Super Rugby side ACT Brumbies CEO Michael Jones is "overhauling
match-day operations to win back dwindling crowds, claiming filling
Canberra Stadium is the key to securing the Super Rugby club's financial
future," according to David Polkinghorne of THE AGE. But Jones said that the sport "must also look at ways to
remodel the game itself to become more attractive to fans, broadcasters
and sponsors." The Brumbies had a record loss of more than A$1M last year and retain only about A$2M ($1.7M) of the A$11.375M "generated from the sale of their former base in Griffith." Jones has "already forecast another financial loss this year," but he is confident of "turning that around" in '15-16 as he introduces a "five-year budget to plan further into the future." Jones is "already tapping into contacts he made" working on Australia's America's Cup campaign. But he is adamant he will not "cut the asking price or rush a
deal through if it's not right for the club." Jones: "The America's Cup is at the forefront of [sponsorship] because it's
such an expensive sport, they've got sponsorship down to a fine art and I
learned a lot out of that." He added that the Brumbies "must play local, but think global." He feels
the club had been held back by being "very clubby" but needs to move
forward with "ambitions of being world class." Jones said, "There's a little bit
of inward focus ... we hit 60 countries, we hit 6 million people a
weekend worldwide, but all our pictures are about Canberra" (THE AGE, 1/17).
