Australian Football League side Collingwood has revealed an "ambitious long-term plan to build their own stadium and have already explored options for a new ground" as the club announced another year of multimillion-dollar profits, according to Michael Gleeson of THE AGE. With limits on "where and how profits can be spent on their players and football department, and with the club's newly expanded home facilities on the Yarra almost complete," the Magpies are "canvassing options for further investment in the club." One possibility in the medium-to-long term is to copy the big European football clubs that "buttress their financial futures by owning their own stadiums." Collingwood announced a A$2M ($1.7M) profit for this year, "which came after a write-down" of more than A$3M of the newly expanded Westpac Centre for administration and football and for the community facilities. The club's "underlying operating profit for the year was well in excess" of A$5M. Collingwood CEO Gary Pert said the club had adopted a "similar philosophy"
to La Liga side Barcelona on how to handle its "financial
strength and ongoing profits once all football and administration costs
were covered." Pert: "We are strategically committed that we will use the profits to keep the costs of membership and membership services down. ... It is a Barcelona model. Basically, what Barcelona does is say, 'We are
going to make big money out of sponsorships and generate great revenues
from all our commercial deals and that is done to keep your membership
costs down.'" When asked if "building and owning a stadium was among the club's plans, Pert agreed it was a serious consideration." He said, "We would love to have our own stadium. And, no, it is not beyond the realm of possibility; we have looked at options" (THE AGE, 11/24).
