NRL: Mining magnate secures Knights takeover

Nathan Tinkler is the new owner of the Newcastle Knights. Photo / Getty Images

Nathan Tinkler has claimed ownership of the Newcastle Knights with the NRL club's members voting on Thursday night to hand the franchise over to the mining magnate.

Needing 75 per cent members approval for his $A100 ($NZ131.15) million privatisation plan to become a reality, the Tinkler deal received a staggering 97 per cent of the vote at an extraordinary general meeting at Newcastle Entertainment Centre attended by approximately 1500 people.

The announcement was greeted with huge cheers before chants of "Newcastle, Newcastle" broke out.

The meeting - which began late to accommodate the more than 100 people still outside when it was due to begin - lasted less than 30 minutes with chairman Robert Tew addressing the crowd and fielding just a handful of questions before the ballot was conducted.

Tinkler's offer will see him immediately wipe out the club's debts, which are estimated to be in the region of $A4 million, while he has also guaranteed $A10 million in annual sponsorship revenue over the next 10 years and at least $A2.5 million annually on junior development.

The deal almost never never happened when Tinkler - owner of the city's A-League franchise Newcastle Jets - pulled the offer off the table on February 21 in frustration at the procrastinations of Tew and chief executive Steve Burraston, who had failed to endorse the bid, labelling it a "mirage".

Tew and Burraston floated the concept of a patron's trust model as an alternative, but a revised bid by TSG was then backed by the Knights board followed by an advertising blitz which helped secure Tinkler the large margin of victory at Thursday night's ballot.

- AAP