South Sydney owners reveal $4 million Christmas gift to club
South Sydney are riding a powerful membership wave into the 2020 NRL season - and famous co-owners Russell Crowe and James Packer will reinvest every cent back into the club.
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It is the Rabbitohs’ $4 million Christmas gift from members — and Rusty and Packer will inject every cent to ensure the club’s long-term success.
South Sydney have surged past 25,000 members for next season and are primed to crash through the 30,000 barrier by kick-off next season.
That will reap around $4 million, which famous club co-owners Russell Crowe and James Packer will plunge into the club’s juniors, pathway programs and new Centre of Excellence at Heffron Park, which is expected to open in late 2021 or early 2022.
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Souths chief executive Blake Solly has no doubt last year’s membership figure of 29,670 will be smashed. The club is around 250 memberships ahead of this time last year.
Solly said every cent obtained through memberships would be invested in the club, and the Rabbitohs are hoping for an influx of them through Christmas and the New Year.
Under Solly’s leadership, Souths will again lodge a profit for this year.
“Our investors (Crowe and Packer) don’t take a dividend from the business,” Solly said. “All the money our members spend on our memberships goes back into the club.
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“That is really important when starting initiatives like our pathways and juniors program last year, which cost the club more than $1 million, which was money well spent. Membership is the lifeblood of our club.
“It’s great to go past 25,000 at this time of the year.
“We’re very keen to return to having the biggest membership numbers in the NRL in 2020 and we want members and potential members to see that their investment makes a huge difference to the club.”
“When we are able to show our partners that we have over 30,000, passionate and fully paid members then we are able to prove that a partnership with the Rabbitohs will deliver them a return on their investment.
Souths ran equal second in memberships for 2018 – the 2019 figures haven’t yet been lodged with the NRL.
In 2018, Souths banked $2.6m through membership alongside Melbourne and only behind Brisbane ($3.8m).
Crowe is back in Australia and will no doubt be lifted by the membership figures.
“The reasons why membership is so important to us are clear. The club keeps all membership revenue and - without the benefit of Licensed Club funding - this allows the Rabbitohs to maintain a competitive NRL team and coaching staff that is in the hunt for premierships,” Solly said.
“We’re also able to invest into our pathways and junior programs to ensure all grades of the club play in the red and green, without the need for a feeder team.
“The pathways program is instrumental in developing talented players into NRL players, and giving men and women of the district the opportunity to play for the club they love.
“In 2019, the cost to the Rabbitohs of this pathways program was over $1m but because of our membership support, we’re able to make this investment to develop the next generation of John Sutton’s, Cameron Murray’s and Jasmine Allende’s.
“The club will also contribute $4m over the next three years to build our new Community and High Performance Centre at Heffron Park, which will be essential to ensure our players have the best possible preparation to perform and remain successful both on and off the field.”
While Souths are readying for another membership rush, the Rabbitohs may not pass the record number of 35,000 which came a year after famously winning the 2014 premiership.
Originally published as South Sydney owners reveal $4 million Christmas gift to club
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