What’s your NRL team worth?
NRL club finances: big dollar Broncos NRL’s richest team | What’s your NRL team worth?
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The case for a second team in Brisbane has been given added weight after NRL benchmarking revealed the Broncos continued to enjoy a significant financial advantage over their rivals that allowed them to channel record sums into their football department and playing talent.
The NRL briefed club bosses on their financial benchmarking at last week’s chief executives meeting and are expected to distribute their final analysis in coming weeks.
A draft document shared with the clubs — and obtained by The Australian — reaffirms Brisbane’s standing as the game’s eminent financial force, while at the same time revealing that half the game’s 16 clubs broke even or recorded a profit in 2018 without leagues club support.
The Broncos remain a financial juggernaut, leaving their rivals for dead when it comes to money generated from sponsorship and membership. That allows them to divert millions into their football department.
The fresh figures come at a time when talk of a second team is at the top of the agenda for the NRL and ARL Commission. A two-day retreat in Sydney next week involving commissioners and the NRL executive’s team is expected to discuss the future shape of the competition and crucially whether the game needs a second team in Brisbane.
The figures in the NRL’s latest reporting would suggest the money is there to back a second side. Certainly the Broncos show few signs of slowing down, their commercial growth having progressed substantially over the past three years.
Significantly, half the game’s 16 clubs turned a profit in 2018 without leagues club support thanks to the increase in the grant from the governing body, a flow-on effect of the fresh broadcasting deal.
Of those to turn a loss, Penrith and Canterbury weren’t helped by the financial impact of parting ways with their coaches, The Panthers sacked Anthony Griffin midway through 2018 while the Bulldogs settled a legal dispute with former coach Des Hasler during the season.
Regardless, the Panthers lost more than $8 million according to the NRL document, having spent large chunks of money on their junior development safe in the knowledge that their affluent leagues club could pick up the tab.
While the belief is that football department expenditure correlates to success on the field, that wasn’t necessarily the case. Brisbane, the Sydney Roosters, Penrith and Canberra all spent more than $20 million on football-related matters in 2018. Of those sides, only the Raiders missed the finals. Yet South Sydney and Cronulla were among the lowest spenders in 2018 and both finished in the top four, the seasons of the Rabbitohs and Sharks coming to an end in the preliminary final.
Brisbane and the Bulldogs led the way on player expenditure, outlaying $12 million on their talent. The Gold Coast Titans, in comparison, spent less than $10 million.
The Titans also spent significantly less on non-player expenditure in comparison to the Broncos and Roosters, much of that chewed up by coaching staffs.
While then-Broncos coach Wayne Bennett and Roosters mentor Trent Robinson are among the highest paid coaches in the game, the Titans were under the guidance of Garth Brennan in 2018. Brennan was among the lowest-paid coaches in the game.
The Rabbitohs were also among the clubs to turn a profit without leagues club support, finishing 2018 more than $1.5 million the black.
The Titans and Broncos did likewise — Brisbane recorded a profit of more than $2 million. Thanks to the new broadcasting deal and the increased grant from head office, half the clubs in the game were able to break even or better.
Penrith were at the other end of the spectrum, their dire financial return along with that of the Bulldogs highlighting the cost of sacking coaches.
Once leagues clubs and third party contributions were factored in, only four clubs finished in the red — Canterbury, Manly Cronulla and the Panthers.
