As a proud Queenslander, the Brisbane Broncos, is a “company” that I have known since about 3 years old. I say “company” because the Broncos have first and foremost always been a sporting team to me, specifically the team my dad would sit in front of the television and watch every weekend. The opportunity to look behind that image of the Broncos, to see how they run the commercial aspects of their organisation is something I am really looking forward to.
For anyone unfamiliar with the Broncos, the Brisbane Broncos are a football team currently playing in the National Rugby League (NRL). Here is a link to a video of the most recent club highlights. Whilst originally starting with one team, the Broncos now encompasses, both men’s and women’s teams as well as junior divisions. The game, and on-field success of the Broncos teams is the main goal of the company. To enhance the likelihood of on-field success the Broncos also focus on a few other areas of the business, sponsorship and community growth and outreach programs, junior’s clubs and fan engagement.
The Broncos have just surpassed their 30th year in the NRL and in that time, have developed a very structured commercial side of their business, increasing sponsorship and community programs in their most recent reported financial year. The Broncos list their two primary goals as ‘delivering further growth in the game’ and ‘striving for further on-field success’.
The Broncos consider themselves to be industry leaders within the NRL, posting the most positive financial statements in the 2018 financial year. This presents one of the challenges for not only The Broncos but for all NRL teams. In the most recent financial reporting period, game attendance for the season decreased by 2%. Whilst online and at home viewing increased, the Broncos board management are actively implementing approaches to attempt to increase game attendance, or at least maintain attendance levels. Keeping the game relevant going into the future and developing their community outreach programs is the current aim of the board of directors for the 2019 financial year.
One of the biggest areas of growth for the Broncos is in the development of the Women’s league. The Brisbane Broncos won the inaugural season of the WNRL and are using this as a platform to promote the game and increase sponsorship, viewer and attendee numbers and community support. Here is a link to the highlights from the Inaugural women’s league finals – The Brisbane Broncos have won the inaugural Holden Women’s Premiership 34-12 over the Sydney Roosters.
The past 3 Annual reports are also linked below:
Georgia's Blog 
Hi Georgia,
I think it is very interesting that you have been assigned a sporting team as your company. I, and I am sure many other people, often do not think about sporting teams as a business. We just simply think about them as a normal part of the everyday Australian community. Perhaps even just a bigger version of our local sporting club.
I am keen to follow the developments of your company as the unit progresses.
Kind regards,
Daniel
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Sorry Daniel, I didn’t realise I had to approve comments and missed this. Thanks for having a look, I will have a look at your blog tomorrow as well. If you’ve got your draft ready I am happy to review it for you too.
Georgia
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Hi Georgia,
Thanks for the opportunity to comment on your blog! As you mentioned, it is so easy to forgot that the Brisbane Broncos are not just a sporting team but also a significant company with the goal of making a profit for stakeholders. It is not surprising that Rugby League is an incredibly difficult industry to be successful, with such a variety of factors impacting the potential growth and revenue of the club, ranging from the weather to the reputation of the football team.
It is promising to hear that the Brisbane Broncos are the pinnacle of the Australian Rugby League teams, and I would be interested to learn how their operating activities differ from those of alternate clubs and subsequently the differences between their financial statements. You have provided an excellent insight into how their operations stretch further than the Men’s Football team that plays on a weekly basis.
I look forward to reading more about your analysis of the financial statements and subsequent ratio analysis.
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Hey Georgia, I loved doing a comparison between your company and mine. I have written about it on my own blog -https://yvettecqu.wordpress.com/blog/
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Hi Yvette, it has definitely been an experience reviewing the Broncos, as you stated on your blog, they are definitely unlike a lot of the other assigned companies and their financial statements are quite different. It has given me greater insight into what a nontypical form of company can be like. Thanks for having a read, I will head over to your blog and review your company as well, it is a great blog to further my understanding and experiences.
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