Rebels-administrator-urges-private-consortium-be-allowed-to-save-club

[andrewM]

I don't think the Auditor tells us anything we didn't already know

https://www.theroar.com.au/2024/04/2...a-wont-engage/

[shasta]

So unless I'm over simplifying things, the 2 conditions mentioned indicate the RA board, if it chose to, could simply tell the administrator to "Go for your life with the ATO. If they release the insolvent trading directors from liability, we'll revisit your participation agreement" ??

[GIGS20]

So unless I'm over simplifying things, the 2 conditions mentioned indicate the RA board, if it chose to, could simply tell the administrator to "Go for your life with the ATO. If they release the insolvent trading directors from liability, we'll revisit your participation agreement" ??

I'm not sure RA are under any obligation to return the operating license at all are they? I think it expires at the end of this year and the Rebels have breached the agreement by requiring RA to pay players and coaches for four months after already having distributed the funds under the broadcast agreement. 15c is a bloody poor return for a company that considers itself a going concern, especially since they'll need to cover the contracts of all the Wallabies they bought of Queensland this year.

[shasta]

I'm not sure RA are under any obligation to return the operating license at all are they? I think it expires at the end of this year

If that expiry is correct, I agree RA can just sit on their hands. Without knowledge of the legalities here, it seems the scheme is doomed if the ATO won't budge on a relief agreement.
Should the directors plan get a run, wouldn't the Rebels directors still need to show a responsible business case to get an extension? I'd imagine that would include ongoing oversight of their financials. If they can't satisfy that there's no reason RA could or should keep funding them.

[valzc]

If that expiry is correct, I agree RA can just sit on their hands. Without knowledge of the legalities here, it seems the scheme is doomed if the ATO won't budge on a relief agreement.
Should the directors plan get a run, wouldn't the Rebels directors still need to show a responsible business case to get an extension? I'd imagine that would include ongoing oversight of their financials. If they can't satisfy that there's no reason RA could or should keep funding them.

Rebels directors have had 5 years to show responsibility for financials which has been stuff all. Their track record is pretty poor so far, so leniency from the ATO is a bit of a joke. Every insolvent company in Aus will start howling. Bit ironical that Rebels want RA to keep paying so they can sue RA. I wonder what type of mentality these people are who are so desperate to to do anything (illegal) to keep the Rebels going all these years? Narcissism or just expecting RA to bail them out forever. North must have the wood on someone in RA.. Clyne should be hauled back in for a good slapping.

[GIGS20]

If that expiry is correct, I agree RA can just sit on their hands. Without knowledge of the legalities here, it seems the scheme is doomed if the ATO won't budge on a relief agreement.
Should the directors plan get a run, wouldn't the Rebels directors still need to show a responsible business case to get an extension? I'd imagine that would include ongoing oversight of their financials. If they can't satisfy that there's no reason RA could or should keep funding them.

I'm confident licenses are linked with TV deals, I'm not so sure when the current TV deal expires. I think it's the end of this year, but not really on top of that.

[boof1050]

You just can't underestimate the amount of bullshit that Clyne and Pulver pulled in their time in charge. The damage those 2 fuckwits have done to the game is unbelievable.

[jargan83]

Do the right thing RA.

Pull the plug.

[jargan83]

I'm confident licenses are linked with TV deals, I'm not so sure when the current TV deal expires. I think it's the end of this year, but not really on top of that.

2025 is when the current deal ends.

https://amp.smh.com.au/sport/rugby-u...22-p5cucj.html

[GIGS20]

2025 is when the current deal ends.

https://amp.smh.com.au/sport/rugby-u...22-p5cucj.html

There we go, I was right and wrong

Original deal had an extension clause. meaning RA either need to renegotiate the deal or field a 5th team for at least a year.

I would also expect that the idea of moving Moana isn't going to fly, because the competition will still be down a team.

[bootsetal06]

I read an article saying that the belief is the Rebels have been operating insolvent since 2018 ……

[shasta]

Do the maths: Rescuing Rebels would be throwing more borrowed money after bad - Paul Cully SMH.


Australian rugby has been playing Super Rugby musical chairs with four chairs and five guests for about a decade, and now the music has stopped it’s the Melbourne Rebels who are left standing.

The Rebels aren’t the only ones on trial as their increasingly bitter battle with Rugby Australia plays out – it’s the entire concept of the five-team model.

There isn’t enough money in Australian rugby to pay for five teams at present, and the sheer cost of running a Super Rugby team – and how much Rugby Australia has been spending on them – was confirmed by the extraordinary administrator’s report into the Melbourne franchise.

During the past three years, Rugby Australia has put $16.6 million into the Rebels. Bear in mind this is an organisation that has been forced into taking an $80 million credit facility at an interest rate of more than 10 per cent.
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Player salaries at the Rebels over the same period totalled more than $22m, and the administrator stated that the franchise has been spending an average of $7.37m on players a year.

These are the fundamentals of the Rebels situation and should be seen as far more relevant than the administrator’s view that Rugby Australia should engage with the Rebels’ investor group for a rescue package.

Why? Because that recommendation takes a very narrow view as to what might be best for the Rebels’ creditors, not what is best for the sustainability of Australian rugby.

It does not take into consideration that Rugby Australia would have to keep funding the Rebels with money it doesn’t have – to the tune of about $5m a year – despite knowing that the very same organisation has been bleeding at least $5m a year for the past three years, regardless of the RA funding.

There can’t be any RA director with any sense of whole-of-game responsibility and even a basic grasp of mathematics who can conceivably believe that five Super Rugby franchises are sustainable.

I do feel sorry for the Rebels fans, who have been entitled to take the promises of previous RA administrations in good faith. Just last year, former chair Hamish McLennan said that an Australian team would be cut “over my dead body”.

Responding to fears that the Super Rugby commission would be the vehicle that eventually led to the reduction of Australia teams, McLennan said: “I’ve committed to [Rebels chairman] Paul Docherty and [Force owner] Andrew Forrest. Over my dead body will they be kicked out.”

But, while such statements might appeal to the sense of Australian pride, the details laid out in the administrator’s report make clear that they haven’t been supported by what’s happening in the real world, and that has been the case for years.

Super Rugby, in fact, has been living in a state of cosy delusion since about 2016, when a beefed-up overall broadcasting deal masked the fact that a lot of the uplift was a result of a boost from the UK due to the competitive tension in that market at the time.

Similarly, New Zealand Rugby’s big deal with Sky in the last broadcasting cycle was a direct result of Spark Sport’s emergence, but that won’t be repeated for the 2026-2030 cycle, and if the Kiwis’ next deal is flat, or even lower, RA’s wallet will be impacted too. There’s no more help coming from across the ditch; this masthead’s understanding is that NZ Rugby, like RA, will record a loss for the 2024 year.

From the tone and messaging of RA chair Daniel Herbert in an interview with colleagues Iain Payten and Michael Atkinson this week, it’s clear that enough is enough. RA wants people to live in the real world in Australian rugby, as hard as that might be. Herbert used to run it straight as a player; he’s carried those attributes into his new role.

At current spending levels, with five Super Rugby teams, RA would spend about $70-75m in the 2025-2027 period. For the avoidance of doubt, let’s spell this out. If nothing changes, RA will piss away the proceeds from the Golden Decade with ease and be left with a monumental hangover without any paracetamol in the house.

[Burgs]

Considering the post I put up a couple of days ago re the financial state of the English Premiership, there is an alternative future I can see.
Either way there appears to be a major recalibration of the NH landscape coming and there is nothing Australia can do to influence that, but out of adversity comes opportunity.
If the English Premier had to take a significant haircut to stay afloat, as seems inevitable. then that leaves three avenues for players chasing coin over Caps. France for competition, Japan and MLR for lifestyle. If the contracting tension between English and French is taken out there becomes a void, which would inevitably bring wages down.
Sponsors need things to sponsor as, at the end of the day, sponsorship is just big ticket advertising.
Japan is self contained with their unique ownership structures and MLR in a huge pool of competitive funds already, arguably more than they could ever exhaust.
The alternative future (to the article, not reality, to be clear...!) is SR staying the course and then returning the prestige and quality being jettisoned out of English Premier as an alternative to French Rugby as their quotas are near full and would see mostly a swapping of players rather than an increased number.
Somehow RA need to get through this year, hopefully with an improved Wallaby trajectory, and start climbing the mountain next season to the Lions and beyond.
To act before the impact of Schmidt/Cron and the current season would be premature, however concerning things may look from Tahville.

[The InnFORCEr]

Rebels to face Blues following creditors' vote on club

Coach Kevin Foote says his team are trying to stay focused on their Super Rugby Pacific clash with the Blues on Friday, despite a meeting before kick-off that could spell the end of the Melbourne Rebels.

The Rebels host the Blues at AAMI Park on Friday night, with creditors meeting at 2pm to vote on whether to back a rescue deal to save the financially stricken outfit or allow the club to enter liquidation.

In his report last week, PwC voluntary administrator Stephen Longley recommended that creditors, including the Australian Tax Office, which is owed a total of $23.1 million, accept a proposal by a private investor group, including current directors.

Rebels directors have proposed a deed of company arrangement (DOCA), which would guarantee employees 100 per cent of their entitlements, but leave unsecured creditors with as little as 15 cents to the dollar.

However, even if the plan is accepted, Rugby Australia, which stepped in to prop up the team until the end of the 2024 season, still has the final say on whether to return the competition licence.

Foote said the entire club's staff, including players, were addressed this week about the creditors' meeting and the possible outcomes.

"It's not the average week, going into the Blues when you're discussing this stuff," Foote told AAP.

"Our intention was to nail it early so as not to distract from the game, so from my perspective, focusing on the game is important.
"Friday is going to come and whatever comes we will be ready for it and that's how we've been the whole year.

"There's still so much uncertainty ... we don't know where Rugby Australia stands on this, and every week we hear the same thing that 'we can't tell you'.

"All we can focus on is the Blues."

The Rebels sit fifth on the Super ladder but are coming off a 39-0 loss to the Crusaders, which ended a run of three successive victories.

Their scrum in particular misfired, with Foote swapping the entire front row after 31 minutes.

The second-placed Blues meanwhile roared home in their last outing to pip Queensland.

"We were bitterly disappointed about our performance in Christchurch," Foote said.

"We had a slow start and then our set piece, but all facets of our game didn't fire against the Crusaders.

"The guys have trained really well this week and we understand the physical challenge coming."

https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/austr...aaaa41d5c&ei=9

[The InnFORCEr]

Looks like we will have the answers by lunch time tomorrow.