Few leading business figures could manage to look as comfortable as Peter Holmes a Court late on a Friday afternoon in the busy front bar of the Cottesloe Beach Hotel.
Few leading business figures could manage to look as comfortable as Peter Holmes a Court late on a Friday afternoon in the busy front bar of the Cottesloe Beach Hotel.
The crowd is rough, seemingly under-employed and well lubricated by 5pm.
It’s a long way from where you would expect to find the Oxford-educated theatrical entrepreneur and former agricultural services company CEO.
But then again, so is rugby league, especially the Rabbitohs club in working class South Sydney, which Mr Holmes a Court and his business partner, actor Russell Crowe, control.
The son of Perth-based high-flying 1980s entrepreneur, the late Robert Holmes a Court, and one of Australia’s leading business and cultural figures, Janet Holmes a Court, he has gained a prominence of his own since tackling the sports business.
As a Sydney institution, the Rabbitohs has always guaranteed more headlines than its on-field performances warranted. Add to that a bit of Hollywood, a prime time ABC documentary and a recent move to lead a fight in NSW against poker machines, and Mr Holmes a Court’s anonymity in the town he once called home is somewhat surprising.
Noting the changes in Perth as a regular visitor – he sees a new breed of Western Australians muscling in on territory of the not-so-old money that held sway before – the businessman is in town to sell his wares.
Partly that’s the Rabbitohs sponsorship and partly it’s a sports consulting business that offers other teams the expertise to learn from the leagues club experience of NSW, where they offer more than just tickets to the game and a shop for clothing.
Mr Holmes a Court believes there is much to learn from rugby league clubs, which earn big profits from their seven-days-a-week entertainment centres, albeit subsidised in the main by gambling, even though he acknowledges that Australian Rules Football has been better at developing a fan-based culture.
To underscore that latter point, the Rabbitohs is one of rugby league’s big clubs, with 10,000 members. West Coast Eagles has more than 30,000. Even the Dockers, whose on-field performances have not reached the heights of its cross-city rivals, are streets ahead in terms of membership.
Mr Holmes a Court also said he had formed a business called The Passionate Group Ltd to invest in business around sports, where he sees an internet-led change that will shake-out the industry.
It is here that his pedigree as a businessman beyond his current sector becomes more obvious.
He talks of clubs having consolidated their game-day rights, which were sold to television, the main focus of the sports sector for the past 20 years.
“There are a lot more rights than the game day rights that fans find equally valuable,” Mr Holmes a Court said, referring to player interviews and other content a club can retain under its control.
He suggests the sports sector will splinter as fans use the internet and follow individual players as much as teams in the future.
It’s the big-picture talk that reflects his pedigree – a legacy of his father’s legendary status, gained when he attempted to takeover BHP Ltd in the late 1980s; a move that shook-up the investment establishment.
While at Australian Agricultural Co Ltd, a listed entity spun-off out of Elders, Peter was CEO and closely to aligned to one of his father’s business associates, Alan Newman, the former executive chairman of Futuris Corporation Ltd, which has sought to consolidate the rural sector.
He cites his father, Mr Newman and his wife’s uncle, Henry Jarecki, a legendary figure in the world of metals trading, as key mentors during his business career, which started in the US with a theatre company.
“I have learned from all of them,” Mr Holmes a Court told WA Business News.
“I was very lucky.You take the stuff that is appropriate for you, that is what is so great, there is no stress.”
One of the business lessons Mr Holmes a Court has learned for himself is the importance of connecting with customers.
He said he gained that knowledge at AACo and has applied it to the sports business, which he believes provides big business-to-business opportunities for WA firms wanting reach an east coast audience.
One of the biggest customers of the Rabbitohs is WA-founded business Firepower Group, which is a major sponsor.
Firepower has weathered a storm of controversy, especially in Sydney, where it not only features prominently on the Rabbitohs jumper but also because its founder, Tim Johnston, led a buy-out of National Basketball League team, the Sydney Kings.
The fuel technology company has retained an air of mystery despite numerous articles questioning its products and claims that its ownership includes many high-profile sports identities.
Mr Holmes a Court, who said he did not have an interest in Firepower, believes that is part of the deal with sponsors.
“I think the club is very cognisant that the ups and downs of your sponsors will affect you,” he said.
“Corporately they have had issues but we have had feedback that they do reduce emissions. If they really do reduce emissions like their customers tell us they do, then we are prepared to take the ups and downs.”
