NRL club Melbourne has reportedly been sold by News Limited to a private consortium gathered by New Zealand entrepreneur Bart Campbell.
The club has scheduled a media conference at Melbourne's AAMI Park at 11.15am when the change of ownership is expected to be announced.
It's the end of an era for the Melbourne Storm who have only ever been owned by News Ltd since entering the premiership in 1998 and the sale means the Brisbane Broncos are now the sole remaining NRL asset of the company which once ran the competition.
News Ltd's ownership has yielded two NRL premierships including last year's but also saw the salary cap scandal which cost the club the 2007 and 2009 titles.
The Australian newspaper reports that Campbell, a former barrister in the New Zealand High Court, has assembled the syndicate of new owners who will take over.
Campbell is non-executive chairman of international sports management and sports marketing company TLA Worldwide.
The Australian has reported that Mark Evans, the former chief executive of English rugby club Harlequins, has been chosen to take over as Storm chief from Ron Gauci.
