Dragons merchandise, corporate income through roof

The Dragons celebrate another touchdown in the 32-8 romp at ANZ Stadium, the ninth-highest winning total in history. Picture: DAVE TEASE

They are the $1 million men of the NRL.Still basking in St George Illawarra's premiership glory, the heroes that won the drought-breaking title on Sunday have also delivered a financial windfall for the club.The Dragons' success is set to see a total of more than $1 million injected into the club's coffers following a massive spike in merchandise and membership sales.

Full coverage of the Dragons They will collect a $400,000 cash prize from the NRL for the grand final victory over the Roosters - of which half will be split evenly among the players - and a $100,000 cheque for winning the minor premiership.St George Illawarra memberships surged past 10,000 this year and club chief executive Peter Doust said there had been a groundswell of support as the club headed to the 2010 title."It's very invigorating to be a part of a finals series and see the palpable Red V passion," Doust said."To see just how much the fans have gotten behind the club has taken a lot of people by surprise."One would expect success, the realisation of success and the further growth it will bring to the club."We're all delighted by the achievements last Sunday, but we haven't realised any specific numbers."After the 2009 season, where the Dragons finished first but then bowed out of the finals with consecutive losses, memberships were up 44 per cent.Also attendances and corporate revenue on game day were up 20 per cent and merchandising sales soared 42 per cent.While the club is still waiting on official data to be processed on the financial upshot of this year's success, club officials expect the numbers to skyrocket even further than last year.It could mean St George Illawarra's financial windfall amounts to as much as $2 million once the numbers are crunched on exactly how much their premiership triumph means.But the grand final was also a profitable experience for the Dragons rivals, the Roosters.After finishing with the wooden spoon in 2009, Roosters chief executive Steve Noyce said the club had gained from its "new attitude, new beginning" slogan.Qualifying for the grand final had lifted them even further."We've collected a lot of data, but all that has to be converted to see what it means yet," Noyce said."The sponsors and members and fans felt embarrassed in 2009 and we led with our chin in some respects in how we approached this season."We went into last season with virtually no sponsors, but we've come a long way and next year we're going to be really aggressive in terms of our marketing and membership."

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Dragons merchandise, corporate income through roof

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