The boys on the paddock are one part of a much larger commercial ecosystem. (Source: Getty/Instagram)
Sporting leagues love the theatre of expansion.
New logo. New colours. New stadium announcements.
It’s a compelling story – a new team rising from nothing.
But from a commercial perspective, starting a professional sports club from scratch is often a billion-dollar gamble.
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And history suggests it’s a model that regularly struggles to stand on its own two feet.
Look at recent expansion clubs like the Gold Coast Titans, Gold Coast Suns or Greater Western Sydney Giants.
Each entered elite competition with the same blueprint: Build a brand. Find supporters. Create revenue.
But none of those things happen overnight. Fan bases take decades to develop.
Memberships fluctuate with performance. Match-day revenue is seasonal and unpredictable.
The result is that many expansion teams spend their first decade – sometimes longer – heavily reliant on league funding to stay competitive.
The secret property success behind the NRL’s Dolphins
Now compare that with what happened when the Dolphins joined the National Rugby League.
They didn’t start from zero.
Before the club played a single NRL game, it already had:
Roughly 110,000 squre metres of land
A major leagues club
And a retail precinct operating next door
In other words, the football team was only one part of a much larger commercial ecosystem.
While many clubs rely heavily on memberships and match-day ticket sales, the Dolphins generate tens of millions of dollars annually from hospitality, gaming and property.
That revenue doesn’t disappear when the team loses.
It doesn’t depend on ladder position.
And it doesn’t switch off in the off-season.
Which highlights something most people miss about modern sport.
Some of the most financially resilient clubs aren’t just sports teams.
They’re diversified property and hospitality businesses that happen to run a football program.
If that sounds familiar, it should.
Because the same principle applies in property investment.
Long-term wealth isn’t created by relying on a single income stream. It’s built by controlling assets that generate multiple layers of revenue over time.
Yet when sporting leagues expand, they often ignore that logic entirely.
The AFL’s next team gamble
The Australian Football League (AFL) is preparing to introduce the Tasmania Devils in 2028 using the traditional expansion model.
New club. New infrastructure. New supporter base.
It’s an exciting moment for Tasmanian football. But it also raises a broader strategic question for professional sport.
Would leagues be better off elevating existing community clubs with strong commercial foundations rather than building entirely new organisations from the ground up?
Across Australia there are leagues clubs, sporting institutions and regional organisations sitting on significant land holdings, hospitality operations and loyal local memberships.
Commercial engines that already exist.
In property terms, they’re under-utilised assets.
And if the Dolphins have shown anything, it’s that the smartest sporting organisations may not be the ones starting from scratch.
They’re the ones quietly building balance sheets.
Which raises an even more interesting question for the future of Australian sport.
How many more Dolphins are hiding in plain sight?
James Fitzgerald is managing director of Custodian and author of ‘Bulletproof Investing: Gaining Financial Control in Uncertain Times’. He is a leading voice on Australian property markets, monetary policy, and long-term wealth strategy.
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