Manawatu Jets forced to tighten their belts

Player payments will be reined in next year as the Manawatu Jets tighten their belts.

Jets chairman Rick Pene said the move was a reality of running a semi-professional sports team, competing in a national league that had some heavy hitters.

But those big-paying teams might also be making cuts as the tough economic times continue.

"We've had to look long and hard about our issues from a board perspective. Player payments are one of the biggest issues you operate with," Pene said.

"Everyone's going to pay less next year. That's the word around the traps."

He said player demands were making it harder to stick to budget.

"You used to pay three players. Now they're paying 18-year-old kids from the bench. It's ridiculous. That's my opinion."

Pene said there were issues this year with player payments, but didn't think it would happen next season.

"Without being in any realistic trouble [this season], the cashflow dried up ... We are fortunate that we have a good couple of accountants on the board."

Ben Hill left the team halfway through the season. The Manawatu Standard understood he was asked to take a hefty pay cut.

Pene said the issues came when funding grants from gaming machine trusts dried up.

"What made it tight was historically we received approval from about 60 per cent of our applications. But about three years ago it was 40 per cent, then last year it was 20 per cent."

After an application has been denied, teams have to wait for a month to reapply.

One of the positives the Jets have working in their favour, other than a strong corporate sponsorship from the likes of McDonalds, is their crowd numbers.

During the past 10 years they have had the third highest attendances in the National Basketball League.

However, they don't get community-based funding from the city council because they pay their players.

The council also "clip the ticket twice" when it comes to the Jets, Pene said.

The team pays for the hire of Arena Manawatu and then have to give a percentage of ticket sales to the Arena.

The $35,000 lost on the blown sponsorship deal with OzJet two years ago has been officially written off as a bad debt because OzJet went into receivership. Pene said it was a devastating situation.

- © Fairfax NZ News