Balance sheet looks better than Geelong anticipated
GEELONG has revealed it is hoping its debt will only be $2 million as fans continue to stick by the club during the pandemic.
The club had anticipated its debt would spiral to $10 million as the financial implications of the coronavirus bit on the AFL landscape.
But chief executive Brian Cook said the club had significantly revised that figure.
“From a retention of revenue point of view, we thought we were going to make about a $10 million loss,” Cook told K rock. “At the moment, that’s gone down to $5 million. We’re hoping it can get down to $2 million, believe it or not, because our members have been unbelievable.
“They have left their money with us at the moment and we think that 85 per cent of the revenue from our members will be retained by this club this year, which is unbelievable.
“Every time I think about it I want to cry. It’s just unbelievable what they’ve done. We think we’ll maintain 70 per cent of our corporate income as well.
“This massive loss that was looking like maybe $10 million, even more, we think we might get down to $2 million, in which case we’d borrow that from the AFL.”
Cook said about half the club’s staff remain stood down.
Geelong will travel to the Western Australia hub for at least three weeks, where it expected it will play a minimum of three games.
Cook is hoping the club is away from home for no longer than 32 days.
“If we stay more than 32 days, it depends where we go, whether we stay in WA or whether we go to South Australia,” he said.
“We’re hoping it doesn’t go any further than 32 days. We think that’s long enough for the players.
“We really have to take our hats off to the players and what they’re going through at the moment, particularly those players away from their families.”