It’s official: The Perth Bears will become the NRL’s 18th team, with the brand new franchise to join the competition in 2027.
Flanked by NRL CEO Andrew Abdo and ARL Comission boss Peter V’landys, WA Premier Roger Cook made the announcement on Thursday at the Bears’ home ground at HBF Park in the heart of the city.
“Today we can announce that the Perth Bears are about to be a part of the NRL competition,” Cook said, confirming the entry date despite some earlier speculation the team could be held back until 2028.
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“The new club will compete for the first time in 2027 and as we’ve insisted, it will deliver a significant return for the WA taxpayers.
“Every dollar of of WA government support will be spent in Western Austraila to develop the game.”
The agreement includes $65 million in financial support from the government and Vlandys said the return on investment could be even higher than Western Australia’s public estimates.
“It’s a gold mine,” Vlandys said.
“It’s going to have a massive return to the government here… our figure was a $50 million (annual) return.
“The beauty of this team is you’re going to have 200,000 members coming from NSW for the Bears. And the Bears are a very tribal club and they (the fans) will travel.”
MORE TO COME
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