Stoush brewing over Parramatta's move into new stadium
Parramatta’s much-anticipated move into the new Western Sydney Stadium (WSS) has hit a roadblock after the venue operator tabled a hiring agreement the club deemed would “impact the club negatively for the next 25 years”.
The Eels are the anchor tenant at WSS and were scheduled to be the first side to play in it once construction is completed. The venue is expected to be ready in time to host Parramatta’s Easter Monday clash, most likely against Wests Tigers, in what would be a historic sellout event.
However, Parramatta’s move back to their spiritual home is no longer a fait accompli after a stoush with Venues Live, the operator of the ground.
The Eels have engaged consultants to ensure the hiring terms are reasonable and on par with what other clubs pay to play at similar venues. After studying the deal placed before them, the blue and golds believe the contract is significantly above market rate.
Parramatta management will not accept the current proposal, mindful the previous regime paid what the new board considers ‘overs’ for their arrangement with ANZ Stadium. According to Eels boss Bernie Gurr, the current WSS deal - which will run for between 15 to 25 years - is 'not acceptable'.
“The reality is, and you can’t sugarcoat a bitter pill, the negotiations aren’t going well,” Gurr said.
“All we want is a fair and reasonable deal. At the moment, the financial outcomes we’re projecting are not where we want them.
“We have done a lot of due diligence around this with feasibility studies, consultants, other clubs and rigorous financial modelling around it.
“It just doesn’t stack up for us at the moment.”
The NRL will soon release its draw for the 2019 season, but the impasse means all Eels home games will be marked with ‘TBC’ until the situation is resolved.
“The reality is rugby league clubs haven’t got good stadium deals,” Gurr said.
“We haven’t made much on our core business of putting on rugby league games. We’re trying to change that in a fair and reasonable way.
“If we can get those fair financial outcomes, that allows us to invest in our football programs. We’re a footy club and we need these revenue-generating parts of our business - such as the stadium deals - to give a fair and reasonable outcome.”
Parramatta playmaker Mitchell Moses said he was hopeful the situation could be resolved to ensure the side had a big home-ground advantage next season.
“It’s going to be massive, playing in front of your home fans,” Moses said at the launch of an initiative by Mexican restaurant Zambrero for World Food Day.
“I like playing at ANZ, but to have a ground we can call home is something big and I’m very excited about it. I don’t know too much about (the WSS issue), but hopefully it gets sorted.”
Gurr also has another sensitive deal that needs to be negotiated.
Jarryd Hayne claimed on social media that the club has yet to table a new contract, despite the Eels' pre-season being just two weeks away. Yet Gurr was confident the fullback will remain in the blue and gold.
“Myself, (coach) Brad (Arthur) and (recruitment boss) Peter Sharp have directly told Jarryd that we want to keep him,” Gurr said.
“We’ve got to sort through a few issues but we definitely want to keep him.”
There has been constant speculation over the futures of playmakers Moses and Corey Norman after they failed to gel during the club’s wooden spoon season.
Moses is adamant he will see out the final year of his contract and aborted plans to watch last weekend’s UFC event in the US to begin pre-season preparations early.
“I wasn’t happy with the footy I played at all this year,” he said. “I thought there’s no better time to start.”
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