Newcastle Jets co-owner Justin Pascoe says A-League clubs must work together for sake of the competition

Newcastle Jets co-owner Justin Pascoe has urged A-League clubs to work together to ensure a sustainable and profitable future for the competition and its governing body, the Australian Professional Leagues. Pascoe, formerly the chief executive officer of NRL club Wests Tigers, is part of the Maverick Sports Partners group that bought the Jets in June. The group also includes former Tigers chairman Lee Hagipantelis, and executive director Maurice Bisetto, one of the founders of A-League expansion club Western United. Pascoe said the “global reach” of football attracted him to becoming involved in the A-League, and specifically the Jets, a club that is part of a region with a huge sporting tradition. “Strategically, it’s not only the region but also the club itself,” Pascoe said. “We felt that it was a real opportunity to make a difference there with the ownership group we have. “It’s a really important investment for us, and we hope we can make a significant difference.” And not just to the Jets but also the A-League and the APL. Pascoe said for all parties to succeed, they had to work together. “I can’t stress enough that the strength of the competition and the strength of the A-League moving forward will be in the success and the financial sustainability of the clubs, and until the clubs are successful, the competition will never be successful or won’t reach the heights that it could reach because fans don’t support the governing body,” he said. “They never have, and they never will. They support the Mariners, they support the Wanderers, they support the Jets and so on.” Pascoe said it was “pointless” for only a few A-League clubs to be strong, particularly with a new television deal only a couple of years away. “All 13 clubs have to be financially sustainable and be engaged with the community in an authentic way,” he said. “That’s going to be the strength of the competition and be the start of the whole process that’s getting a TV deal that’s even more revered and getting more fans and more followers. “The more the clubs engage with the fans and the community, the more the community starts engaging back with the club, become fans of the club, become engaged with the club, and then they start turning up to games and start watching and subscribing to (A-League broadcaster) Paramount Plus. “Then, in two years time in our case, a new TV deal happens. They start looking at all the metrics and go `holy hell, we’re going to increase the opportunities’, which means distribution starts then coming back to the clubs and then it starts again. The more money that comes back to the clubs, they start reinvesting again.” Pascoe said he reminded his co-investors at the Jets and owners of other A-League clubs, all of which were hit by a significantly reduced distribution amount this year, that it wasn’t always a bed of roses for the NRL, now a financial juggernaut. “People forget that there were significant challenges financially within the NRL six years ago,” he said. “It was well documented that the balance sheet had zero assets on it, and the aggregate losses of NRL clubs was around $50m plus for the year at that time. “It was only when all clubs came together and worked in collaboration to really start asking the governing body for more transparency, and credit to the NRL, they really worked together with the clubs to make a difference, that it changed. “Fast forward six years, and there’s a really healthy competition financially at the governing body and the clubs.” Pascoe called for monthly meetings of A-League owners and chief executive owners to discuss and find solutions for the challenges facing each club and the competition. “That will make sure we become the best version of ourselves, take ownership and responsibility to create change … and work with the APL to make sure they also work with the clubs to make sure the money’s flowing down to the clubs,” he said “I’ve seen how progression can happen, and it doesn’t happen by individual clubs being successful, it happens by all clubs being successful.”