Australian Rugby League Commission chairman John Grant has left the door open for a possible funding boost for the Storm to help grow the game in Melbourne.
Grant says the Storm are a long-term club and deserve to be given every possible assistance.
“It’s tough territory down here. This is AFL territory,” Grant told reporters.
“It’s a bit like AFL going to Greater Western Sydney.
“So they need a lot of support through the administration in order to be a team that’s going to prosper over the long term.
“This is about sustainable footy clubs. When you put a stake in the ground around a footy club like this, this has got to be the 100-year footy club.
“So you’ve got to put in.”
Grant, who attended the Storm’s season launch in Melbourne on Thursday night, said the new commission was aware of the different challenges facing certain clubs.
“At the moment, the funding that comes from the Commission is pretty level across all the clubs,” he said.
“Over time, we need to understand how that’s working for various clubs because each club has different opportunities.
“The Broncos have got a bigger opportunity than the Melbourne Storm.
“So we’ve got to think about how we can help them get the best performance that they can do and then make sure we balance it up so they get sustainability.
“We will look at where the money’s being placed today, what available money we can increase to make that grow and where we can place it tomorrow to make sure it gives the game the best helping hand.
“The Melbourne footy club is a long-term footy club so we’ve got to make sure it stays that way.
“Melbourne have been here for 15 years and they’ve been such a great club for that period of time.
“Melbourne’s a very key part of our business so that’s our responsibility to make sure that they know that we’re thinking of them and they feel very included.”
Paul
Guest
They are already, THe Central Coast
Crosscoder
Roar Guru
Gallop has stated on more than one occasion,that the presence of the Storm,by virtue of its presence in Australia's second city,by its popularity on Pay Tv, its playing roster more than makes up for the expenditure incurredIOW Tv advertising ,TV ratings and semi national exposure..
Boomshanka
Guest
Five and a half hour delay for the first match of the opening round into Melbourne. Nine have decided that we'd rather watch the NRL footy show for the hour before, so we get the game at 1am Friday morning. There's no AFL on other free to air TV stations, so why cant they give the game the respect it deserves (particularly in the middle of negotiations)? Nine's position is untenable. Draft anti siphoning laws are three years late, which would have seen the introduction of a "use it or lose it" clause, yet the AFL deal with Fox (which is currently illegal) is apparently OK. All this from a government that supposedly has the number one Storm female fan AKA Prime Minister who "gets the job done". Nine and Gillard (with her side kick Conroy) out for me!
Boomshanka
Guest
Not on my radar. Victorian rules football does not have exclusive rights to the term "football club". Soccer, rugby both lay claim and even in the UK, many of the rugby league clubs have RLFC at the end which stands for the same. Lets not get too precious.
Ted Skinner
Guest
Here are the Pay TV Ratings for the week ending May 3, 2010" You will note they provide News Corp. (their owners) with some nice Pay TV ratings (& I assume income) through News quarter ownership of Foxtel. http://assets.astra.org.au.s3.amazon...-100425(2).pdf Quote: MEDIA RELEASE- 3 May 2010 Top 50 Subscription TV Program Broadcasts 1 LIVE: NRL STORM V WARRIORS FOX SPORTS 2 Sun 18:00 312 312 1,333 703 2 LIVE: NRL COWBOYS V STORM FOX SPORTS 2 Sat 19:30 277 277 1,435 588 3 LIVE: NRL SEA EAGLES V TITANS FOX SPORTS 2 Mon 19:00 247 247 1,219 641 4 LIVE: NRL TITANS V PANTHERS FOX SPORTS 2 Sat 17:30 235 235 1,193 574 5 LIVE: AFL FREMANTLE V RICHMOND FOX SPORTS 1 Sun 20:30 217 217 997 582 6 LIVE: AFL SYDNEY V BRISBANE LIONS FOX SPORTS 1 Sat 19:00 186 186 1,372 720 7 LIVE: AFL HAWTHORN V NTH MELBOURNE FOX SPORTS 1 Sun 17:30 185 185 1,269 629 8 LIVE: NRL RAIDERS V RABBITOHS FOX SPORTS 2 Sun 14:00 183 183 934 434 9 THE SIMPSONS FOX8 Wed 19:13 140 164 1,030 1,697 10 LIVE: AFL ADELAIDE V PORT ADELAIDE FOX SPORTS 1 Sat 15:00 140 140 1,119 433 11 NRL DRAGONS V SHARKS FOX SPORTS 2 Sat 21:20 139 139 1,102 373 12 LIVE: AFL: ON THE COUCH FOX SPORTS 1 Mon 20:30 132 132 1,256 210 13 LIVE: NRL SATURDAY PRE GAME SHOW FOX SPORTS 2 Sat 16:55 132 132 1,112 281 14 LIVE: NRL WARRIORS V RAIDERS FOX SPORTS 2 Sat 15:00 131 131 1,096 364 15 SELLING HOUSES AUSTRALIA Lifestyle Channel Wed 20:30 129 160 1,000 560 16 RELOCATION: PHIL DOWN UNDER Lifestyle Channel Wed 19:30 126 153 1,128 559 17 HANNAH MONTANA Disney Channel Mon 18:00 124 124 985 614 18 AMERICAN IDOL PERFORMANCE SHOW FOX8 Wed 19:38 113 148 1,130 462 19 FAMILY GUY FOX8 Tue 18:40 108 125 886 882 20 FUTURAMA FOX8 Thu 18:17 106 135 801 912 21 LIVE: RUGBY UNION: S14 BRUM V REDS FOX SPORTS 3 Sat 19:30 99 99 1,410 308 22 PROJECT RUNWAY ARENA Mon 20:30 99 104 1,256 311 23 GRAND DESIGNS REVISITED Lifestyle Channel Thu 20:36 89 99 1,093 406 24 NCIS TV1 Thu 19:30 87 106 1,050 873 25 LIVE: RUGBY UNION: S14 H'DERS V W'TAHS FOX SPORTS 3 Fri 17:30 86 86 926 223 So what ever subsidy News Corp. pays to the Storm they get it back 10 fold (at least).
Ted Skinner
Guest
Storm's financial position a couple of years ago: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/watchdog-to-check-for-law-breaches/story-e6frg6nf-1225857630482 .".Despite the current uproar, Melbourne Storm's latest accounts reveal the embattled club to be in a sound financial position, having turned its previous year's $967,000 loss into a $1.6 million profit. The club's recent success in the National Rugby League, including two premierships in the past three years, has obviously started flowing through to its bottom line, with income from membership fees rising by more than $200,000 to $1.3m during last season..." :
Jaredsbro
Roar Guru
I've heard about this issue for years now ;) Why is it actually so hard/why is Channel 9 not pushing for it hard enough? All I can say from the information I have is that is looks a bit like a conspiracy :(
Crosscoder
Roar Guru
I can judge SL on the stealthily way it was done,and the disenfranchisiing of the fans.Remember QGIRL i was one of those gullible people that agreed ,to follow the Sharks decision to go to SL for selfish reasons ,the club. If it had been set up through the proper channels fair enough.It may have worked,they did it by backdoor means,and they got the unwanted result. To this day there are Crusher fans ,who are bitter,forgetting about the Bears,merged entities. I am not against having teams in every cap city.I want a national comp,and that is why I am all for the Storm being bolstered by additional funding.. Don't say things like 'idiot' CC. Deal with the consequences rather than whinge. Thanks, Roar Mods.
RB
Roar Rookie
Agree with the comment above that the FTA coverage is the first thing that needs to be improved in Melbourne. Even if games are shown on GEM or GO. Get better NFL coverage than NRL in Melbourne.
Queensland's game is rugby league
Guest
If the Storm are going to use the funds to gain an edge over other clubs then I'm against the idea. Funding should not be spent on the coaching department, player recruitmen, etc. If the money is going to be spent on junior development and the promotioon of rugby league in Victoria then I'm for it.
tigger madness
Guest
Obviously this is a terrific idea. I agree with a previous comment; the funds should not go directly to the club. Rather, money should be spent on grass roots and marketing. Also, get the damn game on melb tv at a decent hour! -- Comment left via The Roar's iPhone app. Download The Roar's iPhone App in the App Store here.
Queensland's game is rugby league
Guest
Definitely!
Queensland's game is rugby league
Guest
You cannot judge Super League on its sole season in business.
BigAl
Guest
Well, there already is a Melbourne footy club ! - has been for about 150+ years.
Jason
Guest
Why not? The Suns were previously called Gold Coast Football Club from memory
Patrick Angel
Roar Guru
Not fully true. Canterbury and Parramatta for example pay much more in terms of junior development, but far less in coaches, etc. Bulldogs will probably be put a lot higher now they have Hasler, and they've added more staff.
Ian Whitchurch
Guest
Jack Russell, At a rough guess, their income isnt as high because of the lack of a leagues club sponsoring them, and their cost structure is higher because they need to do things with subsidising junior teams that Sydney and Brisbane clubs dont.
Jack Russell
Roar Guru
How can they still be losing so much money? Their crowds are comparable to most NRL clubs, surely their corporate sponsorship isn't that low.
Ian Whitchurch
Guest
To find the AFL Sekrit Plan for funding their clubs, google "afl disequal funding package". Its the pdf document marked "afl disequal funding package" Note that this funding is linked to what clubs are doing to improve - its to help them grow in the right areas, to improve how they operate and to become sustainable. It also comes with strings, some obvious and some hidden. I commend this plan to the NRL Independent Commission.
BigAl
Guest
If Australian Rugby League Commission chairman John Grant wants The Storm to grow, he had better stop thinking of it as The Melbourne footy club !