Dear Members,
I am writing to provide an update regarding Western Sydney Stadium (WSS). Over the past six months the Board and Management of the Club have been involved in detailed negotiations regarding a commercial agreement for our Parramatta Eels Club at the WSS.
As it stands today, the Club has been offered commercial terms by the stadium operator that are not acceptable to the Board of the Parramatta Eels Club or the Parramatta Leagues Club. Therefore, when the NRL draw is released in the near future, the venue for the Club’s home games in 2019 will be marked as “TBC” (to be confirmed).
Our view that the current proposal is unacceptable has been confirmed after an extensive six-month due diligence process conducted by myself and other members of the management team. The due diligence process has included the engagement of a reputable consulting firm. Together we have benchmarked the commercial terms of the current offer against offerings currently being received by NRL and other sports at a range of stadiums across multiple states of Australia.
The current proposal if accepted would adversely affect the ability of our Club to invest in our Football Department including our NRL team and our junior elite football programs. The current agreement at ANZ has adversely impacted the Club financially and we are not prepared to accept a new agreement that will continue to impact the Club negatively for the next 25 years.
The Club will also not compromise on key areas that are important to our Members and supporters such as: -
- Affordable food and beverage pricing and options
- A clear public transport plan for WSS to enable Members to attend games smoothly.
- Reasonable event costs to ensure affordable pricing for Members and casual ticket holders.
- Expanded opportunities for our Corporate partners to help drive revenue for the Club.
- Better technology to enhance Game Day experience.
In the interests of arriving at a fair and reasonable deal, we are continuing our discussions with the stadium operator in an attempt to resolve this matter quickly so that our Members and supporters have a clear understanding of the WSS schedule for 2019.
I look forward to providing a further update in the coming weeks.
Thank you for your continued support of the Parramatta Eels!
Regards,
Bernie Gurr
Chief Executive Officer
Parramatta National Rugby League Club Pty Limited
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The major sticking point that I'm aware of is the asking price of renting the stadium, which I understand to be double what other clubs are paying for new Stadium facilities.
The Wanderers are in the same boat as us and they too have refused to agree to terms with the government for the use of the stadium.
Replies
Glad to see them standing up for the fans & not getting stood over like the previous admin with the ANZ deal.
Yep, the government is trying to screw us over. Good on the club for trying to get us the best deal possible.
Props to Bernie and Max for this one.
ditto
I think she will bow to the demands after all its her baby, and she will be judged anyway as someone who wasted money.
Smart play by Bernie on this one, nothing is more paramount than the financial stability of the club.
Also good on Western Sydney Wanderers for turning their backs on it too.
I never had an issue with the old stadium, I would love to know if people had any issues and if so what were they.
They had disability access issues. No way for those sitting in grandstands to get to the top tier without walking up steps. My disabled grandfather (uses a walking frame and occasionally a wheelchair), stopped coming to games because he physically couldn't walk up the stairs.
Internet access was crap and the North and South hills were uncovered. You throw in a lack of real corporate space and the smaller capacity and it needed, at the least, an upgrade.
The prices for renewing season ticket holders have already been published. Maybe we've backed ourselves into a corner.
Why were discussions around this not sorted prior to the construction deal being given the green light and the stadium even being demolished? Would it not make sense for the Govt. to say we're going to spend $X building this thing and as a result we're going to need to charge you $Y. If both the Eels and Wanderers say go jam it then surely the whole thing needs a re-think and the Govt. may need to either a) reduce the build costs or b) find additional / other tenants?
You don't argue the cost with say a home builder half way through the build because you don't have the money or want to spend it... the construction never would have started in the first place!
No, but you don’t agree to the rent before they build which is what this is about.
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