Wests Tigers - Ownership / Voting Rights

[Spartan117]

With Private ownership of the Souths, Manly and soon Newcastle clubs I have been wondering….

The Memberships on sale at present do note equate to Voting rights in such matters.

What is our great clubs structure in terms of ownership??
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**If someone put in an offer - I would like to have a Vote. What do those interested in the custodial future of WT do??**

 

[Kul]

This is quite simple actually

Balmain and the Wests Group are equal shareholders in Wests Tigers Pty Ltd.
Balmain and Wests Group OWN 50% of Wests Tigers Pty Ltd each.

Balmain and Wests Group are non-profit clubs (not sure what the legal term is) who report to members. To become a member of either of them, simply pay your $11 a year.

Don't quote me on this, but in order for the Wests Tigers to do anything, it TECHNICALLY must be passed by the Balmain and Wests directors. Those directors are in turn elected by members of the respective Balmain RLF and Wests RLF clubs.

So being a "Wests Tigers Member" (AKA Season Ticket Holder/Non Ticketed Season Ticket Holder) is simply membership in a glorified fan club. It is completely different to memberships offered by some other NRL clubs.
Being a member of BRLFC and WRLFC has voting rights. It is the only true membership on offer. You have to be pleased by the success of your Balmain/Wests board memebers in order for them to keep their job and "run" Wests Tigers PTY LTD.

To make it more complicated, teams like Parra might offer "2011 Membership", yet you'll find it is really only a Season Ticket/membership in their Fan Club like us. To become an ACTUAL member you'd have to go to Parra RLFC and apply.
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This is different to Collingwood. At collingwood, you pay your $200 a year and you become a 100% member of Collingwood. You get your seat at each game and your voting rights. A lot of people assume that Wests Tigers/Parra/etc. membership is like this, sadly it is not.
Unfortunately/fortunately the constitution of WT prevents anyone other Balmain and Wests being shareholders in WTRLFC Pty Ltd.

 

[Tiger_Watto]

To answer your question Spartan, you would need to be a member of either the Balmain Football Club or Western Suburbs Football Club, but even then you will only get voting rights for those clubs and hope the people you vote for represent the Wests Tigers…

Leagues Club memberships at either of the 3 clubs does not give you voting rights for the Football Clubs. They are different Memberships...

 

[Kul]

I've drawn it up here:
(click to zoom in)

*not exactly accurate. The setup of Balmain and Wests Group is a bit more complicated.


to sum up:
- become a member of Balmain or Wests RL Football Clubs. You will technically be the boss.
- if anyone was to BUY the club, they would need to buy a share of Wests Tigers (requiring Balmain and Wests to give up their 50% stake) or buy one of either Wests or Balmain (or both). Either way, the people who have the final say would be the $11-a-year members! :smiley: :smiley: :smiley:

 

[Kul]

It would be interesting to see what would happen if WT started turning a profit. Would they start paying dividends to the shareholders?

 

[Balmain_Bug]

I think you have it wrong. My belief is the 'Wests Group' is a three way partnership of Wests Campbelltown, Wests Ashfield and the Western Suburbs DRLFC. Wests Ashfield fund the State Cup side, Wests Campbelltown fund every other side. So it's a three way pack of poo tickets with 3 separate boards on the Wests Group alone.

It's a Board-a-thon !!!

 

[Balmain_Bug]

Kul they are not shareholders they are Stakeholders. The money goes back into the organization being the Wests Tigers. Self sufficiency is what they are working towards with minimal outlay from the owners of the Wests Tigers which are Balmian and the Wests Group.

 

[Kul]

yeah ur on the right track Bug, but i've just summarised it to make it easier for the casual fan

in regards to shareholders:

Wests Tigers Rugby League Football Pty Ltd is a company, limited by shares, established under a joint venture agreement between the Balmain Tigers DRLFC, Western Suburbs DRLFC and Western Suburbs Leagues Clubs at Ashfield and Campbelltown.
The Constitution of the company provides for a shareholders’ agreement between the two parties, with 50% equity entitlements held by Balmain and 50% by the Wests Group.
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Both parties to the shareholders agreement provide five Directors of the company plus a Company Secretary who is also the CEO of Wests Tigers, who hold office for a period of three years. The Chairman of the company is provided, in the first term of 12 months, by Balmain Tigers, and the second term by Western Suburbs Magpies. They then alternate.

but yes, last year the WT only took about $350,000 from Balmain/Wests, meaning we are close to being in the black

 

[Balmain_Bug]

So in effect there are 2 shares !! It is an interesting model, as in effect, the members of Wests and Balmain don't have much of a say in the running of the Wests Tigers.

I feel Wests Tigers Membership should include being a member of:-
WSDRLFC
BDRLFC
Balmain Leagues Clubs (Five Dock & Markets)
Wests Ashfield
Wests Campbelltown.

Put the membership all under one umbrella so everyone can benefit and we can really be a Super Club !!

 

[Icon]

So in effect there are 2 shares !! It is an interesting model, as in effect, the members of Wests and Balmain don't have much of a say in the running of the Wests Tigers.

I feel Wests Tigers Membership should include being a member of:-
WSDRLFC
BDRLFC
Balmain Leagues Clubs (Five Dock & Markets)
Wests Ashfield
Wests Campbelltown.

Put the membership all under one umbrella so everyone can benefit and we can really be a Super Club !!

Bug,

I think someone's been at your PC while you've been getting a coffee, this person is making sense.

 

[Spartan117]

Thats funny Icon.

Bug is the voice of balance here at the WTF.

 

[Yossarian]

So in effect there are 2 shares !! It is an interesting model, as in effect, the members of Wests and Balmain don't have much of a say in the running of the Wests Tigers.

I feel Wests Tigers Membership should include being a member of:-
WSDRLFC
BDRLFC
Balmain Leagues Clubs (Five Dock & Markets)
Wests Ashfield
Wests Campbelltown.

Put the membership all under one umbrella so everyone can benefit and we can really be a Super Club !!

The leagues club part would be tricky. You'd have to merge all the different clubs into a single entity requiring votes and a common board. Can't see some of the uber directors at the various clubs giving up their free meals and inflated sense of gravitas.

 

[Yossarian]

Kul are we sure that BDRLC operates the leagues clubs? My understanding is they are basically seperate entities with different boards and reporting. I've always thought of them with a similar relationship RSL clubs have with sub-branches - closely linked but semi-autonomous.

 

[Kul]

you are probably right Yossarian, but again the graph is just a simplified explanation of the ownership arrangements disregarding the finer details

ultimately "Balmain" owns 50% and "Wests" own the other 50% and being a member of one of these entities is what the OP was asking about

 

[Yossarian]

you are probably right Yossarian, but again the graph is just a simplified explanation of the ownership arrangements disregarding the finer details

ultimately "Balmain" owns 50% and "Wests" own the other 50% and being a member of one of these entities is what the OP was asking about

Fair enough. I believe in some clubs (Penrith I've been told in the past) there is a common leagues/football club membership. At Balmain you're up for 2 membership fees…

 

[diedpretty]

So in effect there are 2 shares !! It is an interesting model, as in effect, the members of Wests and Balmain don't have much of a say in the running of the Wests Tigers.

I feel Wests Tigers Membership should include being a member of:-
WSDRLFC
BDRLFC
Balmain Leagues Clubs (Five Dock & Markets)
Wests Ashfield
Wests Campbelltown.

Put the membership all under one umbrella so everyone can benefit and we can really be a Super Club !!

The leagues club part would be tricky. You'd have to merge all the different clubs into a single entity requiring votes and a common board. Can't see some of the uber directors at the various clubs giving up their free meals and inflated sense of gravitas.

Thats true - maybe if WT Membership also entitled you to membership/voting rights at one club of choice and also access socially to all other clubs under the umbrella it would be more of an attraction to potential members.

 

[Kul]

It would be nice, but probably messy.

Like I mentioned above, Collingwood's setup is the best. One simply buys a membership each year and that gives you both voting rights and a dedicated seat (yours for life if you continue to renew). It's club membership in it's purest form.

 

[happy_tiger]

The NRL should have set prices for all memberships at all clubs in NRL and tickets need to be made interchangeable As someone who lives in central Qld and wanting to become a member and unable to say use my tickets we get at say Townsville ,Brisbane or Gold Coast for Tigers games in crazy I understand if it is a sell out thats different but when it is not and all clubs should be able to do same . You would get more members(at all clubs) , more bums on seats at games more money thru beverages food etc and prices of memberships would become more affordable Isn't this in the best interests of the game and the people who run the game THE FANS !!!!!!

 

[barra]

It would be nice, but probably messy.

Like I mentioned above, Collingwood's setup is the best. One simply buys a membership each year and that gives you both voting rights and a dedicated seat (yours for life if you continue to renew). It's club membership in it's purest form.

I agree, it sounds very good. Is Collingwood privately owned? If so is it the structure WT would need to operate under to see some sort of similar arrangement for members?

 

[Yossarian]

It would be nice, but probably messy.

Like I mentioned above, Collingwood's setup is the best. One simply buys a membership each year and that gives you both voting rights and a dedicated seat (yours for life if you continue to renew). It's club membership in it's purest form.

I agree, it sounds very good. Is Collingwood privately owned? If so is it the structure WT would need to operate under to see some sort of similar arrangement for members?

I believe it's member based - i.e. the collective membership "owns" the club. They key is the linking of "memberships" (really season tickets) to voting rights so that membership actually means being a member of the club.

You could do it at WT without privatisation but it would require Balmain and Wests giving up their 50% ownership which frankly ain't happening anytime soon. But you could have a system whereby when you being a member you can elect to become a Balmain or Wests member at the same time (even if you pay the additional fee).