In an interview with the SMH, Cash Coverters owner Peter Cumins and the head of the Perth consortium says he is “disappointed and frustrated” with the latest turn of the events, explaining why no licence fee up to $20 million was offered as part of the proposal.
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“Disappointed would be an understatement, and we’ve spent a lot of money for nothing,” Cumins said.
“The frustration from our point of view is there has never been a licence fee paid by any club in the NRL, including the Dolphins. The Dolphins have been going for 75 years with $100 million worth of real estate and they’ve got all the facilities they need.
“We’re a start-up in an AFL state, so our start-up costs are massive. There’s a $16 million burn before you even kick a football.
“We’re bringing new eyeballs to the game to help with negotiating broadcast rights, new sponsorship dollars because we’re not competing with east coast sponsors.
“None of it commercially made any sense [to offer a substantial licence fee], which is why we elected not to.”
The NRL is continuing talks with the WA government as they weigh up retaining the licence and financing their own team, which would still involve a partnership with the Bears.
While it is a hammer blow for Cumins and his group, he said he’s not “going to be an obstacle” in the NRL’s way for future Perth bids.
“We’re all rugby league people and this was never about millions of bucks,” Cumins said.
“I’m still a rugby league diehard from Perth and Cash Converters has poured millions of dollars into the grassroots game over many years.
“I still want to see a Perth team. I want it to be successful. I’m not going to be an obstacle. We’re still there if they want us.”
