Clubs need funding certainty, Sea Eagles owner Scott Penn warns NRL

MANLY chairman Scott Penn has revealed his family tipped millions of dollars into the Sea Eagles but warned club owners will desert the NRL unless they can be certain on funding from head office.

MANLY chairman Scott Penn has revealed his family has tipped in more than $10 million to the Sea Eagles but warned club owners will desert the NRL unless they can be certain on funding from head office.

Penn’s family became major shareholders at Brookvale in 2006 and they have spent a million dollars per year ensuring the club is a force.

Their massive outlay shows why club chairmen are desperately fighting for the NRL funding package secured last December — a deal which the NRL has now reneged on.

Manly chairman Scott Penn has seen his family pour $1 million a year into the Sea Eagles since 2006. Picture: Mark Evans

Penn and his father, Rick, have been saviours for the club — businessmen whose passion has enabled the Sea Eagles to survive and thrive.

“We have gone past the $10m mark,” Penn told The Daily Telegraph. “That is the money we have put in. From a Penn family perspective, we love the Sea Eagles, we love the northern beaches, we love the fans and we love being involved in community. We love seeing the involvement and we love seeing how happy everyone is when we win.”

Undeterred by the big dollars he has already invested, Penn and other stakeholders want to outlay further cash to ensure Manly remain one of the NRL’s glamour clubs.

“We need to ensure clubs are sustainable, viable moving into the future,” Penn said.

Manly owner Scott Penn, centre, with fellow club chairmen, leave after their controversial NRL meeting at League Central last week. Picture: Brett Costello

“From a Sea Eagles perspective, we have opportunities with a centre of excellence, with a Brookvale Oval upgrade, projects we are going to need to invest more and more money into.

“We need certainty of funding in order to do that. We had that. We made decisions in the past 12 months, in order to grow the business, based on this new money coming forward. That money is now in jeopardy. I think it is fantastic the clubs are so united off the field. There is always a fierce rivalry on the field.”

The Manly boss has felt every emotion during his reign in charge — the highs, the lows, the good, the bad. And, of course, winning two premierships.

Manly's Scott Penn has warned the NRL it faces huge problems if a funding model isn’t finalised soon.

“There’s certainly plenty of emotions within the family,” Penn said. “However it has all been done with a view that clubs should be sustainable and hopefully profitable in the future.

“And, therefore, we have always believed that the broadcast deal that has been struck, would come. We knew that, in the future, that not only would the assets become more valuable, but also that the cash flow would improve.”

Meanwhile, Manly yesterday confirmed the signing of Gold Coast rising star Brian Kelly for next season. Kelly agreed last week to a deal for 2018 and 2019 but the Titans have agreed to release him for next season.

Originally published as Clubs need funding certainty, Sea Eagles owner Scott Penn warns NRL