CLUB CANNOT AFFORD TO PAY $45,000 A GAME RENT AT A RUNDOWN BROOKVALE OVAL
Peter Peters
WARRINGAH Council’s Jaguar-driving Mayor Michael Regan has been scaremongering his 140,000 residents as he battles to justify the exorbitant $45,000 a game rent for rundown Brookvale Oval.
Picture: MARK EVANS
Brookvale Oval is still the centre of a controversy between the Sea Eagles and Warringah Council in relation to hiring the ground.
Regan virtually declared war on the Manly Sea Eagles and its army of fans this week when he said: “Maybe fans are right when they say the NRL and the Penns want to move to Gosford and are using the council as a scapegoat so they can blame us for the decision.”
This comes at a time when the Sea Eagles membership packages have been released indicating 10 games will be played at Brookvale Oval next season.
And Sea Eagles owners the Penn family remain adamant they want the team to remain at Brookvale, but under a financially fair rental agreement.
In Wednesday’s Manly Daily, Cr Regan said the club had signed the lease and had made millions of dollars from the venue this year thanks to a subsidy of $600,000 by Warringah ratepayers. Wrong again, Mr Mayor. The Sea Eagles made money on a handful of games in 2015 – two were “home” games taken away from Brookvale Oval in the premiership in Albury (v Canberra) and Gosford (v Brisbane).
And, thanks to a generous and accommodating Pittwater Council, the club had a successful financial return from a trial game at Rat Park against Cronulla.
Other successful financial games were Parramatta ($5000), South Sydney ($55,000) and Cronulla Sharks ($50,000).
Hardly the millions Mr Regan openly declared were received.
CONTENTIOUS TIMES
NOW to the crux of the dispute between the council and the Sea Eagles.
Regan repeatedly refers to a lease agreement in place.
Warringah Council insists an agreement is in place and the Sea Eagles believe there isn’t and are willing to go to an independent arbiter to decide who is right.
The 2014 lease agreed by previous management is the basis for the current arrangement, according to the council.
But immediately new management arrived at the club late last year, chief executive Joe Kelly and chief financial officer Neil Bare made it clear the existing lease was no longer relevant or acceptable
in their view, despite the provision which said the lease would be carried over next season (2015) should a new agreement not be reached.
Despite many attempts by the Sea Eagles, this hasn’t happened.
The Sea Eagles were prepared to negotiate their future at Brookvale Oval over multiple years if the council had shown a willingness to bring the cost of matches in line with charges to other clubs in a variety of sports.
That it has been unwilling to bend is scandalous for such a rundown public sporting facility.
Both rugby union and football have been charged less than $1000 to hire the ground for one-off fixtures.
Manly Council charges Manly Cricket Club $25,000 for use of Manly Oval for seven months a year.
To ask $45,000 a game for a game for a ground with no full-time curator, no under cover seating for the disabled and archaic facilities is nothing short of outrageous.
BROOKVALE FACTS
WARRINGAH Council has tried to gate crash the Sea Eagles Facebook site because few people read its own.
Here are some facts on Brookvale Oval:
The Sea Eagles have the fewest number of prepaid reserve and undercover seats of any full-time venue in the NRL.
Manly have the most limited corporate hospitality of any full-time venue and can’t hold a home semi-final.
Our playing surface is the only NRL playing surface that is available to the public.
The Sea Eagles are being charged the heftiest hire fee of any suburban ground in the NRL for the worst playing surface.
The council openly claims it is subsidising the Sea Eagles’ use of Brookvale Oval when the Sea Eagles subsidise 75 per cent of the council’s annual operating costs of the public park for the right to play at the venue 10 times a year. It should be noted the ground is only used 10 times a year for training or an equivalent 10 hours training a year.
WE WANT TO STAY
PERHAPS it’s time for a former Sea Eagle of the ilk of Steve Menzies or a Jason King to form a sports minded Warringah Council.
It is clearly evident that the peninsula’s pride and joy in sport isn’t encouraged by Warringah Council despite it’s 70-year iconic history.
The club has played at Brookie since 1947 and, as a board member of the Sea Eagles, I can assure supporters that no one on the board wants to leave Brookvale Oval.
But as directors we can’t accept the current rental conditions which would lead to a subsequent financial disaster.
The outcry over unpaid rent to a 70-year tenant is a smokescreen for a council which doesn’t want to meet community commitments.
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The fact that the Penn's were part of the 'previous' management is lost on ZtH.
Pretty sure that a signed commercial agreement is valid even if the Management of one entity changes.
So Profitable Brookie Crowds were:
rd 24-11,018 Parramatta ($5,000),
rd 22-15,083 South Sydney ($55,000)
rd 17-14,881 Cronulla Sharks ($50,000)
Strange that rd 25-12,911 Rorters game did not return a profit if, at 11k for Parra they made a 5k profit
