A key sponsor of the Canterbury Bulldogs has pulled its support over the Mad Monday scandal that’s engulfed the NRL club in recent days.
Electronics company Jaycar has been a sponsor of the Bulldogs since 2009, and the partnership between the two was estimated to be worth $500,000 per season.
However, the company terminated its sponsorship late last week following the Bulldogs’ naughty Mad Monday celebrations in The Rocks, which were spread across The Daily Telegraph and resulted in a $250,000 fine for the club.
Furthermore, four Bulldogs players were fined a combined total of $70,000, with two of them due to face court next month over after being charged by police with wilful and obscene exposure.
In a letter to Bulldogs CEO Andrew Hill and chair Lynne Anderson published by The Sydney Morning Herald, Jaycar founder and owner Gary Johnston said his company’s sponsorship could not continue as he looks to list it on the ASX.
You can read the letter in full below:
Dear Lynne and Andrew,
As you can imagine, it was difficult not to be made aware of the incident at the Harbour View Hotel on Monday Sept 3 at the Rocks in Sydney. It was very embarrassing to see our company logo feature so prominently in newspaper coverage.
What you may not be aware of, is Jaycar’s intention to float the company on the Australian Stock Exchange in the near future. We have been advised by experts that we must have a spotless reputation in every way to be accepted by the share buying public.
As a private company, I have ignored Canterbury’s Mad Monday antics in the past. Because of the upcoming changing status of our company in the near future, I simply cannot ignore what happened last Monday and the inevitable association with our company’s reputation.
It is with deep regret, therefore, that I wish to advise you that my company, Jaycar Pty Ltd, and all of its associated entities, withdraws its sponsorship support of all Canterbury teams effective immediately.
My wife Kerry and I have developed considerable affection for the club over the years and, frankly, even though we probably would have preferred the status quo staff-wise, we completely understand and respect the members decision to act the way they did and try a new broom.
We sincerely hope that your efforts will be rewarded with success in 2019.
Meanwhile, Sydney Morning Herald journalist Andrew Webster laid into his rivals at The Daily Telegraph over their coverage of the Bulldogs’ Mad Monday celebrations during a very heated exchange on Nine’s Sunday Footy Show yesterday.
HEATED. ?
Andrew Webster has blown up at his rival journos over their exposure of the Bulldogs’ Mad Monday. #9NRLSFS pic.twitter.com/tJsIrb4Okn
— Sunday Footy Show (@SundayFootyShow) September 9, 2018