The Newcastle Jets are in the unique position of being bankrolled by the owners of four rival A-League clubs. Jets executive Shane Mattiske tells James Gardiner how the model operates and the plans for the future.
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JG: Nearly three months has elapsed since the takeover, are you satisfied with the progress the club has made?
SM: The important thing for us initially was to create stability for the club. There had been instability in the past. I think we are in a position where we have stability and we are now setting up structures for growth. The real challenge now is to grow the club - grow membership, grow our crowd, grow corporate sponsorships. Set the club up to be truly sustainable moving forward.
JG: Have the goals changed now that you have had a chance to get your feet under the desk?
SM: On field, the important thing was to make sure we had the right structures to ensure the team was set up for success. We want the team to be fiercely competitive. That is our overarching goal. We confirmed Craig Deans as head coach, which was one of the important steps. We believe he is the right person - he understands the Newcastle community, he understands the style of play and the competitiveness that we demand and the public demands of the team. We are now putting structures around him to support the team. From a football point of view, we think we have the right foundations in place.
Off field, we have the structures in place now to grow.
JG: There are 13 players signed for next season, with the majority younger players. Is the club moving towards being a development club or do you plan to bring in senior players and foreigners?
SM: I think both. We want the club to have a strong Newcastle and Northern NSW football essence. It is important to support players who are from our community. If we have talent from our region we want to hold it. Angus Thurgate is a great example. But we also want to be a strong club. The areas we need to bring in talent, we will bring that talent in. I sense the fans wants to see our team - right across the park - be committed and be competitive right to final whistle in every game. We are not a team which gives up.
JG: The Jets have operated under the salary cap for the past two seasons. Will that remain the status quo or will the club look at marquee players and using concessions to spend above the cap?
SM: It is early days in terms of our planning. We are starting to have conversations around the areas we may need to supplement players. I wouldn't say anything definite on who we are chasing. Ultimately, it is about setting up a plan to be successful in the long term and build sustainability. We will spend where we need to spend, but we will spend carefully. We want value for the money that we do spend.
JG: Craig Deans is still searching for the right assistant coach. Will there be other additions to the staff?
SM: We have added a video analyst, Luke Mitchell, and have put in some technology that will make the Jets one of the leaders in terms of innovation across the A-League. It is important that we find the right assistant coach. Then, the next thing will be strengthening our academy. We have a strong academy across the boys and girls. To my knowledge, the other A-League clubs don't have a girls academy. That is one of the big strategic areas of focus for us.
JG: Is the likelihood that the Jets - all clubs - will lose money this season?
SM: We are in a unique position. The club started afresh on January 6. The majority of the sponsorship and membership income has gone into the old entity. The owners, when they stepped in to take the licence, understood this year would be a tough year. They have committed to investing with open eyes about the position this year. The focus is on growth for next year, building towards sustainability.
JG: Is there a commitment from the four owners to contribute x-amount of money for five years, six years ...?
SM: The owners are committed and I think the fans of the club should appreciate that we now have owners who are A-League people. They have experience running A-League clubs.They understand how the financial model works. They understand the challenges and the risks. Significantly, they understand the importance of the Newcastle Jets to this region and the importance of the team to the broader A-League competition. They have stepped in and made a commitment. It is not a short-term commitment. They are here to support the team and build a strong, fiercely competitive, sustainable team.
JG: Is the club actively for sale?
SM: There is no short-term plan. The owners are invested and they are committed. There has not been a discussion about an exit . They want this team to be successful and sustainable. They understand the jeopardy that comes with short-term decisions and bringing the wrong people into a club. They have time, and they will take time on what could occur in relation to transition, ideally to some local ownership. That doesn't mean they are looking to give the whole club up and sell it to the next billionaire that walks into the Newcastle market.
They want this team to be successful and sustainable.
- Shane Mattiske
We are not looking for owners. There is not a watching brief to find a buyer.
If the current owners were to reduce their investment and allow someone to come in, you want to do that with a strong, growing business.The focus isn't on bringing through investors, the focus is on growth.
JG: What happens if, for instance, Sydney struggles one season and the Jets are going well, how do you avoid a conflict of interest ?
SM: It is a unique model because it is not one club, it involves four clubs. There is a balance of interest. It would be hard to imagine any instance where one club could exert an influence over the other three. Importantly, there is separation from a governance point of view. The decisions that are made around football are made internally. The coaching appointment for instance; a recommendation was put to the board, which they confirmed. We have created a governance structure to ensure that the owners are protected from decision-making so there can't be a perceived view that they are influencing the decisions we make.
JG: Do the club owners - Sydney, Western Sydney, Western United and an unnamed fourth club - have equal share and equal voting rights?
SM: Yes, they are all equal.
JG: There is a theory that you have to spend money to make money. Is that applicable to a smaller A-League club?
SM: We have to invest and we recognise that. We have invested in the football department. We will invest in the academy because we see its importance to the future of the club. We will invest in our community programs, whether that is Newcastle and Hunter or broader up through Northern NSW. We will invest in membership and our other commercial streams. The ownership group and executive team recognise the importance of investing wisely. That will be important to our growth.
JG: Pre COVID-19 the club had a core membership of between 7000 and 9000. How do you get back to that level?
SM: As a start, we need to connect and engage with that core fan base. In the past there has been some instability. It's important for us to help people understand the path the club is on and for them to know that the club is in good hands. Know that we are here to represent the community and compete strongly.
We also need to develop a relationship with those fans and future members and get them to understand how important they are to our success and stability. The club needs the community to get behind it.
JG: How will you engage with members rather than treat them simply as a ticket-holder?
SM: We want members to feel like they are part of something and there will initiatives designed to ensure that. As we think about our playing strip for next season, we want to engage the membership base and get their views. We did an "ask the boss" session on social media. We are hosting a barbecue for 20 select members on Sunday before the game and we will continue to do things like that. We would like to create opportunities for members to come along to training sessions and interact with the coach and team. Sunday's double-header is a way of us trying to create value for members. All members will get access to the double-header as a special event. We will continue to listen to our membership base and ensure they feel like we make them part of the club and they aren't just buying a seat at the game.
JG: How quickly can you get membership up to 11,000?
SM: It is not easy times around COVID, but our ambition is to be back at 11,000 members within 12 months. We want to grow our crowds to make the game-day experience better.
JG: Lawrie McKinna, as the chief executive, had been the face of the club for the past four years. How has his role changed?
SM: Through the transition period he has been more involved on the football side of things. He basically ran the process of appointing a head coach, which was a critical decision for the club. We will be launching a new membership drive aimed at bringing people back to the club and bringing in new members. Lawrie will be a big part of that. As we push more broadly into the community space, he will head that too. You will see more of Lawrie. He is now in a role where he doesn't have to carry the business side of the CEO decisions, he can be much more involved in our community membership and our broader relationships.
JG: NNSW Football is a massive catchment area, how will you better foster the relationship with them?
SM: Football participation base is really important to us. It is a big region that reaches right through to the Queensland border. We see that as an area the Jets have to support. There is strong alignment and we are lucky to be one of the few A-League teams which has a strong relationship with the football federation we work in. There are some really positive conversations happening about how we can work together. Ultimately, what we want to do is deliver the right outcome for football fans and players in the region. I'm confident we are making good progress on that.
JG: Where do you see the club - on and off the field - by the end of next season?
SM: The important thing is for us to have delivered growth across all our measures but most importantly grow our connection to the community. If we have grown the connection to the community, our player base and business community, then we will see growth in our key metrics. Importantly, we start to underline the sustainability of the club and demonstrate to our stakeholders that the club is strong, it's competitive and it's growing. That is the goal.
On the field, we have a really solid roster with the opportunity to make changes. I think the fans will see that the team is competitive and delivering strong performances. With a fresh run at next season - without the instability the team had to carry into this season - we want and expect the team to be fiercely competitive and fighting to be in the grand final.
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