Nathan Tinkler formed Hunter Sports Group with the long term goal, according to him, of building a sporting legacy for Newcastle and the greater Hunter region.
His first move came 18 months ago when he purchased the Newcastle Jets A-League club, saving them from folding. Last year, he claimed his biggest prize when he gained control of rugby league club the Newcastle Knights. He purchased them for basically nothing.
From afar it looked like Tinkler really did have a grand plan. Lets face it, owning the Knights, the Jets and the rights to the newly upgraded stadium at Newcastle was a brilliant base for Hunter Sports Group to work from. Then there was talk they would look to start an NBL team and even a side in the Twenty20 Big Bash.
As all of this was going on though, there were people quietly warning about Tinkler’s lack of patience when it came to his horse racing interests. Rumours circulated that he was pretty quick to let people go if he felt he wasn’t getting results out of them.
Not the worst thing in the world, but possible cause for concern.
Not too long ago, Tinkler become aware that he had purchased the A League licence for the Newcastle Jets at a much higher price than other owners in the A-League. Tinkler had paid $5 million dollars.
Apparently, he was filthy about this. He felt ripped off. From that point on, it was all downhill. The relationship between Hunter Sports Group and Football Federation of Australia rapidly disintegrated.
It all came to a head today when, on a whim, the Hunter Sports Group announced that they were “handing in” their A-League licence. The Newcastle Jets were effectively dead.
Tinkler’s decision is one of the most underhanded, despicable moves in Australian sporting history. To take over the club just 18 months ago only to shut them down is disgraceful. To leave the A-League with nine teams, just a week after Gold Coast United were shut down and the FFA scrambled to create a 10th team in Western Sydney side, it was a calculated move with massive ramifications for football in Australia.
Fans of the Newcastle Jets have been treated like rubbish. Many of these people are also Knights fans. The staff at the Jets, including players, now have to search for new jobs.
The worst part was, the Hunter Sports Group came out and dared to suggest they were not abandoning football. They claimed they would pour $1 million a year into football in the Hunter region, what an absolute joke! It was a pathetic, transparent attempt to “PR” this petty move in shutting down the Jets.
The Hunter Sports Group then came out and said that the Newcastle Knights are under no threat of succumbing to the same fate.
Really? Why should we believe that?
If Nathan Tinkler is willing to shut down the Jets over a $5 million licensing fee and the financial structure of the A-League, what is to say he wouldn’t walk away from the Knights if all the money he has poured into them doesn’t amount to premiership glory?
The Knights would land on their feet a little easier that the Jets as they have a longer history, and because there’s simply more money in rugby league than football in Australia, especially considering the expectation of a bigger television deal.
The ARLC simply wouldn’t allow the Knights to go belly up. They couldn’t afford to.
I would bet that if Tinkler did walk away from the Knights, that he would still retain the management rights to Newcastle Stadium, a very lucrative asset considering it is the biggest sporting venue between Sydney and the Gold Coast.
Imagine if the NRL ever had to say, level salary cap penalties against the Knights. What chance than that Tinkler decides to walk away from the Knights, trying to stick it to the NRL?
This is the danger of private ownership. You just don’t have any guarantees. Stability only goes as far as one person’s health, bank balance and personality.
In that sense it shows what incredible owners Russell Crowe and Peter Holmes à Court are.
Committed, steady, unwavering. A good owner gets his club running right, reaches into his back pocket only occasionally, uses his influence sparingly, and keeps out of the way. They leave the people they employ to do their job. Above all else, they need to honestly love the club they own, because sporting teams, especially NRL clubs, aren’t set up to make money.
You don’t want an owner that thinks the way to fix problems is to throw money at it. You don’t want someone that looks to micromanage everything. You don’t want someone that is surrounded by yes men, and who get’s rid of anyone that dares to tell them that the sun doesn’t shine out of their arse.
At the start of the A-League season, Tinkler sacked the club’s coach and marquee player. At the end of the season, he walked away from the club completely and handed in his A-League licence.
Would you want that bloke owning your NRL team?
I feel really sorry for Newcastle Jets fans. I can’t even imagine what it’s like to wake up one day and find that a club you invest your time, money and emotions into is shut down as if someone turned off a light switch. I hope something can be done so that the Jets are playing in the upcoming A-League season.
I think this is a despicable act of sporting treachery.
I don’t want the people that did this to Jets fans anywhere near my NRL club.
BIG BEN
Guest
I think the AFL may have found it's new expansion area
The Bush
Roar Guru
Just on Rusty for a moment - hasn't he been a lifelone Bunnies fan since he moved to Austraila? Isn't it sort of akin to the most passionate fan in the Stadium winning the lottery and buying the team? I don't know anything about Tinkler, but has he been a mad-Knights obsessed fan since birth? As the Jets have only been around a few years, we know he couldn't have had that kind of passion for the club. Unfortunately, these billionaires buy these clubs at a whim and are not actual fans of the club.
Ian Whitchurch
Guest
BA Sports, When I purchase something, I do something called 'due diligence', that among other things involves seeing what other people paid for similar assets. If they refuse to tell me, well, that tells me a lot about if this is a business I want to be in, because if youi cant see who the fish is, then you are the fish, right ?
Paul
Guest
OnNRL on fox last night they showed pictures of Tinkler in the dressing sheds after the game walking up to Bennet to shake his hand and Bennet was ignorinh him. Tinkler grabbed his arm and made him shake his hand. I wonder if thats the first crack in the newcastle new venture? May mean nothing but the body language was very intersting
mushi
Roar Guru
Again as a political tool I think it’s pretty clumsy and inefficient and makes lees sense than to say Hey look I own the knights! His behaviour with the Jets seems at complete odds with getting the community on side and now the fat rich mining magnate who throws the toys out of the cot when the grownups won’t listen to him. Now you definitely could be right, but if this was some political masterplan to paint himself as the good guy it rivals Custer for execution. For Clive it still doesn’t really stack up as china isn’t going to give you squat just because you played an away leg against one of their football teams and getting the Gold Coast on side isn’t all that useful for most of his endeavours. As much as it doesn’t make sense for tinkler it makes even less sense for Clive’s Chinese relationships.
Gaz
Guest
I wonder if the Knights members would have been so eager to hand over control to Mr T if they had the benefit of foresight. -- Comment left via The Roar's iPhone app. Download The Roar's iPhone App in the App Store here.
Matt F
Roar Guru
I was thinking more along the lines of providing him with a greater influence in the region. I'd think that his companies plans/proposals are far more likely to be supported if he is seen as the "mega rich local with a heart of gold who supports his community" rather then "big fat mining magnate looking to make even more money."
mushi
Roar Guru
I think it is less the losses that they are upset with and more that they believed they’d get more of a say over how the league operated. I;m not really seeing though how the PR really has a huge help for a commodities business? Maybe from a recruitment angle but there are probably more efficient ways to do that.
Matt F
Roar Guru
I agree with your first point but disagree with your last paragraph. I think both Tinkler and Palmer were in it for business reasons (especially re their A-League sides.) However they wanted to use the A-League side to help their main business. Tinkler to get influence in the Hunter region, as well as aid his attempt to buy the Knights, and Palmer for attempting to grow his business into Asia through the Champions League. If they really saw them as playthings, as many owners of European football clubs see them, they probably wouldn't mind taking losses like this which, whilst substantial are a fraction of what they are worth. Once they saw they realised that it was potentially a very expensive exercise without a guaranteed and succesful outcome (or in Tinklers case, maybe just a way to achieve his ultimate aim of getting the Knights) they dropped them.
peeeko
Roar Guru
Very well said
mushi
Roar Guru
Why the assumption that if you are great at one type of business you’ll instantly be great at another. There are very few business people which have proven to be universally capable across a wide range of businesses. Fewer still that took their mining success built on risk tolerance and converted it into a consumer/entertainment success. Investors normally punish you like a red headed step child if you step away from your core competencies. Even Buffet fully recognises that he doesn’t understand certain industries so stays well away. Tinkler and Palmer aren’t interested as business men they are interested as billionaires looking for a toy like so many other sports team owners around the world.
B.A Sports
I'm sorry, everyone is entitled to an opinion, but there is a fair bit of tripe in that article... Firstly. The deal with the Newcastle Knights was done over a much longer period with a lot more care and consideration. There is a $20million bank guarentee in place, should Hunter Sports ever decide to walk away and the club will revert back to its members. next "He felt like he got ripped off" - He DID GET RIPPED OFF! The guy saved the club (the Jets) from extinction. They were going to go and he agreed to take them on at a cost to himself. The FFA tried to sucker as much money as they could and now they are being caught out. He paid money that other owners didn't have to, i would call that getting ripped off. then "what is to say he wouldn’t walk away from the Knights if all the money he has poured into them doesn’t amount to premiership glory". He isn't walking away from the Jets because he didn't win a premiership! He is walking away because he is in a fued with individuals at the FFA over numerous issues. There is very little liklihood of that happpening with the NRL, because if he ever had a problem with Gallop he has two alternate options; He can go to the entire Commission with his issue or he then goes to the other clubs and if they are in agreement with him, they have a voice. The FFA is Lowy and Buckley. And I am not 100% sure about this, but 95% sure. Hunter Sports Group do not have the "mangement rights" at Hunter Stadium. It is managed, I believe, by an arm of the NSW State Government. So I am not sure what that has to do with anything. League Freak, when you feel so emotional about a subject, write it down, but then sit back and have a think before hitting the send button. I have written plenty of emails over the years which i haven't sent because when I cool down, i realise that some of what i have written makes no sense what so ever because I have been blinded by my initial rage.
Patrick Angel
Roar Guru
If Tinkler walks out the members can buy the club back for a dollar.
Lowdown
Guest
Great article and absolutetly spot on in relation to the risks of handing control of sporting franchises over to a single person. If Tinkler is that quick to toss in the Jets, than that should serve as a very clear indication of just what lengths he can and will go to to either get what he wnats or to prove a point irrespective the cost to those impacted - players, staff, fans and the community. Like Palmer, Tinkler didn't become a billionaire by making all the right decisions. They made tough decisions that benefitted themselves and were at great cost to others. The ARLC and Gallop will be watching this situation closely.
Ian Whitchurch
Guest
If Nathan Tinkler throws a hissy fit and starts throwing his weight around, then you can suddenly find yourself with sacked coaches, star players with their contracts ripped up and so on. If Nathan Tinkler gets upset and microwaves his membership card, then the Knights really have a problem. He doesnt seem to be very good at due diligence either ... if you're the sort of person who doesnt find out your star players rehab status, or what other people paid for a licence, then you might buy something big and spectacular that has all sorts of hidden problems, and then you are suddenly a lot less rich. A lot, lot less rich.
oikee
Guest
I think your a bit quick to react. I dont think Tinkler would want to upset or alienaite Newcastle and all the fans, it would be a disaster. The fans would probably walk, and who would buy the club for more than a dollar, with no crowds to support this massive stadium. Not sure what Tinky Tinky is up to, but i know him and Palmer, the other Billionaire dude, are not happy. I have never liked the set-up with the a-league, something is just not right. One more thing as well, you lay into Tinkler and his not caring about the fans, what about the Gold Coast team, their fans, the Townsville team, their fans, did the a-league seem to care as much about them, they let them go without much fight. Plus they could not wait to bring in Western Sydney, they seem to run like a well oiled money machine to me. It is what i would do, cut slice and burn , look for the big bucks, if that dont work, just move on out of town and set-up in the next city. Is why i would never be in charge, this is the wrong way to do things. So, if you think about that, is why i said something is not right with the A-league set-up. It also sounds like they lose alot of money, the clubs, which surgests to me the players are being paid way to much. This is Australia, not the EPL. With 4 major codes, their will never be enough money in Australia for the a-league to be any bigger than a 3rd division comp. The fans have to much expectation, if any player is any good at all, they are off overseas, the dollar quickly intices them.