Article by Matt Fulton courtesy of The West Australian.
Recent events resulting in Hancock Prospecting and Roy Hill withdrawing from their sponsorship of Netball Australia will have wide-reaching consequences for sport, not only at a national and elite level, but at a grassroots level.
The immediate consequence of Netball Australia and Hancock Prospecting not coming to “mutually agreeable terms” has already impacted grassroots sport in WA, with Hancock Prospecting also pulling their sponsorship of the West Coast Fever and Netball WA.
Given the way the sponsorship agreement played out in public, it’s difficult to argue the conclusion Mrs Rinehart and Hancock Prospecting reached at a national level, and I’m fearful of the consequences this may have more broadly on sport here in WA.
Do a bit of digging and it’s clear that Mrs Rinehart doesn’t sponsor sport for the personal recognition, brand awareness or business growth.
Hancock Prospecting does so much for sport, and it is disappointing that a few people have taken away a golden opportunity from netball and the thousands of boys and girls that flock to the courts each week.
Some of the sports that Hancock Prospecting supports are swimming, artistic swimming, beach volleyball, volleyball and rowing. In fact, Hancock has supported swimming in WA for more than 30 years — which must be one of the longest sponsorship arrangements in sport. Hancock Prospecting also supports the Australian Olympic Committee through a partnership.
What is interesting about these arrangements is that all the sports listed are far from flush with cash and the focus is on supporting the athletes.
Some of these athletes would be lucky to be paid minimum wage and often require a second job to support themselves while training full-time.
These sports don’t have mega TV rights deals in place and the “return on investment” in brand awareness to Hancock Prospecting would be arguable.
Sport needs more people like Mrs Rinehart. It’s a misconception that sport is financially well-off.
Yes, there are one or two that do really well and can afford to pay their big stars top dollar, but the vast majority of sport is run by volunteers in local sporting clubs who struggle to pull a few dollars together to provide kids the opportunity to get out onto the park, into the pool or out on the court.
For most, if you were to offer a club a thousand dollars they would fall off their chair with gratitude!
At a time when the costs of participation are rising, resources are stretched incredibly thin and facilities are becoming more and more scarce, we need more people like Mrs Rinehart to back sport.
In this case, a few netball players have taken a stand, and that’s their choice, one that I don’t intend wading into, but those few players are not representative of sport.
Sport is about the 700,000 regular participants in WA, the 200,000 plus volunteers who contribute a combined total of 41.9 million hours of their time each year in the State and unfortunately it is these people that will be most impacted should corporations not sponsor sport!
It’s incredibly disappointing that the Netball Australia situation ended the way it did, and I call on corporations around the State to continue to back sport and double down on it if they can, because sport needs you right now, the community needs you and together we can deliver great outcomes for future generations through sport.
To Mrs Rinehart, I thank you for your ongoing and longstanding commitment to sport in Australia!
