Bellamy remains coy on Storm future

The problem is that the club is not viable even with the $26.5million from the NRL plus the $7m p.a this organisation that already losses money has now had their annual income cut from approx $25m p.a to just $11.5m and whilst they grow on the back of their success (unequalled before in the history of the game as far as win loss records go) they are not growing anywhere near fast enough to cover their own losses and no one will purchase an organisation losing the kind of money that they are. As far as NEWS loses out of the Super League paling to insignificance against the costs of the Storm the total was calculated and presented to the ARL of costs incurred by NEWS of $550m which the ARL agreed was correct (and from that figure remuneration was agreed upon to be paid in the form of a dividend to NEWS). The significance here is that NEWS will have by the end of the current TV deal that they just signed will have outlaid as much on the storm directly as they spent on Super League. This of course does not include other costs that would have been incurred by NEWS in setup administration costs, the cost involved in commissioning Deloitte's for their independent audit of the salary cap scandal audit which NEWS commissioned and these are only a few costs that NEWS have incurred in order to keep the Storm viable. The reality is that this club losses massive amounts of money every year, their costs have been huge and NEWS have let them do it in an extremely professional and efficient manner that blew out and has never been pulled in. The Storm and it's losses are certainly not insignificant to a company the size of NEWS no matter how big it is. Therefore here in lies the problem for NEWS they cannot sell a company making such huge loses (even if the sponsorship deal was 7 x times the size of the current one with crown they would still be losing money) and if they did then they would have to declare the total amount that the asset had lost since it's creation (one being avoided by many NEWS exec's at all costs) but, what is even more compelling is that when their unsustainable run of success comes to and end their ratings and following will fall (as with any other club) and therefore their reason for existence to the shareholder will be no more as they add little to no value to Fox Sports TV rights. In this inevitable case NEWS surely would be forced to get rid of them exposing their embarrassing and costly losses. However so far those involved in this have managed to manipulate the situation to avoid blame and embarrassment and they are brilliant experts at it. It will be very interesting to see how these extremely talented professionals manage to continue this charade and if in fact they can offload the storm.

If the club is a viable proposition and having a committment made by the ARLC back in Feb of providng an additional $26.5m of funding over 6 years,plus the new grant (to be ratified) of $7m pa with a salary cap of $5.85m,that is providing a future underpinning of the club. Throw in a lucrative sponsorship deal with Crown,plus as the NRL and Gallop has continually noted the presence of the Storm in the country's 2nd largest city ,adds tremendous value to the Tv deal,as the club continually secures large Tv ratings on Pay to the Northern states . The public is aware of the Salary Cap scandal,and shareholders would be more than relieved to have an entity that is sucking money out,being sold off.If there is a buyer prepared to stump up the loot,it will be sold.News have stated they only want financial interest in one club viz a viz the Broncos. Whatever the rumoured figure News(Valimanda) has outlaid for the Storm(and Idon't pretend to know),it would pale into insignificance one suggests to the figure News outlaid fo establishing Super League.That figure was well known and provided in their accounts(News that is). As to a certain gent, writing a book,perhaps self incrimination is the reason for holding back , or it may extend further to a prior place of employment.There are many possibilities. Perhaps the thought of a gaggle of lawyers waiting at 100 paces,for a slice of the action.You have to be 100% confident of your story ,before going into print.

Cronk rarely rated a mentioned in the Melbourne press,where his team was domiciled.Decisions by players dont always happen overnight,offers/counteroffers/opportunities/locale.and no one knows who made bids for Cronk,ru no doubt may have also had a finger in the pie. The Titans,Broncs,Sharks probably also threw in offers. It was no different than the drawn out Ablett saga going to the GC,or the SA guy going to the Swans. News would be mad not to throw heaps at him.He is a mighty fine coach.St George are prepared to throw heaps at him.Having him as coach makes buying the Storm a better proposition.A perfectly sensible commercial decision to retain him,one would have thought.

As would I and it is very hard to get the little info that I could find on this (thanks ABC) but, the old rugby league license of the Western Reds was never granted to the Storm it is controlled by a small mgt company called Valimandra whom are a subsidiary of NEWS but, due to the fact they are so small in size they do not have to publish itemised accounts or annual reports (hence the reason NEWS established this company) they do though have to give total P&L figures to NEWS for their annual report which are also buried in the annual report combined with a few other small entities. However if u look hard enough you can find that Valimandra has paid a management fee to the Storm of between $18m per year since 1998. Now I think where you get the $6m subsidy from Jaceman is that the ARL agreed to compensate NEWS for losses incurred by it post super league. The compensation figure (or dividend as it was politely phrased) was $8m per annum and from this figure a large portion was paid to the Storm in the form of a subsidy. The last source of income though (sorry if I bore u but, u asked and the history of NEWS is an amazing story even outside League) is the $3m that each club receives each year as a grant from the NRL. I admit my figure's r rough but they r from reliable sources and I have not come to them hastily and without some digging but the Storm have posted a loss pretty much every year and therefore if u take [$18m (from Valimandra) add the $6m (direct from the NEWS NRL dividend) and lastly add the $3m (NRL club grant)] multiply this figure by the 13 years we get just over $350m a year without taking any other costs of establishing the club and it's facilities prior to it's inception into the game into account. However that is all I can give you, and like you I would love to see Waldron write his book.

Except to keep the Storm in the headlines until Feb 22nd and then say Storm - News will throw heaps at him to stay. Cronk kept the press guessing for weeeks to keep the Storm in the headlines and then a big press announcement to say he is staying - melodrama....

81 paling I am intrigued and would love to get more details - 18m a year for 13 years? (they allege it was $6m subsidy) but I would love waldron to write a book...

either that or he is trying to get news to up the offer a little bit more.

Tinkler maybe?

Any shareholder. Is going to be interested in that sort of figure (derived from the 18m each year. From valimandra and a further 5 from the 8m dividend that NEWS received each year since the Storm came into existance). Granted NEWS. Is big but they are not that big and they have autonomous share holders who ask questions that if allowed may under cover certain well covered fraudulent activities conducted by senior officials that could cause them go to jail as was the case with the dogs.

I believe the longer it takes for Bellamy to make a decision, the more chance there is of him going to Dragons. If he has already made a decision to stay with the Storm, then there is no reason for him not to come out and say so.

i don't think its 500 mln. i would also think that since NEWs has a market cap of 25 billion that their investment in the storm is of minimal importance to them

even with Bellamy , what price would NEWs get for the Storm? who would pay money to own an enterprise that loses money?

NEWS may never be able to sell the storm as if they did the total loss made by the Storm (or their license holder Valimandra) would have to be reported in the annual report of NEWS and as that is rumoured to be in the $500m mark it is something that NEWS desperately wish to keep from the public and share holders as it may also bring to light the internal fraud of the club that has been so competently suppressed, NEWS can never sell the Storm they must simply try to offload portions of it. However it would be interesting to see Bellamey coach of another club he must at least be tempted by the challenge as whilst his statistics show him to be successful the fact that their is conjecture of Smith becoming Captain coach because it is felt that his influence is so influencial in Bellamy's success must tempt Bellamy to at least want to be a successful coach at multiple clubs as his success makes him good but surely he wants to be ranked amongst those who had success at several clubs like Benett for the reality is he has a very long way to go before his name could even be considered in the same sentence left alone on the same page as Gibson.

News Ltd Tele says he has agreed to stay with News Ltd Storm - has to so News can sell the team but the big 3 all turn 30 this year and they have had a lot of footy so injuries might catch up with them...

No doubt Craig Bellamy has a lot to consider before making his decision and he should take his time and not pander to the media. As a Dragons supporter I would love to see him as the Dragons coach but realistically I see it as a long shot and believe that he will stay in Melbourne. The Dragons are going to have a lean year in 2013 and need to have a good long and pragmatic look at their player roster. They need to make a few decisions about who is going to be long term, beyond the next 2 years, who the up and coming playmakers might be, who are good backs prospects and who are good forwards prospects. The Dragons may need to let Cooper, Fien, Chase Stanley, Prior, Henderson and Ah Mau go elsewhere, give a new coach room to build a squad and build toward 2015. That is hard for me to say, but realistically its got to happen.

Hes from southern NSW and at his age it would make sense to move back but depending on where his kids schooling is up to if that is a consideration...

Good news for the Storm if he stays however i would have liked to see him coach elsewhere to see if could replicate his succeses at Melb. But then Melbourne would be crazy if they let him go over a few hundred grand given how rare succesful coaches are.