AussieDominance
Trevor Allan (34)
Pfitzy - Eastwood never made a commercial offer to be part of the RAMS as they don't have any money. They operate at half the budget of teams like Manly and last year ran at a $20k loss. They don't get gate takings or bar taking so would not get anything if games are played at TG.
Whilst it is nice to say this is a major problem some clubs would be happy to have it the way Eastwood do.
I am assuming they don't pay ground hire & ground maintenance? They also get access too a facility that provides them space for a Gym a valuable asset to have in attracting and retaining players as well as office space? They don't deal with council re ground closures etc?
Compare this to a club like Gordon who get the gate & canteen but pay for ground hire a lot more risk exists. They also have a sponsorship with a Gym of which they contribute too. I am not sure of details for Gordon's offices but it might be a contra sponsorship at the Lindfield office premises.
At Warringah they have changed from a similar model to Eastwood and are now getting the gate receipts I believe this is why the Rays are looking at playing at Rat Park. Warringah and Eastwood seem to get bigger crowds than Gordon at the moment though (although that could possibly change if Gordon was consistently a premiership challenger).
Uni obviously is a different level in terms of not paying ground hire I am pretty sure and getting access to a gym and other sport science and office facilities whilst taking gate receipts/canteen is a pretty good backyard to be in.