How is that even possible?
I thought the Cowboys were a powerhouse club

Australian sports are an absolute joke.

Like, what are they spending their money on? According to the NRL website, it surely can't be player wages:

NRL clubs received a $65.8m increase in distribution of funds, with their annual grants rising from $8.4m in 2017 to $13.1m per club last year. The salary cap for each club’s top 30 players was $9.4m.

source

That leaves $3.7 million left over after player wages (surely the biggest cost for any professional sporting club) each season for club operating costs - this is of course not even beginning to factor in sponsorships and the like. How inept are they that they've developed a $30 million blackhole?

well what about GWS? of their $43 million in revenue last year, roughly 60% of this came from the AFL and government handouts, yet they still made a $600k loss. 

haha (nelson muntz laugh)

jfc - just imagine how much A-League clubs could do with ~$26 million in handouts. wtf are they spending their money on if they can't stretch $43 million??? The AFL salary cap is only approx $10 million - where is the other $33 million going?

the AFL salary cap is about $12 million and the football department soft cap is 9.5 million. and lets not forget that GWS is on the lower end of the scale. Richmond, West Coast, Collingwood, Hawthorn all turned over close to $80 million last year. 

These are the numbers I could track down for GWS for 2018:

Total revenue:  $43.5 million (AFL distribution $23.2 million; Sponsorship $12 million; Memberships $4.4 million)
Expenses are over $45 million, including Football Department of $28.5 million, not sure what the rest is.

Also, just noticed that their ground is now called Giants Stadium.  Not sure what that means in terms of getting less sponsorship, or paying out more themselves.

I think backers and supporters groups paid for it.  Equivalent to what the naming rights were worth, so net cost to GWS is 0.

Really?  What kind of backers and supporters? As in the AFL?    It's strange that a sponsor would pay the same money to NOT have their name splashed across the stadium.

Apparently it was a group of cashed up supporters.

about 50 clubs members all chipped in and bought the naming rights to make it Giant Stadium ------- and they paid more than Spotless or Skoda had paid to be naming-rights sponsors.

Gotta admit, thats pretty impressive.

Pretty amazing if you ask me. Hard enough to find 50 Giants supporters, but to find 50 willing to put in some $20 grand each...

Not one of the 50 supporters wanted to be named.. smells like bullshit to me.. they couldn't find a sponsor.

add another $3 million annually form the ACT govt to play 3 games there per season. 


Knowing how the AFL goes about things in Western Sydney where they are known for doctoring supporter and Auskick stats... if I were a betting man, I would say its the AFL posing as alleged Giants fans. Which suggest they couldn't find a sponsor. 

Yeah, definitely sounds like AFL/sponsors to me. Certainly wouldn't get 50 NSW people to stump that up.

well this is pretty big news is someone going to call the media? 

What a load of rubbish.

someone needs to look into it because it sounds fishy

https://www.canberratimes.com.au/sport/afl/giant-leap-gws-fans-clinch-deal-to-buy-stadium-naming-rights-20190322-p516ou.html

Giant leap: GWS fans clinch deal to buy stadium naming rights

The Sydney Showground Stadium has a new naming rights sponsor - the Greater Western Sydney Giants themselves.

In what is believed to be an Australian first, the venue will now be known as 'Giants Stadium' after a group of cashed-up supporters bought the rights themselves on behalf of the club.

Previously known as Skoda Stadium and, until last month, Spotless Stadium, the new branding takes immediate affect ahead of GWS's season opener at home against Essendon on Sunday.

The multi-million dollar agreement is open-ended and actually leaves the Giants in a financially stronger position in comparison to past deals, CEO David Matthews said.

"We've been working through various alternatives and we actually recognised internally that the brand that could benefit most from the naming rights for the stadium was in fact our own," Matthews told the Herald.

The Giants took the idea to their coterie groups, who dipped into their own pockets to make it become a reality. Matthews said there were between 50 to 60 people involved, some of whom live in Canberra and Sydney, some overseas. None of them want to be publicly identified.

Just saw on twitter that there's some sort of complaint coming from Sydney Thunder, but not sure what the full story is.

 It’s on daily telegraph but its paywalld sure it will be talked about in the next few hours  

STADIUM NAME Sydney Thunder say they’ll refuse to call their home ground Giants Stadium, unless they get a major financial increase on what’s being offered on a deal done by the GWS AFL club.

Good opportunity to call it the it the Thunder Dome in the meantime.

Also that AFL piece reads like something out of the USSR propaganda machine. "Famine?! There's no famine, in fact there is so much food that people are over-eating and dying! Glory to the Soviet People!".

Are you surprised?
The AFL are the ultimate evil empire.
They make Gallop, Lowy and FFA look like rank amateurs.

GWS board member Jimmy Bartel has slammed BBL franchise Sydney Thunder over a naming rights dispute for the ground shared by the two organisations.

GWS announced last week they’d reached a deal with the Royal Agricultural Society to have the Sydney Showground known as Giants Stadium, in a deal that’s being funded by anonymous private donors.

But Sydney Thunder, who use the ground in December and January for the BBL, have reportedly baulked at playing at a ground named after an AFL club.

News Limited reports Cricket NSW, on behalf of the Thunder, are reluctant to embrace the Giants Stadium name, and would only change their minds if more money was on the table.

Speaking on Macquarie Sports Radio, Bartel said the Thunder are being shortsighted.

“They’ve got their nose out of joint because they feel like they’re giving a free kick to AFL,” Bartel said.

“This is a little bit of grandstanding on their behalf.

“I get you’re sticking up for your sporting franchise, but the fact is they did none of the legwork in raising this money.

The Giants have gone above and beyond and done this.

Bartel pointed out that the ground’s operators, the Royal Agricultural Society (RAS) had agreed to the name being in place all year round.

"The Royal Agricultural Society have ticked this off so the Thunder can't go and get another sponsor for their two months of the year.

“At the Giants, we’d be more than happy if you don’t want to accept the big fat cheque that we’re writing out for you.

“You can hand it back it you like, I’m sure we can spend it elsewhere.

The Brownlow Medalist accused the Thunder of childish behaviour, arguing that they weren’t going to be receiving additional money elsewhere.


Jimmy Bartel has slammed the Sydney Thunder as debate intensifies over Giants Stadium. (AAP)
“You’re just throwing the toys out of the cot here. You’re only there for two months of the year, now if you want to call it something else then go ahead, but any of the stadium naming is still going to remain Giants Stadium.

“If they’re going to squabble over an extra $50-$80K, they’re just being greedy. The amount of money we’ve been able to get for them, for two months of the year, is more than they were getting from Spotless or from any other corporate of business partner.

“And here’s the problem for them, they can’t go and sell it off for two months of the year anyway, because we’ve already got the deal.”

With more than eight months until the start of the BBL, Cricket NSW remains hopeful of a resolution.

“Discussions with the venue operators are ongoing but for now the home of the Thunder Nation is being referred to as Sydney Showground Stadium,” Cricket NSW chief executive Lee Germon told News Limited.

It's going to crack me up when Marvel Stadium becomes Magpies Stadium, I'm sure none of the other clubs will mind.

Why? Collingwood don't even play their home games at Docklands?

It looks like it didn't really cost them all that much to get the naming rights, but they'll have to pay that every year forever.

Sorry, my AFL knowledge is pretty limited, my point is, would the AFL clubs be OK if Marvel becomes Rebel Stadium of Bulldogs Stadium?

Marvel Stadium is owned by the AFL

You reckon they'd allow one club to claim naming right to their own stadium?