This Saturday night, the Parramatta Eels will be taking the field in what will be their fourth premiership game in Darwin. It also marks the final year of the four year sponsorship provided by the Northern Territory Government. With decisions to be made about the extension of this partnership, the spotlight this week turns on the “Territory Eels.”
Back in August 2013, the Eels issued a media release which included the following statement:
“Today the Pirtek Parramatta Eels and the Northern Territory Government have launched a 4-year partnership that will display the impact Rugby League can have not just as a major sporting spectacle but also as a vehicle for positive community outcomes.”
The Eels have made good on this statement.
For each of the last four years the Eels have staged a trial in Alice Springs and a Premiership match in Darwin. During these trips, the playing squad visited local communities promoting participation, healthy lifestyles and combating anti-social behaviour.
The Eels Primary School Gala Day
Initiatives aimed at Closing the Gap” between Indigenous and Non-Indigenous Australians have been a key component of the Territory Eels arrangement, just as it has been across the entire NRL. Players have taken up the mantle of being positive, healthy male role models.
In addition to year round Community programs, the Parramatta club has provided Rugby League development opportunities, including elite player and coaching pathways.
Events such as the Eels Primary School Gala Days, and the Under 16 Eels Cup (which will be played as a curtain raiser to the big match on Saturday), are part of the growth of the game in the Northern Territory. The resources needed to continue such growth have been created through the education of local coaches. To that end, Territory coaches have been hosted at Eels headquarters.
Brad Arthur speaking with NT junior coaches.
Of course, the Territory Government has promoted tourism through this partnership with the Eels. With over 500,000 Australians identifying as fans of the blue and gold, the publicity which surrounds every NRL visit always highlights Top End attractions to a large audience. Without doubt, it’s been a sponsorship which has been valuable to the NT.
But what has it meant for the Eels?
We cannot ignore the important commercial perspective. When the four year sponsorship was announced, the figure of $4 million dollars over its duration was trumpeted to Parramatta fans. With problems surrounding the Dyldam Sponsorship last year, and the lack of a major sponsor this season, corporate partnerships such as this one with the NT Government are vital. Likewise, any extension of this arrangement would provide evidence of both stability and success to potential sponsors.
Further financial benefits have also been secured through an additional membership market. The club and its players have proved to be popular in what has become the Eels second home. We will see some of this with the big match on Saturday night, and then again on Sunday when the players hold their annual meet and greet session.
On the field, TIO Stadium has proven to be a happy hunting ground for Parramatta. The results have been as follows:
2014 – Eels 18 def Raiders 10
2015 – Eels 10 def Penrith 4
2016 – Eels 22 def Titans 12
So, the early history in Darwin sees the Eels with a perfect playing record against three different opponents. Of these matches, only the Penrith fixture has drawn criticism, and it was well justified. The “Battle of the West” encounters between the two western Sydney clubs has been the subject of great fanfare in recent years, especially as the NRL has looked to shore up their heartland against incursions from rival codes. It was not ideal to take such a clash away from western Sydney and it’s to be hoped that such a scenario is not visited in future years.
The Eels at their NT home, TIO Stadium.
Putting that debate of drawing the Panthers in Darwin aside, attendances have been fairly comparable to ANZ and Pirtek. Across the three NT matches, the attendance average sits at just over 8500. The latest ANZ clash against the Raiders (2017) drew 10,074 and the most recent home crowd against the Titans (2015) was listed as 11,136. These non-Sydney clubs have not been renowned for drawing large crowds to matches in the city, so taking on such clubs in Darwin makes commercial sense.
Though the partnership between the Eels and the Northern Territory Government ticks plenty of boxes from a business perspective, the benefits for the NRL are not limited to the blue and golds.
Ultimately, NRL clubs must accept some of the responsibility for taking rugby league to regional areas or new markets. In their agreement with the Northern Territory, the Eels are placing an exclamation point on their commitment to meaningful and productive game development in a new regional market. When combined with the associated community programs, the club has positioned itself as an NRL market leader and a new and dynamic citizen of the NT.
It’s a sponsorship that both the Parramatta Eels and the Northern Territory government can be proud of.
Eels forever!
Sixties
Excellent “Spotlight” subject Sixties. It is a wonderful reminder to the fans of rugby league in general, the importance of promoting the values of the rugby league community through positive role models that our young stars can be to impressionable young men, women and children across remote and often vulnerable and disadvantaged communities while promoting the game of rugby league.
We do have a large contingent of indigenous and Pacific Islander players in our club and the NRL in general, who can give hope to communities and even society in a remote city geographically like Darwin. I see this as a positive step and support of initiatives like Head Space and other organisations that deal with mental health issues that appear to be so prevalent in our society these days. Joel Thompson represented the sort of refreshing honesty on League Life this evening on FOX which when joined with the objectives of our Eels partnership with the NT government promote healthy lifestyles and future hope that transcends mere sporting activities.
The commercial aspect of this sponsorship is very much a reciprocal partnership which you’ve shown clearly to be working, not only for the two main entities but for the broader communities of both Rugby League and Northern Territorians.
Thanks for this post Sixties, it made me more aware and proud of what is happening through our clubs pioneering efforts to go where logistics have presented a challenge and opportunity has given rise achievement on a raft of platforms on the periphery of our game. Through personal, corporate and individual training and education we have seen remarkable in the people now involved in our game but also in the growing awareness of the NT as a wonderful tourism destination. I truly hope this successful partnership with the Northern Territory government continues to benefit both parties, financially, socially professionally as it has done to date.
Thanks for the reply Rowdy. I could almost do a copy and paste of your comments to add into my post!
In putting this under the spotlight, I’ve restricted my focus to the “reciprocal” benefits for both partners. However, from a supporter perspective, I’d like to see opportunities for us taken up. If both organisations decide to extend this current partnership, it should be something which Eels fans should not only support, but maybe make it something they get to experience via a trip to the Territory. I noticed that the Eels promote a corporate type of package, but I think it would be great to partner with an agency to have more affordable packages for members.
Yes Sixties, I agree it would be a more affordable option that we may well do some further research on if the club and NT extend the partnership.
It could be a TCT Exclusive Eels fan trip where all anonymous keyboard warriors (the real Anonymous excluded) would automatically disqualify themselves from a great opportunity? Hehe. 😉
But in all seriousness, I read somewhere recently that Parra has a general fan base of ~500,000 people around the globe. The potential to exploit this market commercially is staggering.
Go Parra!!!
I don’t see any new initiatives from the NRL to promote the game. They are very benign in my opinion
The media do a good job to promote the SOO and the NRL do things like indigenous round etc. however If you compare this with the AFL they attempt all this cradle to grave stuff whereby they begin to market to the kids at the earliest opportunity.
They give kids a Sherrin to own they go to all schools and do their kicking program’s. By the way every kid who attends their school clinics is counted as a junior. That is one of the reasons that they have so many juniors
They celebrate their millstones really well, players are accessable to the press. They call media conferences for every issue even if it is only mildly important
I believe we have a far better product. Let’s hope who replaces John Grant does a better job of selling our game and building on the grass roots
It’s good to have the Eels take the initiative in the NT. John, I’ve been well aware of the AFL counting kids who do their short after school programs as juniors. I believe that the kids also pay to be involved in such programs, though I can’t be 100% certain on that. If they don’t already do so, the NRL need to count modified participation such as league tag.
firstly it is my understanding that the AFL pays for everything. however that may have changed in recent times. Agree that they should count everything that is under the NRL/ARL banner.