Brisbane bid team building big war chest to take on Broncos
THE Brisbane NRL bid team is set to match the Broncos as a corporate juggernaut with the prospective franchise on course to secure a $15 million sponsorship war chest.
Several companies, including Bundaberg Rum and Centrebet, have backed the Brisbane consortium, which is hoping to enter the NRL in 2013 as Queensland's fourth team.
The Brisbane bid is upping the ante in the expansion race, with the organisation last week releasing a list of 15 prospective nicknames that will be voted on by the public and whittled down to two or three by July.
The Broncos have long been regarded as the NRL's flagship club in a host of key areas, including crowds and sponsorship, but the Brisbane consortium says it would be one of the code's most viable outfits.
"From a sponsorship perspective, we believe we will have between 12 to 15 million dollars in our first year," said Brisbane bid chief Craig Davison.
"Add to that the NRL grant and our private investors and we're up around 20 million (dollars), which is a very strong first-year bid.
"It will be a financially sound bid, one of the top accounting firms is currently doing our numbers and it's looking very good.
"We will be sufficiently funded no problem at all. You need between 12 to 14 million per year to run an NRL team and we will certainly achieve that."
Davison said the consortium would release its official brand around mid-July after voting on their nickname.
"We've had about 20,000 hits suggesting names and colours," he said.
"We have a list of 15 names and there's dozens of concepts for designs, people have sent through all sorts of designs.
"We've been blown away by the interest, it just goes to show there is room for a second NRL team in Brisbane."
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