Sold!

[jonno_knights]

Do Wests currently operate shuttle buses to and from the stadium on game day? Imagine the amount of extra business they'd do for pre-game lunch or post-game dinner etc.

I was there before the Broncos Game and was surprised they didn't open the Buffet earlier on Game day. Only opened at 5pm for a 5.30pm kickoff which meant we got to our seats a few minutes into the game. It'd be tougher for a family to get there who don't have the chance to go after the game as it would be a bit late for kids by 8pm.

 

[Pedge1971]

To be fair they could run.shuttles from City, Mayfield and New Lambton on game day. All are pretty close to the ground.

 

[jonno_knights]

To be fair they could run.shuttles from City, Mayfield and New Lambton on game day. All are pretty close to the ground.

Do they have courtesy buses?

Obviously depending on the popularity, they may need to hire a few bigger buses, but surely they would pay themselves off if people have a feed, a few drinks and a slap before/after the game.

Its a bit of a conflict of interest though. Wests will prefer people to stay in their clubs to watch the game, spending their money on drinks, keno, pokies etc.

They'll have to weigh up the advantage of getting more people to club against the disadvantage of them leaving for 2-3 hours and later returning. They will have a slice of revenue generated at the ground now though.

We could spend all day talking up different marketing strategies surrounding the knights and game day experiences, so it will be interesting to see how it all unfolds over the offseason.

 

[perverse]

Do they have courtesy buses?

Obviously depending on the popularity, they may need to hire a few bigger buses, but surely they would pay themselves off if people have a feed, a few drinks and a slap before/after the game.

Its a bit of a conflict of interest though. Wests will prefer people to stay in their clubs to watch the game, spending their money on drinks, keno, pokies etc.

They'll have to weigh up the advantage of getting more people to club against the disadvantage of them leaving for 2-3 hours and later returning. They will have a slice of revenue generated at the ground now though.

We could spend all day talking up different marketing strategies surrounding the knights and game day experiences, so it will be interesting to see how it all unfolds over the offseason.

Not necessarily if they can charge them triple at the stadium. Wests Mayfield gets packed on gameday whether they own the Knights or not. I can see what you're saying, but I'm not too worried about a conflict of interest regarding gameday. If they own the Knights, it will definitely be in their best interests to get punters through the door on gameday, and then probably straight back out the door and to the clubs if possible.

 

[Hello, I'm The Doctor]

Definitely. Smart operators.

Hopefully it will lead to a big increase in Knights memberships too. If Brown can get them winning next year the home crowds, although very good under the current circumstances, will hopefully increase as well with Wests memebership base possibly feeling a little more connected to the team.

Sky is the limit so to speak for Wests to really take it all to the next level. So many flow on effects if its all done right.

Yeh, it will give the Knights a place to pick up easy memberships (just have a few staff members head in there while there's NRL on the TVs and flog some membership discounts for the club members).

It will also be a central place for fans to head before and after the games, developing a good community of fans. I think Leagues clubs are so important for clubs fans in providing a sence of "home" and community when supporting the team. The stadium alone isnt enough, a Leagues club is what really brings it all together (for me, at least)...

 

[Hello, I'm The Doctor]

Its a bit of a conflict of interest though. Wests will prefer people to stay in their clubs to watch the game, spending their money on drinks, keno, pokies etc.

They'll have to weigh up the advantage of getting more people to club against the disadvantage of them leaving for 2-3 hours and later returning. They will have a slice of revenue generated at the ground now though.

We could spend all day talking up different marketing strategies surrounding the knights and game day experiences, so it will be interesting to see how it all unfolds over the offseason.

The conflicting needs is what always concerns me about Leagues clubs owning NRL clubs.

The idea model would be an independent NRL club that then has a close associating with the Leagues Club, just to make sure the NRL club is always put first. But beggers cant be choosers.

As long as Wests are proactive and not just lazy owners, there would still be huge opportunities for them to benefit from huge attendance numbers and a successful team.

Not necessarily if they can charge them triple at the stadium. Wests Mayfield gets packed on gameday whether they own the Knights or not. I can see what you're saying, but I'm not too worried about a conflict of interest regarding gameday. If they own the Knights, it will definitely be in their best interests to get punters through the door on gameday, and then probably straight back out the door and to the clubs if possible.

There is definitely potential for Wests to really benefit, it just depends on how interested they are in putting in the time and effort....

Wests are fundamentally a catering company, so taking over the stalls/canteens for the day should be easy work. And with a captive audience of 20k-30k, it would be easy to get a huge turnover in food/drink sales alone (not even considering merch sales and advertising for their Leagues Clubs).

NRL clubs can easily pay for themselves. Given Wests are taking on the risk and opportunities, you would hope they would push hard for the rewards as well. It all just depends on whether they are proactive or passive/lazy...

 

[jonno_knights]

The possibilities are really endless on ways in which Wests can really increase their brand through this ownership.

Not sure on the usual vacancies rates on their hotels are on game day, but even offering free tickets to the game to people who stay at their hotels on the day of the game would really grow their brand to travelling fans, and they'd no doubt come out on top after the visitors have bought dinner, had drinks and played the pokies at the club.

Even accommodation packages for out of town people as part of their out of town memberships would be a good idea. Sell it as part of a 3 or 4 game deal, and those fans that usually might only come to 1 or two games, might be tempted into coming to a few more if they can save a few $$$.

 

[macavity]

council pushing for light rail to the stadium. not hard to extend it to Wests....

 

[Pedge1971]

The conflicting needs is what always concerns me about Leagues clubs owning NRL clubs.

The idea model would be an independent NRL club that then has a close associating with the Leagues Club, just to make sure the NRL club is always put first. But beggers cant be choosers.

As long as Wests are proactive and not just lazy owners, there would still be huge opportunities for them to benefit from huge attendance numbers and a successful team.



There is definitely potential for Wests to really benefit, it just depends on how interested they are in putting in the time and effort....

Wests are fundamentally a catering company, so taking over the stalls/canteens for the day should be easy work. And with a captive audience of 20k-30k, it would be easy to get a huge turnover in food/drink sales alone (not even considering merch sales and advertising for their Leagues Clubs).

NRL clubs can easily pay for themselves. Given Wests are taking on the risk and opportunities, you would hope they would push hard for the rewards as well. It all just depends on whether they are proactive or passive/lazy...

Think EAS currently holds the ground catering rights. Why would Wests benefit from that?

 

[Yosh]

With the Wests owning us, what are the spillover benefits? Would other major companies be more willing to rake out more 3rd party deals for us? Would Wests be able to offer jobs after a player's careers are over? I think if the deal is a positive as everyone thinks it is, perhaps we'll see the real benefits 5 to 10 years down the line not immediately (but in the short term it'll be great too).

 

[Still Nutty]

Don't undersell the value of the $10 million co-contribution to the Centre of Excellence as part of this package...this will have a significant benefit to the longer term future of the team/club and the broader region in clustering significant expertise in sports science, rehab and injury management, supporting/attracting player recruitment and retention, etc.

I have a significant amount of faith that the business acumen, balanced along with the not for profit status and community/social return ethos of the groups operating philosophy is the perfect blend for an NRL team ownership model. The board are coming at this with all the due diligence and business savvy that will make it a viable - not likely profitable but certainly break even/cash neutral and that is sensible for the sustainability of the team and the group.

Although there are naysayers out there, I think the broad membership base will see it that way as well and know that this is the right thing for the members and for the community.

 

[NoSchitSherlock]

What I thought might be of benefit is if Wests took over the Reserves. Reserves often play at different locations and incur a lot of expenses.
Could trial some Wests players which would benefit their development.

 

[macavity]

Voted today. stood around and snooped, saw about 15 people vote, all yes. On a very small sample size seems the good guys might win.

 

[PhilGould]

Sounds like it's been majorly positive so far, and I imagine there'll be a big influx of voters on game day too.

 

[Medievalknight]

Might vote no just to ensure its not a walkover ......

 

[TooheysNew]

What I thought might be of benefit is if Wests took over the Reserves. Reserves often play at different locations and incur a lot of expenses.
Could trial some Wests players which would benefit their development.

You're right, there are some negatives...

 

[Volcom6685]

Just went and Voted and the lady there said it was 10:1 in favour. Not sure if that's just at Cardiff tho

 

[Still Nutty]

Also joined and voted yesterday.....earlier posts were right, it is a great marketing ploy BUT I was happy that I could pay membership and get to vote straight away as a paid up member - I had assumed that memberships signed up after 31 July opening date wouldn't be allowed to vote.

Had one in front of me who voted yes too

 

[macavity]

Just went and Voted and the lady there said it was 10:1 in favour. Not sure if that's just at Cardiff tho

Probably even better ratio than that as the NO voters tend to be very vocal grumpy bums.

 

[Johns Magic]

What date do we find out the result?