Penrith Panthers to bank $5 million fortune in grand final week
In the midst of a global pandemic and economic recession, the Penrith Panthers are set to produce the most financially lucrative period in the club’s 53-year history.
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Penrith Panthers will pull in a monstrous $2 million over NRL grand final week and expect to bank a staggering $5 million from grand final takings – making this the most financially lucrative period in the club’s 53-year history.
“We’d be looking at more than $2 million for the weekend,” Panthers Group CEO Brian Fletcher said.
“It’s worth millions of dollars to our bottom line if we get it right and, at this stage, we’re doing it right.”
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The Daily Telegraph can reveal:
* Penrith merchandise has been “walking out the front door”, according to Fletcher;
* Sponsors have included grand final bonuses in their packages, each to be honoured despite COVID;
* Function rooms inside Panthers have been snapped up throughout the week, offering another financial windfall;
* A pop-up membership office has been opened in the Panthers Leagues Club foyer;
* The club pocketed $50,000 for winning the NRL minor premiership and could take another $200,000 for claiming the grand final;
* Penrith pulled another three sponsors in the past eight weeks and didn’t lose a single sponsor during COVID;
* A key sponsor, Hertz, who were due to renew next year, have renewed this season.
“We have had new sponsors come on board in the last two months,” Fletcher said.
“For instance, we call them ‘super signs’ at the ground, and we sell them for $25,000 each. The sponsorship team came back just recently and wanted to erect another three immediately because we just got three new sponsors.
“We have set up a membership office in the Leagues Club foyer. Of the thousands of people that come through the club, we’d be hoping our membership would increase dramatically.
“Our sponsors have been very generous. They have grand final bonuses in their sponsorship. We also had semi-final bonuses, grand final bonuses and winning-the-premiership bonuses. They are all significant bonuses.
“Not one sponsor who has those bonuses included in their sponsorship agreement came back to us during COVID and wanted us to pull it out. We haven’t lost any sponsors either so getting to a grand final has been a great repayment to them for showing faith is us.
“It’s also great exposure for the Penrith city. The people have something to believe in and you wouldn’t think we’ll be a one-year wonder because we’re so young.”
Penrith outlay $2.5m a season to promote and propagate junior rugby league in the district, which includes funding the club’s Canterbury Cup and Jersey Flegg sides.
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The forecast money earned through reaching a grand final will potentially offset that entire cost.
“We always spend a lot of money to develop rugby league and this is our opportunity to recover a lot of those costs,” Fletcher said.
Penrith is purchasing merchandise weekly, rather than in bulk, and risk the possibility of having extensive amounts of stock remaining unsold.
“The main thing for us is that now we’ve got to the big stage we manage things financially soundly,” Fletcher said. “And we are doing that with our merchandise.
“We’re not dreaming that we will sell 10,000 caps – we’re going to sell 2000 caps at the right price. Some clubs who win premierships have six truckloads of gear left over for the next five years. We won’t be doing that. We have so much coming in each week and, if that sells, then the next order comes.
“In the week after the grand final – win, lose or draw – we should be looking to reorder stock rather than having piles of it. It becomes a very good windfall for us financially. Penrith is probably everyone’s second team at the moment.”