Melbourne Storm's owners have reaped a massive windfall through the sale of their poker machines, following in the footsteps of a growing list of Victorian football clubs divesting from gaming interests.

The sell-off represents a significant landmark in a sport underpinned by gaming revenue, with the Storm seeking to break from the mould of NRL clubs in NSW and Queensland, many of which would be financially unviable without income generated from gaming venues.

BRW rich-lister Gerry Ryan is a part-owner of the Storm. Credit:Josh Robenstone

The owners of Victoria’s sole NRL club – privately held by individuals including caravan magnate Gerry Ryan and bookmaker Matt Tripp – sold the Kealba Hotel in Melbourne's north-west, including its 172 poker machine licences, to IPR Hotels last month.

The hotel in St Albans, which was the only Storm-related pokies holding, is a lucrative site at which punters lost the fourth-highest amount of money of the state's 493 gaming venues, with losses nearing $20 million in 2018.