$1m on a Sleeve: Perth Bears and the New Economics of Expansion

The Perth Bears Rugby League Club haven’t played a game. They don’t have a roster, a membership base, or a single fan in the stands. But they’ve already sold a sleeve sponsor for $1m+

On paper, it’s a record. Sleeves usually fetch ~$600k. The average jersey front sits at around $1m, a level some well established clubs still don’t reach. Perth have already matched it on a sleeve, two years before they play a game. That should make the industry sit up.

Budget Direct aren’t new to this play. They signed with the Dolphins NRL a year before they debuted. Not just as a logo, but as part of “Phins Up “- foam hands, giveaways, baked into the foundation story.

Perth is a different play. It’s riskier. WA isn’t heartland. League has stumbled here before. That $1m is overs, and Budget Direct are paying it for a story that doesn’t yet exist. But overs come with upside. Because unlike Sydney, where logos get lost in a crowded, cluttered market, Perth is a blank canvas. The only National Rugby League team in the state. No competing categories. No noise. Every “first”, Budget Direct get to own.

Also, the activation has already started. The launch was full of claw props and bold branding, the kind of theatre that signals this is more than a sleeve patch. Will we see foam claws in the crowd by 2027? That’s the point: the sponsor is already being built into identity and ritual, not just stitched onto fabric.

Strategically, this is smart business for Budget Direct. This deal extends their reach into WA, a market often described as “foreign” for east coast brands. It not entirely new ground: they’ve been a major sponsor of the Perth Scorchers since 2020. Now they’ve added the Bears, doubling down on WA as a growth market. Instead of fighting for share in a saturated east coast sponsor landscape, they’ve bought their way into an uncluttered state.

The Bears haven’t just sold a logo, they’ve sold 2026, too. This deal pays into a non-playing year, a clear signal that sponsors see value in the build-up narrative, not just the season itself. That’s rare in sport, and it shows how strong the Perth proposition has been packaged.

Anthony DeCeglie has also been clear: Perth isn’t just about WA. They’re positioning as both a monopoly club in the west and a second-home brand in Sydney’s North Shore. Two markets, one expansion. That duality gives sponsors a reach traditional clubs can’t replicate.

This shows expansion isn’t cheap or unproven anymore. It’s scarce, premium, and symbolic, priced at a level that established clubs may now be compared against. And if a sleeve is already over $1m, the obvious question is: what will front of jersey sell for?

The ripple effect is interesting. PNG has been confirmed as the 19th team. With Perth turning a sleeve into $1m two years out, all eyes will be on who jumps first in Port Moresby. Government backing might get PNG onto the field, but Perth just showed the commercial bar can be set long before that first whistle blows