Kiwi league star among athletes owed thousands
‘‘My client did everything in goodwill and followed through all procedures and nothing ever eventuated with the money side of it,’’ said Crown Sports’ managing director Mario Tartak. ‘‘They’ve been paid by the advertiser but money hasn’t been passed onto
Former Kiwis captain Benji Marshall, fellow league star Paul Gallen and three Australian football internationals and an Olympic bronze-medal winning cyclist are among a group of athletes owed tens of thousands of dollars following the collapse of a social media start-up that was supposed to connect sports stars with their fans.
20Four, a new social media platform designed to rival Instagram and Twitter by giving sports fans access to videos shot by their favourite athletes as they trained, prepared for games, and went about their lives, collapsed late last month.
Backed and run by major figures in the AFL, and with former Fox Sports head of strategy Chris Haigh as its chief executive, 20Four signed up stars including Melbourne Storm captain Billy Slater, Aussie rules players Joel Selwood and Darcey Vescio, and cricketer Peter Siddle.
But 20Four appears to have been unable to capitalise on that star power, and liquidators are now trying to sell the last of its assets to pay the more than A$900,000 ($944,506) it owes.
A list of creditors filed to the corporate regulator reveals thousands in unpaid fees owed to some of the biggest names in Australian sport.
That includes Australian soccer players Trent Sainsbury (A$11,688), Ryan McGowan (A$9583) and Alanna Kennedy (A$2291), Gold Coast Titans NRL player Nathan Peats (A$7020), the Parramatta Eels’ Clinton Gutherson (A$3400), and the Wests Tigers’ Chris McQueen (A$2000).
Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks captain Gallen, who has also captained NSW in the State of Origin, is owed A$8112.
Marshall, who plays for Wests Tigers, was represented at 20Four by Crown Sports Management, which is owed A$21,055. for comment. McConville declined to comment.
Other figures involved in the company include North Melbourne Football Club chairman Ben Buckley, who was a director at 20Four for six months to June 2018.
And Scott Biggs – a Cronulla Sutherland Sharks director, Liberal Party heavyweight, Pacific Blue Capital CEO, and a former Nine commercial director – was on the board from early 2016 to late 2017.
The company had the backing of the ASX-listed investment firm Chapmans. As well as burning its investment, Chapmans is listed as an unsecured creditor owed A$250,000, while Chapmans executive chairman Peter Dykes is separately listed as being owed A$53,876.
The ASX suspended Chapmans shares in September, ‘‘pending further inquiries’’ following the announcement of a rights issue, and the shares have not resumed trading. Their value has fallen from A18c a year ago to A0.005c when they were suspended.
Chapmans told its investors in September that 20Four’s revenue growth had not met expectations and was seeking more funding, but Chapmans would not put any more money into the company.
Chapmans could not be contacted through its local PR representative, or at the Malaysian office now listed on its website.
Roger Grant from 20Four’s liquidator Dye & Co said the company had effectively stopped trading in midSeptember last year, when it laid off most of its staff.
‘‘It’s probably another one of those technology things that are high cash-burn to start with to get up to a critical mass of revenue,’’ Grant said.
‘‘I don’t think they every got to that sustainable revenue to outrun the operating expenses.’’
– Sydney Morning Herald