Article was a bit stupid. Teams that are backed by big clubs are all good apparently but no mention of the hit the clubs will be taking while this goes on. Most will have to scale back dramatically and will be eating into their cash reserves. Then on top of that propping up an NRL team.
Still think the Sharks or Titans are the first to fall. Penn family will kick in the money, then look to bail when it corrects.
Bump because I was spot on.
NRL: Panthers dragged to the brink
Penrith’s heavy reliance on licensed club revenue has left them vulnerable
Penrith’s football club and five licensed clubs were on Monday bracing for a $40 million loss over the next six months because of coronavirus — and that was before the game was suspended indefinitely.
The Panthers will be dragged to the financial brink — on and off the field.
Penrith’s five leagues clubs — Panthers at Penrith, Panthers Port Macquarie, Bathurst Panthers, North Richmond Panthers and Glenbrook Panthers — are facing a combined $30m loss through until mid-September.
The Panthers football club was expecting to lose around $9m this season but that figure will jump now.
Playing at an empty stadium was going to cost Penrith around $5m this season and then there was the savage decrease in merchandise and sponsors to consider. Now the broadcast money has been put in jeopardy.
No Penrith official is underestimating the enormous affect the coronavirus will have on the club’s bottom line.
“The football club, it would be out to a loss of nearly $9m,” Panthers Group chief executive Brian Fletcher said.
With five licensed premises, Penrith will be crippled financially by a federal government decision to shut down all clubs for a predicted six months.
“It’s a 100 per cent downturn,” Fletcher said. “They’ve closed all the clubs. There’s no income. All there is is expenses.
“But there are a lot of people a lot worse off than us. We’re all alive. We just have to get through it and we will.
“We have to be smart enough to come out the other end and we will do that.
“We have cut a lot of costs and our staff has gone on annual leave and long service leave.
“We’re looking at every avenue where we can save money.”
Despite the horrific losses, Fletcher believes that Penrith, who were formed in 1967, can win the fight for survival.
“We’ll be around when this all ends but it will be tough going,” Fletcher said.
“We have to make sure we’re on top of it, that is the main thing. Everyone is aware of it. The players are good.
“Everyone is doing their bit. We just have to make sure we come out the other end.”
All 16 clubs will be fearing financial collapse now that the competition has been suspended.
“We’re just concentrating on trying to survive,” one Sydney-based chief executive said.
“It’s taking up all your time. The problem is this is a moving beast.
“You don’t wake up and think ‘let’s fix that problem’ because then another problem arises.”
