Watch and jewellery entrepreneur James Kennedy answers the critics with new AFL deal

Melbourne-based luxury watch and jewellery entrepreneur James Kennedy has given naysayers the boot and inked a significant three-year deal with the AFL, as well as firming up his company’s place trackside with the VRC.

EXCLUSIVE: Melbourne-based luxury watch and jewellery entrepreneur James Kennedy has given naysayers the boot and inked a significant three-year deal with the AFL as the league continues its push into China.

The AFL China game will see Port Adelaide take on St Kilda at Shanghai’s Jiangwan Stadium on Sunday, June 2 with the teams playing for The Kennedy Cup, as the Kennedy company becomes the AFL’s China Foundation Partner.

“I have been a lover of the AFL and football from the day I moved to Melbourne 10 years ago,” Mr Kennedy, Executive Chairman of Kennedy said.

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The Kennedy group is the naming rights sponsor of the AFL's China game for the next three years. Picture: Fiona Hamilton

“To be a partner of the AFL is something I am incredibly proud of, it is humbling. To be able to be a foundation partner in the China game is exhilarating.

“It ticks the personal box and certainly ticks the business box for us. There is no denying China, and Asia as a whole, are a huge part of the economy in Australia and particularly in the luxury goods space, particularly in our business, so to be able to link in with firstly such a strong local domestic sport like the AFL, but then added to that the link with China and expanding our reach, that means a lot.”

The deal comes after Mr Kennedy weathered months of speculation about the state of his business stemming from his EGI Audio Visual partnership with Bang & Olufsen going into administration over a $6 million debt, his exit from his fashion partnerships, disquiet in social circles about his splashy arrival in the Flemington Birdcage as the sponsor of the VRC Oaks, and a restructuring of his marketing department.

James kennedy and Jaimee Belle at Kennedy 2018 Cup Day. Picture: Julie Kiriacoudis

He said the commentary around his business dealings had been painful and a lesson.

“It is hard for me to comment on what other people’s opinions are of me,” he said.

“I am not going to lie and say it did not affect me …. No one likes to be criticised but it is part and parcel of a person’s right to an opinion.

“We are a business that has been around for 40 years and I have been running it for 10.

“I have somehow garnished a profile being in my business and with that comes the good, the bad and the ugly.

“Bang & Olufsen was a bad deal. I have had some great deals, I have had some OK deals and I have had some bad deals.

“Ultimately Bang & Olufsen as a partnership was not a significant one in regards to the performance of my business. The administration was done as that was the legal route I had to take. Bang & Olufsen terminated the agreement I could not trade under Bang & Olufsen any longer.

The Kennedy’s at their marquee of the same name on Oaks Day with Priscilla Presley. Picture: Julie Kiriacoudis

“Separate to that there was a claim, that has since been dismissed, made by Bang & Olufsen for an alleged debt that was owed and that matter has now been dealt with here in Australia and they are now defending a claim that I have made in the Danish courts against some conduct of theirs over the partnership.”

Mr Kennedy said his focus was squarely on his core business of luxury watches and jewellery stores and premium partnerships with the likes of the AFL and the Victoria Racing Club (VRC).

The company, which recorded sales of more than $52.5 million in the first half of the 2018-2019 financial year, has 10 stores nationally and will open four more by the end of the year with the expansion centred on Sydney.

Jaimee and James Kennedy at the Kennedy Marquee on Oaks Day. Picture: Getty

“The business is incredibly sound and the staff are happy,” he said.

“We are entering the third year of a five-year sponsorship with the VRC and we are certainly going to be bigger and stronger this year.

“Look for us to have a stronger presence in the Birdcage and we are looking to do more for at least the next three years and beyond.

“The one thing I realise turning forty is, I’m basically half way through my life; it’s half time.

“You get one life and no second chances … I am not going to die wondering or live with regret so I am going to make the most of what I have and achieve all I can.”

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