Cats bank on Brook losses

Andrew Mathieson
GEELONG Football Club expects to suffer “significant” losses at its new commercial venue at Point Cook.
Cats chief operating officer Stuart Fox told the Independent it could be three or four years before The Brook, a pokie and entertainment complex, could make a “modest” profit for the club.
“In year one we will post a significant loss on the operation,” Mr Fox said.
“In year two we will probably break even and in year three we might be able to make a modest profit.
“People need to understand that and that those projections are based on us running it quite successfully.
“If we don’t do a good job, there is a risk of it performing below our expectations.”
The football club has already committed to donating $100,000 a year to various Point Cook clubs and groups under Victorian gaming’s community contribution program.
The Brook has a licence for 80 poker machines.
Mr Fox believed the venue could lose some of its pokies in state legislation changes over new gaming regulations set for 2012.
City of Wyndham council, which includes Point Cook, has been arguing for a reduction from the 568 machines in Victoria’s fastest-growing municipality.
“Honestly, everyone thinks we’re in it to draw bucketloads of money out of that region,” Mr Fox said.
“The reality is that this is a massive risk for our club to go into a venture of this nature.”
Mr Fox said early interest from the public suggested The Brook’s cash flow would rely on function bookings and catering as well as pokies revenue.
“The market suggests it is a venue that will be very popular,” he said.
The Geelong Cats are not short of a dollar after president Frank Costa told onlookers at a recent club function that the club earned more than $600,000 for each sold-out home game.
The club’s high-rolling backers last week raised nearly $350,000 at a number-one ticketholder’s dinner, which over the past two decades has earned nearly $3 million.
The Cats plan to open The Brook by the start of June.