Geelong are set to become the latest club to pull out of the gambling industry after agreeing to sell The Brook Point Cook to the Melbourne Racing Club (MRC).
The Cats have agreed to a sale of the venue that holds 80 gaming machines with the final settlement to place early in the new year.
The MRC recently bought two gaming venues from the Western Bulldogs in Dromana and Footscray and 156 gaming machines from Collingwood in 2018.
“The club determined that gaming and gambling revenues did not align with our values and core purpose, developing a strategy to exit,” Geelong Cats president Colin Carter told the club website.
“We are all pleased and proud that with this sale agreement, we have exited all partnerships that include gaming and gambling, including declining any and all gambling advertising at GMHBA Stadium for our home games, and all investments that involve gaming and gambling entities.
“We are also proud of our continued association with the Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation, with both organisations demonstrating a commitment to reducing gambling harm in the Victorian community.
“These decisions have meant the club has had to evolve our business model, as at one stage we generated around $4 million in profits from gaming. We have sought to improve our non-football revenues with initiatives such as Higher Mark, our hospitality arm, and we are continuing to pursue new ventures.
“The funds generated from the sale will be used to invest in future non-traditional opportunities and will not be utilised to fund the day to day operations of the club. That is why it is so important to develop new revenue opportunities to support our core business in football and our continued investment into the community.
“While we are happy to exit the gaming business, we would like to thank and acknowledge those staff that worked diligently at the Brook”.
