NRL: Mining magnate guarantees Knights $100m

Knights chairman Rob Tew rejected a $A10m offer from Nathan Tinkler two months ago. Photo / Getty Images

Mining magnate Nathan Tinkler has increased his offer to buy the Newcastle Knights to a guaranteed $A100 million sponsorship over the next decade and erasing their $A3m debt in return for the club's NRL licence.

Just two months ago, Knights chairman Rob Tew rejected a $A10m offer from Tinkler for the licence.

But Tew told the Sydney Morning Herald he would take Tinkler's new offer to a board meeting on Wednesday night, when other funding options for the struggling club would be discussed.

"Our responsibility is to act in the best interest of our members," Tew told the newspaper.

"I'm not sure this is the best proposal. We have had a number of interests since Nathan made the last offer public through the media."

In rejecting Tinkler's initial offer, Tew demanded that the coal baron, who has an estimated fortune of more than $A600m, guarantee the club's projected sponsorship income for the next 10 years.

The Knights put that figure at $A7m a year. Under the new offer, Tinkler has committed $A10m a year.

In the unlikely event the Knights lose all of their sponsors after privatisation, it could be a $A100m investment. If sponsorship is unchanged, his contribution would be $A30m - indexed to CPI - in new capital over 10 years.

- AAP