Adelaide Crows have released their financial results for 2019 – recording a small profit
The clean-out following Adelaide’s 2019 season, and the payouts to “key personnel” within the football department have shrunk the Crows profit for the year.
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Adelaide’s post-2019 season clean-out, and the payouts that followed, have reduced the profit the Crows recorded for last year.
At the club’s Members’ Meeting at Adelaide Oval on Monday, the Crows announced they had reported a cash operating profit of $2.68 million for 2019 – their fifth straight.
But after “taking into consideration non-cash items”, the club’s statutory profit – the bottom line of a company’s profit and loss account – was $238,473 and included depreciation.
In 2018, the Crows recorded a cash operating profit of $3.8 million and a statutory profit of $1.5 million.
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On their website, the Crows said: “the financial result can be attributed to a healthy commercial program and comes on the back of a challenging on-field period, which resulted in key personnel changes within the football department”.
Senior coach Don Pyke stepped down after the Crows missed finals for the second straight year while head of football Brett Burton and senior assistant coach Scott Camporeale were victims of the internal and external reviews at the club.
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It is understood Pyke and Camporeale’s contracts were paid out in part, while in December The Advertiser revealed Adelaide settled with Burton on a payout after he argued unfair dismissal and reputational damage over his sacking and was understood to be prepared to go to court.
Money paid to Burton, Camporeale and Pyke will fall under Adelaide’s football department soft cap, but in October chief executive Andrew Fagan said the club was prepared to go over and pay the tax to ensure its football program was not compromised.
At the Members’ Meeting, Crows chairman Rob Chapman said he was happy with another profit at West Lakes.
“It is good to make money, it is good to be profitable,” he said.
“We know why we exist, it is to win finals football and this helps us to do that.
“We need to have this to allow us to fund to the fullest extent that we are allowed our football program.”
But Chapman said the club could not rest on its laurels.
“We have challenges, you would have all heard about the economy in recent weeks, I was determined to not say coronavirus but there are challenges and we need to be prepared for them,” he said.
Fagan said after the reviews the club would seek to enhance engagement with members, and give them “more inner sanctum access”.
He said the club would also ramp up its broadcast capabilities, while it would also establish a members’ advisory group for the first time.
The club also said its membership reached 104,066 in 2019, but Fagan said this included its “We Fly as One” option.
He said in AFL terms the club was at 68,000 to 70,000 but soon he believed the AFL would count the various options offered by clubs.
He also said the club would look to strengthen the impact of the Adelaide Crows Foundation.