Crikey founder and activist Stephen Mayne’s bid for Brisbane Broncos to oust News Corp as major shareholder
Shareholder activist Stephen Mayne has launched a bid to join the Brisbane Broncos board with one goal in mind: removing News Corp as the club’s majority shareholder.
Mayne said the US-based media company’s 24-year dominance of the club represented an unacceptable conflict of interest and was contrary to Australian sporting traditions.
Speaking ahead of the Broncos’ upcoming annual general meeting, where he will nominate his own candidate to the board, Mayne said News Corp’s near 70 per cent stake in the club was an “anomaly” that would not be tolerated elsewhere in Australian sport.
“The biggest newspaper in Queensland owns and controls the biggest sports team in Queensland,” he told this imprint.
“This is a huge conflict of interest to begin with.”
News Corp, controlled by Rupert Murdoch and headquartered in New York, has owned a majority stake in the Broncos since 2002. The company previously had stakes in other sports teams such as the Melbourne Storm and Los Angeles Dodgers, but abandoned those investments years ago.
Mayne said News Corp’s ownership of the Broncos was the “last vestige” of the Super League wars and that while private ownership was common in American sports, Australia had traditionally favored member-owned or not-for-profit structures – particularly in rugby league and Australian Rules football.
“You wouldn’t let an American billionaire come in and buy Collingwood,” he said.
“Everyone says it’s ugly. But here we have an American billionaire who effectively controls the most valuable NRL club.”
Mayne, founder of the news site cricketThe problem, he said, is not with private ownership but with concentrated control.
“Currently the Broncos have around 1,200 shareholders but only one of them controls the club,” he said.
“This is not appropriate for an institution of this size and importance,” he said.
But Mayne acknowledged his candidacy for the Broncos board was largely symbolic, given News Corp’s voting power.
“I can’t be elected because News Corp will vote against me,” he said.
“That’s exactly what I mean; a gerrymander that would make Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen blush.”
Mayne said his campaign was focused on two reforms: encouraging News Corp to sell its shares and pushing the Broncos to adopt hybrid annual general meetings that allow online participation.
“There are more than 200 Australian companies running hybrid general meetings,” he said.
“You can watch the Broncos’ game on your phone, but you can’t watch the General Assembly meeting on your phone.”
Mayne criticized the club’s refusal to allow remote participation in an attempt to stifle debate.
“Transparency and shareholder engagement should not be up for debate in corporate Australia,” he said.
The Broncos have been asked for comment.
Mayne said he was unsure whether he would be able to attend the General Assembly meeting in person, but said he would have a proxy in the room if he could not make the trip.
The Broncos’ meeting notice was expected to be published on the Australian Securities Exchange shortly ahead of the AGM scheduled for May 19. Mayne said how the club handled his candidacy would be an early test of his management standards.
“The first test is whether they publish my arguments uncensored,” Mayne said.
“That will say a lot about whether this was a fair election.”
Longer term, Mayne suggested limits on individual shareholders as a way to prevent future concentrations of power, pointing to precedents in heavily regulated industries such as casinos.
“I don’t see why the same concept shouldn’t be applied here,” he said.
“Let News Corp reduce sales over time and move to a model where no one owns more than, say, 5 percent.”
Mayne said such a structure would better reflect the club’s social role and align it with wider Australian sporting values.
“This isn’t about nationalizing the Broncos or forcing an emergency sale; it’s about starting a debate that everyone is too afraid to have because of the power of the Murdochs,” he said.
“When people point out how abnormal this structure is, News Corp should be pressured to voluntarily sell the club and allow it to be controlled by its fans and shareholders, not some billionaire overseas.”
