RooTube: From The Top with Eugene Arocca
AS OUR season has come to an end, I thought it appropriate to update you on some of the off-field issues facing the club at the present time.
It has been reported that we are considering 'selling' a home game to an interstate venue. While playing one home game interstate is an option, I would like to assure all of our members and supporters that the North Melbourne Football Club remains 100 per cent committed to a future in Melbourne. We have publically stated this to be the case and we will not back away from this position.
When we committed to our future in Melbourne we relinquished an agreement worth $1.2 million per annum to play three home games (at $400,000 per match) on the Gold Coast.
Recovering this lost income through other means is one of the most significant challenges facing this administration, particularly given that we are currently subject to stadium deals in Melbourne that significantly disadvantage our club in terms of match receipts (as opposed to the interstate clubs and other Victorian clubs which have favourable agreements).
In fact, despite drawing healthy home game crowds, our net income from gate receipts at Melbourne home games in 2008 will amount to approximately $700,000 in total. Over 60 per cent of our total net match receipt income in 2008 was generated from the three Gold Coast matches.
Given the poor stadium returns in Victoria and our decision not to play matches in the Gold Coast from 2009, the North Melbourne Football Club must ensure that it does everything possible to maximise match returns.
Even with assistance from the
Accordingly, we need to consider every available option and playing one home game in Sydney, in return for at least $400,000, is one of those options.
We had explored the possibility of playing an extra game at Subiaco (given our strong historical, sponsorship and membership connections with Western Australia) however
Any decision to play a home game in Sydney is not part of a long term strategy by the club to chase a new interstate market; it is simply driven by a commercial consideration impacted upon by our current stadium deals in Victoria.
While we are confident that the
Ultimately, until the stadium deals in Victoria are improved, the only other way of protecting this club’s financial position is a continuing 30,000-plus membership
I can assure you that we will play more home games in Melbourne next season than we have in any year since 1998 and that our members will get more value for their memberships than they have in a long time. We are working hard to ensure that any increase in membership prices due to the extra home games is kept to an absolute minimum.
We are also working hard on a corporate restructure that will return the North Melbourne Football Club to its members for the first time in over 20 years and to ensure that the club is a profitable one with a sustainable future in Melbourne.
We will continue to keep you updated on further developments as more information regarding the corporate restructure and this year's financial result becomes available. In the meantime, thank you for your outstanding support.
Eugene Arocca
Chief Executive Officer
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