Gold Coast Titans owner Darryl Kelly warns NRL’s new Brisbane team will need ‘deep pockets’ to survive

Darryl Kelly has pledged $35 million to ensure the survival of the Gold Coast Titans. So he speaks from uncomfortable experience when reminding any new club of their financial output.

Gold Coast Titans benefactor Darryl Kelly has issued a warning to Brisbane’s second NRL team that it will need “deep pockets” to survive and called for the league to prove expansion is the right move for the game.

Kelly is monitoring the expansion debate with interest as the NRL edges towards making a decision on whether to introduce a 17th club from the 2023 season.

The Titans are the NRL’s youngest club, having been granted the game’s 16th licence in May 2005 before entering the competition in 2007.

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Darryl Kelly has a word or two of advice for any prospective NRL expansion team.

The formative years of the Titans were a success, the club gradually rising to a preliminary finals berth in 2010 as the Gold Coast embraced them with sellout crowds.

But a wooden spoon in 2011 was followed by disastrous financial problems, mostly relating to the franchise’s Centre of Excellence building, which led to the club essentially folding and being taken over by the NRL in 2015.

Kelly, 70, lost more than $5 million in his first investment in the Titans in 2012 and has in total pledged $35 million to ensure the club’s long-term survival in a challenging market.

Now a co-owner of the club with prominent Gold Coast car dealers Rebecca and Brett Frizelle since 2017, Kelly said the owners of a new NRL club had to be prepared for a massive financial commitment.

“We are a crowded market in elite sport. Look across the AFL, NRL, A-League, Big Bash. We’re all trying to carve a dollar out of 25 million people,” he said.

“The United States has three major leagues (NFL, NBA and MLB) and 330 million people. The economics are pretty tough in Australia, there’s no doubt about that.

“I certainly wouldn’t be underestimating the depth of the pockets you need to have a sustained sporting team.

“It depends on the model – whether it’s a private enterprise or (leagues) club-based.

“All of them have their issues. We’ve seen the issues with club-based models at Parramatta, Canterbury, Cronulla and everywhere else.

Things haven’t always been looking this good at the Titans.

“In a private-based club someone has to have deep pockets to see it through the initial period.

“In any business investment you can’t put your income streams at risk to support your loves.

“I have never done that. I have lost a lot of money on the Titans but it’s never put my family or lifestyle at risk. I would never do that.

“Whoever comes in as a private investor has to understand it won’t be the golden child money spinner.

“You’ve got to do it for the passion. People get drawn in by it, but you have to keep your head on your shoulders.

“It’s not easy and I hope no-one ever goes through the struggles of the Titans.

“A lot of those struggles could have been avoided with better management. Whether the new club is going to have better management, who knows.”

The NRL is conducting a study into whether the introduction of a second team in Brisbane is financially viable and will help grow participation in the game from a grassroots level.

Expansion was considered a fait accompli in early 2020 as ARLC chairman Peter V’landys set his sights on delivering Brisbane a new team to rival the Broncos.

Andrew Abdo and Peter V'landys are ramping up expansion plans.

But the COVID-19 pandemic threw a curveball at the NRL last March, putting expansion on the backburner as league heavyweights fought to save the 2020 season.

With some clear air, V’landys and NRL CEO Andrew Abdo have ramped up expansion again, although time is of the essence for a team to join the league from 2023.

The Redcliffe Dolphins, Brisbane Jets and Brisbane Firehawks (Easts Tigers) are the three main bids currently vying for a licence and are advanced in their submission preparations.

V’landys and Abdo have consistently said the business case would have to stack up for the NRL to pursue a 17th franchise, particularly because one more team will not generate an extra game each round for broadcast revenue.

Kelly urged the NRL to provide facts before declaring expansion was on.

“I’d like to see a lot more research done on whether it’s advantageous to the game or not,” he said.

“Everyone wants an NRL licence, I understand that. But does it come at the cost of the women’s game or participation or investment? Is it a negative or positive?

“I haven’t seen any research done on any of that yet. If they make a logical business decision, you get a business case around it.

“I assume they’re going to do that, but June is coming and nothing has been put on the table yet.

Nick Livermore and Steve Johnson are trying to secure the Brisbane Jets an NRL licence.

“They need to supply some hard facts to say expansion is the right way to invest the limited funds we’ve got in the game.

“If it is, I’m all for it. We will find a way to survive. If it’s not going to grow the game in all the areas that are important, then don’t do it.

“The women’s game is not financial at the moment and a lot of the clubs wanted to pull out of it. If we’re going to grow that it will need investing. We need to grow the women’s game so we become a more diverse sport.

“To convince me it’s the right move they’re going to have to produce facts. I like figures.”

Originally published as Gold Coast Titans owner Darryl Kelly warns NRL’s new Brisbane team will need ‘deep pockets’ to survive