win-helps-manly-sea-eagles-out-of-financial-black-hole/story-e6frexnr-1226158481902