Richmond Tigers eye $1 million profit
Jon Ralph | June 09, 2009
RICHMOND will shrug off the credit crunch to declare a $1 million profit, and says that figure is sustainable even without the hype from Ben Cousins' recruitment. Tigers president Gary March said the club's off-field stability was a key selling point for any prospective new coach.
March said Richmond would soon have arguably the best facilities of any Victorian club, with the addition of its Craigieburn facility, and had football department spending to match any rival.
The board will this evening ratify the club's plans to hire a new coach, with the Tigers set to more than double last year's $395,000 profit, despite the tough financial times.
Despite the spate of losses that led to coach Terry Wallace being sacked, Richmond's membership is at record levels and it is a close second on attendances to Essendon.
March was confident the club could maintain its financial strength even without the dramatic spike to membership Cousins provided.
"By this time of the year you pretty much know where you sit in terms of revenue and cost base, so we expect to make close to a seven-figure profit," March said. "Two years ago we made a million-dollar profit and finished down the bottom and certainly didn't have Ben Cousins.
"It's not just Ben, our sponsorship is 40 per cent ahead of where it was four years ago in terms of revenue, and we are up in a whole lot of areas."
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/sport/afl/story/0,26576,25607584-19742,00.html