Economic impacts hit clubs

RUGBY LEAGUE: The coronavirus pandemic hasn’t only shut down rugby league indefinitely, it has started to impact the financial situations of clubs.

With the start of the Toowoomba Rugby League season delayed, a primary source of income for teams, hosting home games, has been put on hold.

From tickets at the gate to tryscorer doubles and concession sales, the bottom line of

clubs will continue to be hampered for as long as the crisis lasts.

A number of football clubs are tied to licensed premises as sponsors for functions, however not even they are allowed to operate anymore with government sanctions imposed on pubs and clubs.

It is forcing them to think outside the box on how to create revenue streams in a tough time.

Valleys is an example of a club that is looking at ways to try and keep money coming in, however they admit that it is getting tougher in this current climate.

“Everything that we’re trying to do has to be online,” Valleys president Gary de Joux said.

“As soon as the government shut down pubs, it made our job that much harder.

“We have functions booked and a trivia night. We were looking to open up the bar (at the clubhouse) within guidelines to watch the NRL on a Saturday.

“However, with no licensed clubs all those avenues have gone out the back door.”

Something they have implemented is a money board to try and increase revenue, however de Joux said it is a challenging situation for everyone.

“We’ve had plenty of support from those that are willing to help out with the money board,” he said.

“We still have insurance to pay, as well as rates and electricity bills. The unfortunate situation of owning a ground in a time like this is that overheads remain high and expenses won’t go away.

“We still have to find a way to pay the bills.”

As for the future of Valleys and surrounding clubs, de Joux believes that they will be able to survive