Adelaide Football Club’s $65 million plan for new aquatic centre base could be shelved due to coronavirus outbreak
The Adelaide Crows’ plans to relocate their training base and headquarters to the Adelaide Aquatic Centre could be put on the “backburner”, as the club looks to survive a big financial hit from the COVID-19 pandemic.
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The Adelaide Football Club’s plans to relocate its training base and headquarters to the Adelaide Aquatic Centre could be put on the “backburner” as the club looks to survive a big financial hit because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The AFL has already told clubs they need to find up to $5 million each in savings ahead of a season where matches are set to be played without crowds, if it goes ahead at all.
With a drastic reduction in membership, gate-takings, merchandise and sponsorship, clubs are facing a $10 million loss in 2020 with a 17-round season.
Crows board member and powerbroker Mark Ricciuto said one thing that could mitigate a horror scenario for the club is that it has paid off the debt it had from its $20 million upgrade of West Lakes in the 2000s.
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“We have finally paid off our debt for the first time since building that facility at West Lakes,” he said on Triple M.
“That is through good financial management.”
But Ricciuto said he didn’t know what impact a $10 million loss would have on the club, and was sure Crows chairman Rob Chapman and chief executive Andrew Fagan were “checking with the banks” as to the financial impact.
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But after Hawthorn put on hold its plans to build its $130 million Dingley training facility due to the coronavirus crisis, Ricciuto flagged the potential for the Crows’ own $65 million proposal in North Adelaide to also be put on ice.
“To be honest... that (the Aquatic Centre proposal) would be backburner jobs at the moment,” he said.
“I don’t know, I’m not speaking on behalf of the club, but at the moment they would be looking at (the club) surviving.”
The Advertiser sought comment from the Crows on Ricciuto’s comments.
A public consultation period on the Crows’ plans, which involves the building of a public pool, training and administration complex on the ageing Adelaide Aquatic Centre, closed last week and Adelaide City councillors are set to be provided with the results of it shortly.
The Crows have $15 million from the Federal Government towards the project, and at their Members’ Meeting earlier this month Chapman said the club had a “funding sort of funnel” to try and find the rest of the cash.
At that meeting, Fagan said it would be “transformational” for the club and would be a “win, win, win” for them, the council and ratepayers.
The Crows’ most recent financial results had them recording a $2.68 million cash operating profit.
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.
The club has $8.6 million in net assets, while in 2019 the Crows reaped $58.5 million in net revenue.
Of this, $22.9 million was from season ticket sales, AFL memberships and corporate boxes and reserved seating.
On the field Tom Doedee is available for selection for Round 1 but is set to still be a fortnight away from a return to AFL.
The young defender, who was promoted to the Crows leadership group in just his third season this year, was targeting a Round 1 comeback from the ACL reconstruction required after he went down in Adelaide’s first game of 2019 against Hawthorn.
But these hopes suffered a massive blow after the 22-year-old hyperextended his left knee, that was reconstructed, in training last month following a marking contest.
Crows head of science and medicine Steve Saunders said Doedee would have played this weekend if there was a SANFL trial match scheduled, but because of the coronavirus all state league footy has been postponed until May 31.
Saunders this means Doedee will need some more weeks to get him to the required level to force his way into Matthew Nicks’ side.
“Tom has had a good volume of work under is belt now,” Saunders said.
“The main goal with Tom over the next couple of weeks is to increase the amount of game time or match simulation time he gets to prepare him to compete at AFL level.
“We have a plan in place for that. It is being tested at the moment with changes in AFL and SANFL scheduling, so we are working through best options for Tom.
“He’s obviously very close to being ready to play AFL, we just need a little more high-end game prep under his belt.”
Doedee has been taken off the Crows injury list, leaving Riley Knight as the only Crow unavailable for selection against Sydney as he recovers from recent Achilles surgery.
Originally published as Adelaide Football Club’s $65 million plan for new aquatic centre base could be shelved due to coronavirus outbreak