Bulldogs announce 2023 financial result

[bornadog]

The Western Bulldogs have completed the 2023 financial year with a total profit of $26,275,951 (2022: $5,188,421).

Included in the total profit is a surplus from redevelopment activities of $32,327,283 (2022: $3,824,564). The Club?s redevelopment activities, which began in 2018, have been separately identified in the financial report.

The financial result includes a loss from operations (before redevelopment activities) of $6,051,332 (2022: $1,363,857 profit) which comprises a legal judgement of damages and associated costs relating to the recent Supreme Court case involving the Club, totalling $7,430,490 (2022: Nil).  The Club intends to appeal this judgement.

The Club?s underlying profit, before the legal judgement and associated costs, was $1,379,158 (2022: $1,363,857).

It is the Club?s 10th consecutive year of total profits, and its eighth consecutive year of total profits in excess of $1 million.

?Despite some challenges throughout this financial year, the Club worked hard to maintain a position of financial strength that has been built up over the last decade,? said Bulldogs? CEO Ameet Bains.

?The redevelopment of the Whitten Oval precinct is a tangible example of the progression we?ve made, and we have been buoyed by the return of matches over the last few months, as well as the completion of several high-performance facilities.

?Next year will see the re-opening of the Whitten Stand and all it contains, which will be a truly significant milestone as we welcome our Bulldogs family and the wider community back to our home base.

?Despite the significant disappointment of not playing in the finals in the AFL and AFLW competitions, we achieved another year of record membership, with more than 56,000 Bulldogs supporters committing to the Club.

?This represents 11 percent growth from last year, and we?re pleased to be one of only five clubs to record double-digit growth.

?We wholeheartedly thank our loyal and passionate members for their continued support of our Club, and we look forward to having an even greater connection with them as we head into 2024.

?We saw our members and fans turn up in great numbers to watch our teams play in 2023, highlighted by 15 percent growth in average AFL home game attendances at Marvel Stadium and record total crowds in Ballarat.

?We received further commitment from some of our key partners throughout the year, including a five-year extension of our partnership with Mission Foods, as well as extending partnerships with CoinSpot, Victoria University, People?s Choice and McDonalds on long-term agreements.

?It was another strong year for the Western Bulldogs Community Foundation, which saw more than 3500 participants engage in our programs. We are also grateful to the State Government for committing to significant funding over the next four years to ensure the Foundation can continue its impactful work.

?We continue to be supported by a talented and a stable Board of Directors, led by President Kylie Watson-Wheeler, while our wonderful staff continue to extend themselves in pursuing success for our Club.

?We are bullish about our prospects for 2024, on and off the field, and we?re excited to share that journey with our members and fans.?

To download the Club?s 2023 Financial Report, click here.

The Club will hold its Annual General Meeting on Monday December 18, 2023.

Summary:

• Total revenue excluding redevelopment grant income of $52,422,913 (2022: $47,417,559).
• Underlying profit before redevelopment activities, and the Supreme Court legal judgement and associated costs of $1,379,158 (2022: $1,363,857).
• Statutory Profit of $26,275,951 (2022: $5,188,421).
• Membership record of 56,317 (2022: 50,941).
• Cash or cash equivalents on hand of $8,306,348 (2022: $29,292,366), including grants received in relation to redevelopment activities and unexpended grant income from community support programs conducted by the Western Bulldogs Community Foundation.
• Net assets of $88,507,090 (2022: $62,231,139).

[hujsh]

...was not expecting that.

So the club won't be folding?

[The Underdog]

...was not expecting that.

So the club won't be folding?

Keep your 20 cents

[Grantysghost]

So what did we cut corners on to come in under budget/surplus for redevelopment?

I think I need an accountant to explain, cause that kind of feels like a 5 mill loss with lipstick. (mill and a bit profit - court case).

Did Bevo not get his personal dental studio installed?

[GVGjr]

All up it's another solid result and underlines that we have moved away from the poor struggling club theme that many (including some of our own) supporters see us as. Some of the results aren't great though and I wonder if delays to the redevelopment have hurt our cost control.

[MrMahatma]

Seems the finances of the club are being managed well, based on what we can control.

KWW and Baines are managing that side of things well.

[josie]

So what did we cut corners on to come in under budget/surplus for redevelopment?

I think I need an accountant to explain, cause that kind of feels like a 5 mill loss with lipstick. (mill and a bit profit - court case).

Did Bevo not get his personal dental studio installed?

Ha ha. I saw tail end training this morning and I must say he did look refreshed.

I’m not an accountant but could it be that the surplus from redevelopment is carried over and spent in 2024 (for remaining part of project)? With building costs escalating in last few years I’ll be surprised if we don’t spend more on redevelopment than club estimated.
Kudos to club if we either forecast accurately or come in under budget.

[Willofwest]

I’m hoping to see the development works at Whitten oval this week. The facilities look great in photos, be great to get training and the teams back playing games there.

[Willofwest]

Financially the club is in good hands, now we need to get onfield sorted.

[bornadog]

So what did we cut corners on to come in under budget/surplus for redevelopment?

I think I need an accountant to explain, cause that kind of feels like a 5 mill loss with lipstick. (mill and a bit profit - court case).

Did Bevo not get his personal dental studio installed?

Basically, you can forget about the surplus for the redevelopment, that is not profit. It's cash injection from various sources such as governments and those funds will be eaten up by paying for the redevelopment. Having said that, assets are now $88 million

The real figure to look at his profit from operations of $1,379,158. However, the payout for historical sex case is going to eat up the profits. A contingency has been put into place in case the appeal fails.

[ledge]

Well if you look at the bombers with twice the members and ended up half a million down I would say we run very efficient.

[Prince Imperial]

Looking at the report there's a few things I have noted:

1. Our AFL sourced revenue increased by $3m but this must include one-off $2m of funding they provided us for the Whitten Oval lights. The rest would be for increases in player payments for AFL and AFLW.

2. Commercial partnerships revenue declined significantly by $1.6m (with an increase in expenses of $0.4m). It's a poor outcome and I'm not sure why.

3. Whilst membership revenue increased by over $200k, expenses ballooned by over a million which is another poor result. The club really needs to control its expenses in this area as it is dollar yield and not numbers that really counts. Anecdotally, I bought a Kayo membership from the club and was mailed another membership pack similar to my club membership without any option of not receiving it. These sort of things would be adding to the costs.

4. Donations (presumably for the redevelopment) increased by nearly $1.5m which helped offset the decline in performance in commercial partnerships and membership.

5. The club still has $6.4m of contractual obligations re the redevelopment but has $3.5m of pledges from the Forever Foundation. Their fundraising has been lightly advertised by the club to general members so we have a relatively small number of generous supporters who we should all thank.

[jazzadogs]

Looking at the report there's a few things I have noted:

1. Our AFL sourced revenue increased by $3m but this must include one-off $2m of funding they provided us for the Whitten Oval lights. The rest would be for increases in player payments for AFL and AFLW.

2. Commercial partnerships revenue declined significantly by $1.6m (with an increase in expenses of $0.4m). It's a poor outcome and I'm not sure why.

3. Whilst membership revenue increased by over $200k, expenses ballooned by over a million which is another poor result. The club really needs to control its expenses in this area as it is dollar yield and not numbers that really counts. Anecdotally, I bought a Kayo membership from the club and was mailed another membership pack similar to my club membership without any option of not receiving it. These sort of things would be adding to the costs.

4. Donations (presumably for the redevelopment) increased by nearly $1.5m which helped offset the decline in performance in commercial partnerships and membership.

5. The club still has $6.4m of contractual obligations re the redevelopment but has $3.5m of pledges from the Forever Foundation. Their fundraising has been lightly advertised by the club to general members so we have a relatively small number of generous supporters who we should all thank.

Thanks for the rundown. My initial impression was "we're stable, but these numbers have been creatively managed to look better" - I didn't have a problem with that, but appreciate seeing a more honest review of the report.

[Prince Imperial]

Thanks for the rundown. My initial impression was "we're stable, but these numbers have been creatively managed to look better" - I didn't have a problem with that, but appreciate seeing a more honest review of the report.

Looking at the report again this morning, I now don't think I'm right about point 1. Rather, the $2m lights funding from the AFL is included in Redevelopment Grant Income and therefore not included in the AFL Sourced Funding and Profit before Redevelopment Activities figures.

I now also strongly suspect that Marvel signage rights income from the AFL (which would be over $1m) has been re-categorised from being Commercial Partnerships revenue to AFL Sourced Funding revenue. This would help explain a lot of the decline in the former and increase in the latter.

[Eastdog]

Appreciate that summary Prince Imperial.