Bluemagic
You make a statement with absolutely no foundation as to its accuracy - The same applied to WU when Rex Dawkins ran it. CU and HBU are in this ball park too.
I can assure you that HBU are nowhere near to several of the other franchises when it comes to money. Hawkes Bay is not a wealthy area, much of the sponsorship money goes to rugby which is the number 1 sport in the area. HBU struggles to make ends meet so please, don't live in awe of the financial wealth of the HBU franchise.
WU in its heyday under Rex Dawkins was competitive with ACFC on and off the field, as results proved, so I don't get the "absolutely no foundation" accusation. I don't know the financial figures for HBU and I'm sorry to hear they struggle to make ends meet because they're a decent team. If it's true they're really struggling then as I say NZF have it within their reach to help them financially as I've explained.
I think ACFC does it's bit to help the other franchises by winning the O League and plowing about 40% of that prize money back into the ASBP. It is bloody expensive putting together a quality team that can win the O League and be competitive in the CWC each season so it would be counterproductive to take further money out of ACFC to subsidize other franchises because if we lose the O League prize money the whole house of cards would come down.
It's NZF that needs to pull its finger out (have I mentioned this before).
Hold on - let's get real for a second. Auckland gets additional gaming trust money to cover the costs of competing at the CWC and the O-League and have 50% of the CWC money to spend putting together a team. It's all in their accounts, there is no additional source of funds there, there's no sponsor or individual helping out, no-one is putting their own money in. This myth you've developed that the kind hearted souls spend a load of money on players, saving the league in the process and doing everyone else a favour is just laughable.
Oh, take ACFC and the O League prize money out of the equation and the ASBP will happily carry on will it? Try and keep a grip on reality JD. It costs ACFC money to compete in the O league and CWC to the level it does and yes individuals have dipped into their own pockets. In the end it's a well run ship which can balance the books because it wins on the field. Take out the O league prize money for one or two seasons and the ASBP will be on its knees in no time, so yes ACFC does contribute overall actually.