The Victorian economy received a welcome boost to its jobs market today, with obscure Sydney-based sports media empire TPA Media Holdings (The Public Apology) announcing it will relocate headquarters to Melbourne, effective March 17.
The move was secured with support from the Victorian government and comes despite rumours of a substantial financial incentive (commercial in confidence) offered by the O’Farrell government to keep the firm in Sydney.
The relocation will create two (2) part-time/casual/temporary jobs within Victoria, with the option for further expansion and job creation within the coming decade.
TPA Media Holdings director Dave Edwards said that the group had chosen to relocate to Victoria in a bid to reduce overheads and secure greater market share.
“The Public Apology is arguably Australia’s best-loved obscure sentimentalist sports blog, and we feel Victoria offers us the best prospect of achieving our ambitious growth targets,” Edwards said.
“2014 has been a big year for The Public Apology, with the acquisition of competitor The Sporting Regard having been completed. Following our relocation to Melbourne, we will be looking to make further in-roads into the crowded marketplace of online sports opinion microblogging.”
Edwards said that while Sydney had been a “great home” to The Public Apology since the firm was established in 2011, Melbourne’s terrible weather, good coffee and strong cultural cliches “undoubtedly make it a more ‘writer-friendly’ location.”
“Our readers should be assured that while the coffee references, fashion and analogies between football players and tram routes will improve exponentially, our content will still remain pithy, lethargic and spiteful,” he said.
Victorian premier Denis Napthine described the government’s move to assist The Public Apology’s relocation as a “strategic investment.”
“This will have a flow-on effect within the Victorian economy. The Public Apology’s relocation will help develop Melbourne’s already rich sports media ecosystem and potentially create highly skilled jobs sometime within the next 10 years,” he said.
The Public Apology will continue to operate its Sydney office, with contributors in the U.S. and England to be retained on a per-article basis. There are no expected redundancies.
AAP MediaNet