AFL's N. Melbourne Kangaroos Raise Enough Money To Pay Minimum Salary Cap

The A$800,000 ($763,000) raised by Australian Football League side North Melbourne Kangaroos at a special fund-raiser "will enable the Roos to pay the minimum salary cap required under the AFL rules this year," according to Jake Niall of THE AGE. The Kangaroos "raised the funds at a function for wealthy backers at Parliament House." The club has confirmed that "some of the money raised will be used to bring its total player payments up to the minimum" of 95% of the '13 salary cap of A$9.14M. Kangaroos CEO Carl Dilena said the club "has been focused on debt reduction, but the function at Parliament House on June 5 was about providing the club with more funding to enable it to compete in football department spending" -- particularly in player payments, where it has been some distance below the stronger clubs, which typically pay about a million dollars more than the Roos -- not counting Sydney's A$900,000 cost of living allowance (THE AGE, 6/19).