The Australian Football League's expansion into Sydney's "rugby league and soccer heartland has hit a financial bump," with the league forced to tip in an extra A$3.25M into the AFL Greater Western Sydney Giants last year, according to Stensholt & Pierik of the SYDNEY MORNING HERALD. Documents obtained from the Australian Securities & Investments Commission show the Giants "slid to an operating loss" of A$529,315 in '14 despite the AFL pouring in A$20.16M in grants for the year. More "alarmingly for the AFL was the revelation that the Giants suffered a large fall in marketing and sponsorship income as well as a drop in membership and merchandise revenue" in a year when they increased their number of wins from one to six. The grant figure was an increase of A$2M from '13, when the AFL provided A$18.16M to the Giants, who then recorded a "small operating profit" of A$30,836. The Giants' '14 financials "also revealed the AFL provided the club" with a A$1.25M interest-free loan for their training base, payable within four years. Marketing and sponsorship in '14 fell almost A$1.4M to A$7.8M, while membership and merchandise was down more than A$300,000 to A$1.14M. Total revenue for the team reached A$32.4M, up from just less than A$32M in '13 (SMH, 2/23).
