South Sydney is struggling to attract sponsors following the club's recent scandals.GETTY IMAGES
National Rugby League side South Sydney Rabbitohs is facing a A$2.5M ($1.7M) sponsorship "crisis" in the wake of the recent "sexting scandal" and captain Greg Inglis' drunk driving and speeding charges, according to Phil Rothfield of the Sydney DAILY TELEGRAPH. Never has it been "more evident" that high-profile player misbehavior "can have a catastrophic effect on the corporate support that keeps the 16 NRL clubs afloat." Even though the club cleared all Rabitohs players from any wrongdoing in the sexting case, "the sponsoring job has become that much harder." For several months, Rabbitohs CEO Blake Solly has been pitching the club's front-of-jersey major sponsorship. Solly: "The market is pretty tough anyway. There's so many opportunities now and sponsors can be really choosy. If there's a new A-League or Big Bash team, it adds another property to the market. We've got a lot of sponsors who understand there will be issues at times. They feel it's most important how the clubs deal with it. That's been the overwhelming feedback we've had from our sponsors. They trust us to deal with it appropriately" (DAILY TELEGRAPH, 10/6).
