St Kilda’s debt hits $12 million after poor on-field year combined with Moorabbin redevelopment
St Kilda will be banking on Alan Richardson’s team to deliver in 2019 as the club’s debt increased as its horror on-field year combined with the cost of building the its new Moorabbin home.
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St Kilda’s debt level has jumped to around $12 million as its horror on-field year combined with the cost of building the club’s new Moorabbin home.
The Saints had been determined to whittle down their $10 million debt this year as a new Marvel Stadium deal promising as much as $220,000 extra per game came into effect.
Instead, St Kilda’s 11 home games netted a stadium return of just $1.7 million for the season — only $150,000 a game — due to a drop in crowds of 5718 per game from 2017.
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Combined with extra investment into the club’s football program and an outlay on a Moorabbin facility that will one day be worth $44 million, it pushed debt up several million dollars.
St Kilda’s $202,671 profit came after an AFL’s distribution to the club of around $18.9 million, down $500,000 on last year’s $19.4 million figure.
The Saints had planned on an aggressive debt reduction campaign from last year’s debt of $10 million as AFL boss Gillon McLachlan called on the club to “get their business to work now”.
New St Kilda president Andrew Bassatt will take over from Peter Summers at the club’s annual general meeting on December 18.
Summers said in announcing the small profit the club had “never lost sight of the debt levels nor of the need to reduce that debt”.
But he said the new Moorabbin development would help the Saints become a destination club and be a “bedrock for our future success for years to come”.
St Kilda prioritised increased its football department spend by $1,944,988 — $430,000 of which went to its new women’s team.
The club and its foundation also committed $4.7 million towards what will become a $44 million development at Moorabbin’s RSEA Park, with some of those donations to continue from donors in coming years.
All of it means a club that had hoped to begin cashing in on on-field success and an aggressive debt reduction strategy now must hope Alan Richardson’s team delivers next year.
That will allow the Saints to follow Essendon’s lead of spending up on a new headquarters but quickly paying down debt when the crowds flock to watch them.
In 2017 St Kilda was handed $19.443 million by the AFL in funding, behind Gold Coast’s $24.163 million but ahead of the next-highest Victorian team (the Western Bulldogs, $16.576 million).
Geelong this week cleared $1 million of debt in announcing a $3.976m that was boosted by a one-off $5.1 million asset gain from the new GMHBA Stadium redevelopment.
The Saints will next year sell a home game to China to increase revenue, with Finnis believing the investment in the Moorabbin facility will pay off in the long run.
“The club and the St Kilda Football Club Foundation committed to contributing $4.7m towards the redevelopment of RSEA Park in this financial year and have met that commitment,’’ he wrote in the club’s annual report.
St Kilda supporters have pledged an extra $1.9 million in coming years to towards the Moorabin build but the club had to stump up much of the cash this year, affecting its balance sheet.
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