The $6 million gamble that nearly erased a football club

Cultures · Published 1 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: In 1986, a high-stakes bidding war for a Brisbane football licence transformed the VFL. Driven by private billionaires and massive promises, the Brisbane Bears emerged as a pioneer of professional ownership, yet they spent their early years battling financial ruin, stadium disputes, and a identity crisis.

The birth of the Brisbane Bears was defined by aggressive private enterprise. While the VFL initially sought to sell licences for $4 million to rescue struggling Victorian clubs, businessman Paul Cronin escalated the bid to $4.8 million. Eventually, a consortium including entrepreneur Christopher Skase secured the licence with a massive offer that could reach $6 million if the struggling Fitzroy Football Club relocated to Brisbane.

However, the club's early years were marked by instability and a lack of local roots. Despite the name, the inaugural squad featured very few Queenslanders, relying instead on players from South Australia and Western Australia. To help the new side, the VFL even required existing clubs to provide at least two players to the Bears' list. The club's identity was further complicated by its home ground; at Skase's insistence, the team played at Carrara Oval on the Gold Coast, over 70 kilometres from Brisbane.

This distance, combined with poor on-field performance, led to financial hardship. While the West Coast Eagles drew massive crowds in Perth, the Bears' 1987 season saw an average of just 8,965 fans per game at Carrara. The club faced near-extinction following the collapse of Skase's business empire in 1989. It took a takeover by Reuben Pelerman and a strategic merger of assets with Fitzroy in 1996 to stabilize the franchise, ultimately rebranding as the Brisbane Lions.

Despite the 'Bad News Bears' reputation and early struggles, the club eventually found success after moving to a redeveloped Gabba in 1993, marking a transition from a struggling expansion experiment to a powerhouse of the AFL.

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