NRL, AFL and Super Rugby unite to fight soaring rents and levies from Stadiums Queensland
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STADIUMS Queensland has been accused of price gouging the state’s top sports clubs and their fans, with calls for board members to be sacked for imposing soaring rents and levies at major sporting venues.
Southeast Queensland’s NRL, AFL and Super Rugby clubs are so concerned about the fees that they are planning to join together to force a shake-up of the Government body, Stadiums Queensland, The Sunday Mail has learnt.

They claim they are paying rents and transport levies at Queensland stadiums that are between three and five times greater than other states, forcing some clubs to slash staff and penny pinch just to stay afloat.

Suns chairman Tony Cochrane has called for the board to be sacked, describing the organisation as “a disgrace’’.
“They should be sacked and a body put in place that supports sport in this state,’’ he said.
It is understood Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk is contemplating a major shake-up of the board and its structure, with a review underway.

Stadiums Queensland manages the state’s largest venues, including Suncorp Stadium, The Gabba, the 1300SMILES Stadium in Townsville and Metricon Stadium and Cbus Super Stadium on the Gold Coast.
It is run by a board of directors, who report to Minister for Sport Mick de Brenni.

Confidential financial records obtained by The Sunday Mail reveal millions of sporting dollars are pouring into Government coffers through the Stadium Queensland deals.

While Queensland’s clubs all face different challenges, they are all stung by the Government levies on policing and transport that runs into the millions across the codes.

The $1.3 million hiring fee for Cbus Super Stadium was a reason the Gold Coast Titans hit financial woes.
The NRL has confirmed its Queensland based clubs had the most expensive rental and operating costs in the competition.

While ANZ Stadium offers sweetheart deals to Sydney clubs, the NRL was forced to save the Titans from bankruptcy in 2012 and last December sold the club to private owners after being crippled by the Government’s annual $1.3 million hiring fee.

“We are working with the stadiums in Queensland to bring venue hire agreements in line with the rest of the Australian market,” an NRL spokesman said.

The Titans have refused to sign a contract with Stadiums Queensland since 2016 because they could not achieve a fair deal and instead rent Cbus Stadium on a game by game basis for about a staggering $110,000 per game.

The situation for the Gold Coast Suns who lose millions every year is even more dire and with the Tasmanian Government circling, the club’s future on the glitter strip cannot be guaranteed.

Their stadium deal struck by then AFL chief operating officer and now CEO Gillon McLachlan, which runs for 20 years and has no review clause written in, is the worst in Australian sport.

They pay close to $1 million annually, which increases with inflation, into a sinking fund and must also spend $700,000 annually on maintenance of Metricon Stadium.

The Cowboys say they would refuse to sign any deal on their new stadium that included such a fee.

It costs about $4 million per year to operate Metricon Stadium and while the AFL is unlikely to pull out while the people behind the expansion such as McLachlan remain in charge, there are legitimate fears that as power changes hands the league will grow tired of pumping cash into an organisation that is handcuffed to an unsustainable commercial arrangement.

The Broncos have the best deal from the government with Suncorp Stadium, but are still stung with fees their southern counterparts aren’t charged.

Even the jewel-in-the-crown Broncos, who have by far the best arrangement with the Government, get slugged with well over $1 million in levies their interstate competitors escape.

The biggest AFL and NRL clubs in the country don’t pay a public transport levy and the standard contribution to the cost of policing and infrastructure is about $1.20 per ticket.

Free transport is not included. The Suns pay almost $8 a ticket.

Stadiums Queensland says taxpayers should not foot the bill for costs associated with hosting sporting events when the Government had made considerable investment in construction of the facilities. Levy prices were fixed by TransLink and Queensland Police.

“Under this model, the hirer receives the majority of game-day revenue such as ticketing, signage, sponsorship and this means in Queensland, unlike many other states, our clubs have a greater potential to derive revenue from their events,’’ a spokesman said.

The codes reject that view.

High fees at the Gabba is stopping the Brisbane Lions from turning a profit.

The Lions’ inability to post a profit stems from an annual rental at the Gabba of about $1 million a year and an additional $800,000 in transport and police costs.
The Reds and Roar face the biggest levies of the Brisbane-based clubs.

The Roar pay a levy on tickets scanned at the gate which means they only pay for fans who attend the matches.
The QRU is slugged on every ticket issued which means they still incur the levy, believed to be about $4, even when members don’t turn up.

“The QRU believes there should be equity around transport levies applied to Queensland professional sporting teams and that any levy should be applied against tickets scanned at the gate,’’ a spokesman said.