By Brad Forrest
St.George Leader
16/11/2004
The future split of St.George Illawarra Dragons home NRL games could be decided by ticket sales for the 2005 season.
For the second consecutive season Kogarah's Oki Jubilee Stadium will only host five games in 2005, with the remaining seven being held at the larger WIN Stadium.
However Dragons chief executive Peter Doust said with the club's contract with the Wollongong Entertainment Centre coming to an end at the finish of season 2005, the future ground sharing arrangements have yet to be finalised.
Many Kogarah supporters have expressed their dislike of the present split, claiming Kogarah - the traditional home of the red and whites and recently upgraded and renamed Oki Jubilee Stadium - deserved more than five games all year.
Some refuse to travel to Wollongong and continue to disassociate themselves from the Illawarra part of the joint venture, while supporting the team at Kogarah.
Additional Federal funding will also see further improvements over the next year or so, including 2,000 more seats at the 17,000-capacity Kogarah stadium.
In contrast many Wollongong supporters are pressing for the present
arrangements to continue, citing the larger 19,000 capacity stadium at WIN can better manage Dragons home games.
However Doust made it clear the Dragons would have to look at the "best for business" circumstances when reviewing the home games split after 2005.
"I think most fans understand that we had a 50-50 arrangement between the grounds before South Sydney was readmitted," he said.
"When we renegotiate contracts for 2006 and beyond, we will look at tickets, including advanced ticket sales, at both grounds before we make our decisions."
Michael McDonald, Dragons marketing manager, said both grounds recorded an increase of about 15% in gate revenue last season.
"That decision will be one for the board to make at the end of the season," he added.
