I love rugby league it is one of the last few sports that involve real manliness and toughness but is our sport endangered?
I find it disturbing that our rugby league clubs run on relatively small budgets and one or 2 years of bad fortune can kill a club off….
Cronulla have had money troubles for years but seriously the CEO says that they are in financial trouble because his projections for crowds figures this year were calculated at 11 000 at home games. Cronulla are averaging 7 000.
So a difference of 3000 in attendance is enough to put a rugby league club under in the best competition in the world.
I find that scary…….for the future.
I find it disturbing that our rugby league clubs run on relatively small budgets and one or 2 years of bad fortune can kill a club off….
Cronulla have had money troubles for years but seriously the CEO says that they are in financial trouble because his projections for crowds figures this year were calculated at 11 000 at home games. Cronulla are averaging 7 000.
So a difference of 3000 in attendance is enough to put a rugby league club under in the best competition in the world.
I find that scary…….for the future.
its a big worry. The problem is that fans dont turn up in emough numbers and the NRL since the start have been ripped off in the TV deals because news ltd owns half the league so the NRL is in a terrible negotiating position despite the excellent ratings it gets for foxtel. they dont get market value from free to air either as seven and ten were already out of the market because they'd just signed the AFL recently when the NRL rights came available- and that going to happen for the next contract.
ReplyDeleteThe NRL has always relied on pokies and now the clubs are trying to move away from that and its not working the crowds and sponsors are not there in numbers needed.
It is going to eventually mean that every team has to be privately owned like every other successful league in the world. Let Cronulla die anyway, they are irrelevant.
ReplyDeleteIts probably the re-commencement of the culling process Sydney needs unfortunately for the supporters of those clubs under the pump. I just hope Cronulla when/if they relocate to the Central Coast that they dont replace the Bears. I personally would like to see the Central Coast Bears not the Central Coast Sharks. Piss them off to Adelaide I say. The Rams idea was about 20 years too early, but if you throw enough money at it, relocation should work for a one city team. Perth may be a better option at this stage though...
ReplyDeletedo either perth or adelaide care enough about league? the force are starting to lose players as they lose support and they had a decent rugby culture. league has always been a false economy propped up by leagues clubs and the super league war inflated salaries beyond anything sustainable. private ownership could work, except in overseas league teams either make money or the owners are so rich they dont care. nrl teams dont make money and are there any potential owners that would willingly throw cash away? doubtful. either the cap goes down (never going to happen) or clubs will die. either way, change is coming....
ReplyDeleteDeevs said "do either perth or adelaide care enough about league?" In Adelaide the answer is a HUGE No!!! I travel there 5 times per year, and every time I have to explain the difference between league and union. When Cronulla played there a few weeks ago, Most of the population were against it because they saw it as a waste of taxpayers money. NRL gets no news time, and isn't in the papers. Apparently there was minimal interest even when the Rams were in the ARL/Super League. In Adelaide AFL is everything......
ReplyDeleteSydney can only support 4 or 5 teams properly. We currently have 9 teams in the Sydney basin. This needs to be culled back or survival of the fittest applied. I think the latter. Who would want to attend a game on a Saturday or a Friday night when they can sit and watch all of the games live in a warm lounge room. I think there should be a team on the Central Coast with its own identity as the Bears, and a team in Sth Qld before we even look to expand into AFL strong areas such as Perth and Adelaide. However I think with the success of the Perth Reds in the Bundy Red Cup (Jim Beam Cup) Perth could support a team providing it is done properly in 2013. I dont think Adelaide will work. At least in Perth there is already a Rugby presence.
ReplyDeleteIf you can't win a comp in more then 40 years then your just making up the numbers. Kill them off and bring in another QLD team.
ReplyDeleteAre Perth a success in the Bundy Red Cup? They are the whipping boys of the competition? I dont know how their crowd figues go but if you go on talent they are putrid.
ReplyDeleteBring in the Sunshine Coast Sharkies....
ReplyDelete