SCG/SFS profit

[Dan]

Good to see some healthy figures coming out of Moore Park


Smell of leather pays off for SCG
By Michael McGuire
July 31, 2003
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/co ... 43,00.html

RECORD-breaking attendances for rugby and cricket, coupled with a mini-revival in the concert circuit, has lifted the profit of the Sydney Cricket and Sports Ground Trust more than 35 per cent.

The trust, which tabled its annual report in the NSW parliament, said its surplus in the year to February 28 rose to $3.18 million from $2.33 million a year earlier.

Revenue increased to $37.6 million from $32.9 million.

Trust chief executive Jamie Barkley said yesterday that the key had been a "very stable schedule of events".

The trust, which operates the Sydney Cricket Ground, Aussie Stadium and the Sydney Aquatic Centre, is home to Rugby Union's Waratahs, rugby league teams Sydney Roosters and South Sydney, and the AFL's Sydney Swans.

More than 1.3 million people attended the SCG and Aussie Stadium, numbers boosted by the success of the Roosters, which won last year's NRL premiership, and the Wara tahs, which made the Super 12 Finals for the first time in 2002.

In addition, the SCG hosted a cricket test match between Australia and England which pulled in 195,000 spectators, its biggest test crowd since the 1946-47 season and one of the few times it has attracted more spectators than the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

Concerts by the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Bruce Springsteen attracted 70,000 spectators between them, although disastrous technical hitches at the Springsteen concert sparked debate about the death of stadium rock. Event hire fees rose by almost a third to $4.74 million, from $3.57 million the year before.

Mr Barkley said the trust was expecting another bumper financial year in the current period, which will include five Rugby World Cup games at Aussie Stadium. Although none of the games feature the Australian team, industry estimates say the hiring fees could add more than $1 million to the trust's bottom line.

Another bonus for the trust has been the re-emergence of the Sydney Swans – currently second on the ladder – as a force in the AFL. Crowds cheering them on at the SCG have risen 30 per cent to average 26,085 in 2003.

The trust also benefited for the first time from selling the naming rights to the Sydney Football Stadium to home loan group Aussie.

How much Aussie paid to rename the SFS as Aussie Stadium was confidential, but a rise in advertising and sponsorship revenue in the annual report to $4.1 million, from $2.71 million, is thought to reflect the value of the naming rights.