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Sea Eagles coach Des Hasler used the post-match media conference after his team’s shellacking of a woeful Newcastle to praise the Knights’ newly redeveloped home ground and give Premier Barry O’Farrell a none too subtle jab about getting similar facilities on the Northern Beaches.
“It’s a great stadium. You see the people turning up today – there must have been over 20,000 turning up to watch their footy side play, in facilities, in facilities like these, are just outstanding.”
“I hope you’re listening Barry… There are probably 300,000 people in the northern beaches constituency and they deserve the same facilities. Let’s get off the fence, do something about it, get on the front foot, and give the northern beaches constituency an oval like this, where they can cheer on their side as well.”
Des went on to draw comparisons between the kind of money Newcastle and Woollongong have received for their stadiums and the money for a redone Brookvale, saying the twin steel cities have received $90 million each compared to $6 million for Manly.
So what’s the difference between Ausgrid and WIN stadiums and Brookvale oval? Well the most obvious would probably be the names.
The Knights and Steelers may have once played out of the Newcastle International Sports Centre and Woollongong Showground respectively but these days the price of nostalgia is too high.
In fact it is estimated at being around $300,000 a season. At least this was the figure thrown around by then-CEO of the Sea Eagles, Grant Mayer, in 2008 when the possibility of selling Brookvale’s naming rights was discussed.
Obviously it did not go ahead but when Brookvale’s future was investigated by Manly-Warringah council in 2010 the people of the peninsula stated they wanted their oval be upgraded but not at the expense of ratepayers.
Thus the possibility of selling the oval’s naming rights remains on the table.
And though $300,000 a season isn’t the magical $90 million Des is after, it certainly does begin to add up.
Newcastle International Sports Centre sold its naming rights in 1992 and 20 years later the Knights are running out on to the stadium Des called ‘a juggernaught’.
And though no one wants Manly to wait twenty years for a re-developed Brookvale, had they sold the naming rights when the Knights did they could potentially be $6 million closer to the ground they want.
Queenslanders still call the Cauldron Lang Park. Cronulla fans watch their team play out of Shark Park. And – as an example of how effective corporate naming rights can be – Novocastrians call their home ground Marathon 10 years after the tire company rolled away with their corporate sponsorship dollars.
Maybe if the Sea Eagles want a top notch ground to call home, TV broadcasters will have to call it XYZ Oval, Brookvale – the Maroon and White faithful will always know it’s really just Brookie.
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