Australian Football League Side North Melbourne Generates $336K In Profits

Australian Football League side North Melbourne's "most successful season on the field since 2007 has been mirrored off it, the Kangaroos finishing the year with an operating profit" of more than A$400,000 ($336,000), according to Rohan Connolly of THE AGE. The A$423,074 profit "has not only come in contrast to significant losses this year sustained by the likes of St Kilda and Carlton," but with North Melbourne "having ploughed more money than ever before into its football department." The Roos "are budgeting for a football department spend" of A$21.5M in '15, up from just A$17M in '13, as part of a deliberate strategy "to focus more heavily on improving resources rather than debt reduction." Despite that, however, the Roos have shaved another A$700,000 from their accumulated debt this year, which now stands at A$2.05M, down from A$8M when the club nearly moved to the Gold Coast in '07 (THE AGE, 12/4).