South Sydney CEO Blake Solly has vowed to keep fighting and demanded clarification from the NSW government after the club’s latest bid to move to the $828 million Allianz Stadium was knocked back.
The Rabbitohs have long been campaigning to share the state’s multi-million dollar stadium with fierce rivals the Sydney Roosters, who have been vehemently opposed to the move.
And on Tuesday, NSW sports minister Stephen Kamper delivered Souths a fresh blow, telling the club that a a full-time move back to the Moore Park venue was not financially viable and that they’d have to honour a contract with Accor Stadium that they signed until 2030. Souths agreed the lucrative long-term deal to play out of Sydney’s Olympic stadium in 2006 when the club was struggling financially.
But Souths have been critical of the lack of atmosphere at Accor Stadium and the fact the venue is some 30km away from their supporter heartlands in Redfern and Maroubra. They’ve argued that the much closer, tax-payer funded Allianz Stadium would be a more ideal home, where they proposed to play nine games a season, as well as two at Accor and one outside of Sydney.
However, the NSW government told the Rabbitohs they’d have to honour their existing deal. “The Rabbitohs are contracted to play nine matches per season at Accor Stadium until 2030, as they have been since 2006, and we look forward to continuing to work with the Rabbitohs as they create the best game day experience for their fans and players at home at Accor,” a spokesman for NSW Sports Minister Kamper said.
“The cost to taxpayers of relocating the Rabbitohs from Accor Stadium to Allianz Stadium, has been estimated by Venues NSW to result in a net loss of between $4.5m and $14m per annum, largely attributable to long-term agreements around naming rights and commercial programs. This is taxpayer money we simply can’t afford to spend on moving stadiums for the Rabbitohs when we have critical essential services including schools and hospitals that need to be funded.”
South Sydney want answers after Allianz Stadium setback
But a bullish Solly is demanding clarification on the government’s statement and says the matter is by no means finished. And the club claims part of the agreement to remain at Accor Stadium until 2030 came with promises of various upgrades at the venue they say have been unfulfilled.
“We’ve asked the government for further details on the forecast financial losses if we move to Allianz,” the Souths CEO told AAP. “We are happy to keep discussing with the government a reasonable position and hopefully we get those details soon. We were originally promised those details in 2022.”
“We remain committed to discussing the issue with the government and Venues NSW… This is by no means the end of the process.”
Souths chair Nick Pappas added: “This decision is clearly disappointing. We moved to Accor Stadium at a time when the club had only just been readmitted to the premiership and was struggling to get back on its feet. The deal we were offered was simply too good to refuse. Since then, we have been promised that there would be significant investment in Accor Stadium but that has failed to come to fruition.”
League journalist Michael Caryannis said he feels for Souths but questioned whether the Allianz Stadium turf could actually cope with having two NRL clubs playing there. Super Rugby’s NSW Waratahs and A-League club Sydney FC also call the venue home. “Can the footy stadium surface actually hold up to another team playing there?” Caryannis asked on SEN radio. “It’s quite disgraceful as it is… I think Souths should be there but could the surface (hold up) – and this is a legitimate question considering how bad it’s been.”
The Rabbitohs were based out of the Moore Park area between 1908 and 1947, before returning in 1988 for the majority of their games until the Accor Stadium move in 2006. “We remain committed to discussing the issue with the government and Venues NSW,” Solly said. “This is by no means the end of the process.”
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