When the 2019 NRL Telstra Premiership draw is to be released within the coming weeks, the Parramatta Eels home games will have TBC (to be confirmed) next to them.
This is due to a current dispute between the Eels and the operators of the newly refurbished Western Sydney Stadium.
The 30,000-seat venue is not meant to host a game until April 2019 after the completion of a two-year rebuild which started in the early 2017 when the old Parramatta Stadium was pulled down.
Now, the Eels are reportedly not happy with a commercial deal that is being offered to them, with club CEO Bernie Gurr writing to members stating accepting the deal would financially hurt and impact the club.
VenuesLive, the new stadiums operators, are also the contract holders for ANZ Stadium, the place where Parra were meant to play their first few home games, but that too is up in the air over this dispute.
According to Gurr, the old Parramatta board sacked in 2016 due to salary cap breaches signed a deal with the Olympic Park venue which supposedly hit the clubs strings too hard.
Gurr told members on Tuesday the deal, if signed, would hurt the development of the clubs junior elite football programs, along with the NRL teams football department.
"The current agreement at ANZ has adversely impacted the club financially and we are not prepared to accept a new agreement that will continue to impact the club negatively for the next 25 years," Gurr said.
The Eels have done their homework and over the past six months they engaged consultants to take a look at the commercial stadium deals for other sporting clubs.
"Together we have benchmarked the commercial terms of the current offer against offerings currently being received by NRL and other sports at a range of stadiums across multiple states of Australia," Gurr said.
"The club will also not compromise on key areas that are important to our members and supporters."
Matters such as affordable food and drink prices, ticketing pricing, and opportunities for the club to drive more revenue through corporate partnerships are also being considered in the signing of the deal.
Gurr said discussion will continue until a suitable deal is proposed.
"In the interests of arriving at a fair and reasonable deal, we are continuing our discussions with the stadium operator in an attempt to resolve this matter quickly so that our members and supporters have a clear understanding of the WSS schedule for 2019," Gurr said.
Parramatta won't commit to a venue for their games until this matter is resolved, despite the draw being released within two weeks.
WWS operators are yet to confirm or provide a statement regarding the matter.
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