Lexus mess

[Killbot]

Front page of Tuesday's Herald-Scum



http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,9399564%255E661,00.html

[Bones]

That is a HUGE blunder if CFC have not seeked permission to rename the complex.

[Proud Pies]

OOPS

[Culprit]

It's Public land and no business has the right to put their name on it. In saying that they have been in negotiations since 1999, the trustees should have spoken up earlier and not ran to the Herald/Sun. Media beat up again.

Eddie is right saying it is our football oval and we should have Bob Rose’s name there not some Olympian. I feel the Government will step, if the deal crumbles, all the money the Government put in will go out the door if the Collingwood Football Club pulls out. No other business will pump the same amount of dollars into the complex.

The Trustees did not commit money to the project and therefore have no say in my opinion. In saying that though this all should have been taken care of by our legal people and they need to be sacked for their oversight.

Sloppy, bloody sloppy.

[JLC]

There are always two sides to the story. I wouldnt take the Herald Sun as being gospel.

jlc

[Culprit]

I agree, they have to sell Papers too.

[pies4ever]

Pies sponsorship veto
By John Ferguson
April 27, 2004

ANGRY officials have vowed to overturn a key part of Collingwood's multi-million sponsorship deal at Olympic Park.

The footy club has been accused of playing fast and loose with public land by naming its new training ground the Lexus Bob Rose Oval without permission.

The Melbourne and Olympic Parks Trust plans to replace the corporate reference, possibly with an Olympic flavour.

In a major embarrassment for Magpie president Eddie McGuire, the trust is also ready to veto Collingwood's plan to allow Lexus owners to use the gym at the new $12 million complex, which is funded by the State Government.

Trust chairman Alan Oxley said Collingwood did not seek approval for naming rights to the oval, which were announced with much fanfare on April 7.

He vowed to use his overriding powers to protect the public land, used during the 1956 Olympics.

"Collingwood have been brash, brazen," a furious Mr Oxley said.

"We've got to emphasise the point to them as we would with the other tenants – that they can't play fast and loose with really what ispublic property."

Collingwood and co-tenant, the Victorian Institute of Sport, are due to move into the state-of-the-art complex in the coming months.

The club does not have a lease on the oval and is granted only conditional access to the site over 47 weeks of the year.

The use of the oval was made possible in part by the removal of the old Olympic Park dog track, and the oval is considered open to the public.

The Herald Sun believes Collingwood has already been told it had no right to name the oval after Lexus or Magpie legend Bob Rose.

Rose, a three-time Collingwood best-and-fairest winner, died last year.

It is also believed the club has been warned that an offer for outsiders to use the gym did not fall within its authority.

Three weeks ago, Collingwood announced the new deal with Lexus, Toyota's luxury car offshoot.

The trust was aware of plans to name the administration centre, gym, and fitness and social clubs the Lexus Centre.

But trust members were shocked when McGuire presided over the announcement of the so-called Lexus Bob Rose Oval.

"Many people have said to us, this is how football clubs always behave," Mr Oxley said.

"But we have made a really big effort to treat them as the important tenant they are. They are behaving in a way which is completely at odds with the other tenants."

Mr Oxley said the controversy would not affect the Lexus sponsorship of Collingwood's administrative centre, which also includes fitness and social areas.

This was built in the original 1956 Olympic swimming pool complex, and is known as the Lexus Centre.

McGuire and Collingwood chief executive Greg Swann were unavailable for comment last night.

The Magpies' communications manager, Nicki Malady, declined to comment.

At the April 7 sponsorship launch, Lexus owners were told they would be able to use the 800-square-metre gym at the Lexus Centre alongside VIS athletes.

Lexus Australia chairman John Conomos said then that the car company had initially wanted to name the oval Lexus Oval.

"But when we learned of Eddie's pledge to the family of the great Bob Rose, we recognised how important it was to honour his memory," he said.

It is unclear whether Mr Conomos was aware no deal had been struck with the trust.

Sports Minister Justin Madden's office said the matter was being dealt with.

"We understand there is an issue, but it's now a matter of negotiation between the trust and Collingwood Football Club," spokeswoman Kim Carter said.

The Victorian Olympic Council has also weighed in, as has the Australian Olympic Committee.

VOC president Jim Barry plans to brief AOC president John Coates on the matter.

"The AOC expresses its grave concern at the prospect that the new oval at Olympic Park is to be called the Lexus Bob Rose Oval," Mr Barry wrote in a letter to Mr Oxley last week.

"Apart from the commercial connotation of Lexus, and that Bob Rose was a significant sporting figure in his own right . . . the AOC believes that the precinct's place in Australian Olympic history should take precedence."

Mr Barry is also a trustee of the Melbourne and Olympic parks.

In 1998, before McGuire took over as president, the Herald Sun revealed that then sponsor Viatel Communications was on the brink of collapse.

The Herald Sun's reporting on Viatel and its chief, John Massey, led to the end of the $3 million contract.

Herald Sun


cheers bryan..!!

[stik35]

There is absolutely no problem with the naming of the Lexus Centre itself or the sponsorship deal.

The Hun are trying to sensationalise everything as usual.

It only relates to the naming of the training ground (oval) which is public land and the "Olympic Trust" have not bothered to name anything up until now.

If Collingwood had not gone ahead with this move the place would still be rotting and no one gave a shit before.

According to Eddie on SEN this morning we will still call it the Bob Rose Oval no matter what they decide to name it officially.

Wait for the "Eddie and Collingwood bashing" to start.

[Culprit]

It's already started.

[Culprit]

The legal people at Collingwood screwed up from what I have read. Looks like no one read the fine print.

[Bruno]

So this is our new house. I really don't feel at "home" though... what with the Olympic Trust being the true owners in both legal terms and in spirit.

I know I'll be hounded down, but from the get go I have been a proponent on spending $10m on Vic Park to bring the old girl up to scratch. We're apparently spending $6m of our own money on the rented complex by the Yarra anyway. I say redirect those funds to Vic Park, then have a fundraising drive for the remaining $4 million.

Get ready to become nomadic homeless vagabond like the Melbourne Football Club.

[Culprit]

I reckon Eddie will tell them and the Government, do it this way or stick it. If we walk away it will force the Government and the AFL to act.

[stik35]

Eddie called it the Lexus Bob Rose Oval in a media release on April 7.

Why didn't the Olympic Trust query it then instead of waiting 3 weeks then getting it plastered all over the front page of the Hun?

Also CFC are putting in millions of dollars to refurbish and put in equipment which is for the AIS and others to use as well - it's not Just for Collingwood.

[Dark Beanie]

Collingwood don't own Vic Park. They only own the land and buildings that form the social club and admin dept. The rest is owned by the council (Yarra Council I think). So it is the same set up as at OP - leasing the ground from a third party. Anyway the Hun is just another tabloid lathcing on to anything to sell a few more papers and giving some no name his 15 minutes of fame.

[snow24]

I'm sceptical about the whole thing because it is not exclusively Collingwood like Vic Park. Yeah it's in a good spot and stuff but sharing it with the AIS and Lexus Owners? wtf? and also the trust people, it's abit meh. Maybe we should have bought some land around Vic Park and done it up etc. It just feels abit tacky that we're sharing it with another full-time tenant.