2009 Memberships

[Newcastlerabbit]

Bottom line,it looks like all clubs are on the improve which obviously is good for Rugby league.

 

[Billythekid]

Lets be even more honest, if Delmege hadn't bailed out manly in 2002, they would have had to close their doors. Also, if News Limited stopped propping up the Storm, they wouldn't be here either. Hmmmm, I wonder who would have contested last year's GF then?

This gets thrown around a lot and it just isn't true. The storm bring in one of the highest revenues in the NRL, the only reason the storm spend so much is because they know they can get money from news ltd, but if they pulled out tomorrow i'm sure we would survive.

Either way once we get into our new stadium people will no longer be able to say this.

 

[dimitri]

This gets thrown around a lot and it just isn't true. The storm bring in one of the highest revenues in the NRL, the only reason the storm spend so much is because they know they can get money from news ltd, but if they pulled out tomorrow i'm sure we would survive.

Either way once we get into our new stadium people will no longer be able to say this.

This discussion is getting way off topic!

At the end of the day one of the best ways to ensure our clubs stay financially secure is for them to get upward of 40,000 members like a lot of AFL Clubs do and not the p!ss poor amounts we have now

 

[Lambretta]

This discussion is getting way off topic!

At the end of the day one of the best ways to ensure our clubs stay financially secure is for them to get upward of 40,000 members like a lot of AFL Clubs do and not the p!ss poor amounts we have now

It wasn't long ago that AFL clubs also had "piss poor" member numbers.

The membership drives for AFL only started in the 1980's and by the mid 90's most Melbourne teams only had about 15,000 members. In 1996, when the Swans made the AFL Grand Final against Norths, people in Melbourne were aghast that the Swans had a "massive" member base of almost 20,000 people. They were claiming that it was impossible for clubs such as Melbourne, Footscray, North Melbourne, Hawthorn and St Kilda to get those sorts of numbers due to the sheer volume of clubs in one City.

How wrong they were. Today, just some 12 years on and 30,000 members is considered a fairly makeable target per club.

Souths have reached the 10,000 mark in members in just their 2nd or 3rd year of a members drive. The Dogs will get there shortly and Easts were aiming for 10,000 members by 2012. At the moment they're aiming for 5,000 members this season, which is achievable.

Give the NRL 10 years in member drives and we should see some real consolidation in this area. League is still a hugely popular game, in spite of crowd numbers at games and our current numbers of members in a very recent development for the game is very encouraging for the long term sustainability of the code.

 

[Billythekid]

This discussion is getting way off topic!

At the end of the day one of the best ways to ensure our clubs stay financially secure is for them to get upward of 40,000 members like a lot of AFL Clubs do and not the p!ss poor amounts we have now

I completely agree. Despite the fact that the Storm play at OP, get barely any tv coverage and the fact that the game is still in its infancy in Victoria the storm had 8,000+ ticketed members last season (around that don't have the figures on hand). I'd say that's not a bad start.

 

[Nemesis]

This gets thrown around a lot and it just isn't true. The storm bring in one of the highest revenues in the NRL, the only reason the storm spend so much is because they know they can get money from news ltd, but if they pulled out tomorrow i'm sure we would survive.

Either way once we get into our new stadium people will no longer be able to say this.

I suggest that you check your facts because it IS true I'm afraid. News Limited funds the Storm to the tune of about $12M per year and openly admits that the $8M it receives from the NRL every season is funnelled directly to the Melbourne Storm.

Thats why your team has been able to do so well and make three successive grand finals. But the facts are that the Storm have lost around $30M over the last 5 years and if News limited funding was pulled, they would cease to exist.

 

[Monk]

bought my roosters membership yesterday

 

[Maroon and White]

Sea Eagles - 2950 approx.

According to website, very, very close to 3000

 

[adamkungl]

I suggest that you check your facts because it IS true I'm afraid. News Limited funds the Storm to the tune of about $12M per year and openly admits that the $8M it receives from the NRL every season is funnelled directly to the Melbourne Storm.

Thats why your team has been able to do so well and make three successive grand finals. But the facts are that the Storm have lost around $30M over the last 5 years and if News limited funding was pulled, they would cease to exist.

Rubbish. Melbourne get the same NRL grant as every other club, have higher sponsorship than most if not all if i remember correctly. They lack a Leagues Club grant obviously, but that does not necessitate $12m from News. Whatever News is giving them, I'm 100% sure Melbourne would survive without it, just have to cut costs.

 

[Nemesis]

Rubbish. Melbourne get the same NRL grant as every other club, have higher sponsorship than most if not all if i remember correctly. They lack a Leagues Club grant obviously, but that does not necessitate $12m from News. Whatever News is giving them, I'm 100% sure Melbourne would survive without it, just have to cut costs.

I can assure you adam, its not rubbish and has been going on for years now.... I suggest you read the first sentence of this article by Roy Masters in the SMH nearly 2 years ago. http://www.smh.com.au/news/league/h...e/2007/03/09/1173166982379.html?page=fullpage

News Ltd's three NRL clubs
THE $8 million News Ltd draws annually from the NRL is returned to the code via its ownership of the Melbourne Storm.
The grand finalists made a loss of $6m last year and invested a further $2m in development of the game in Victoria.
However, News Ltd's other two clubs - Broncos and Cowboys - now make a profit.
The publicly listed Broncos, owned 67 per cent by News Ltd, made profits of $2.2m and $2.3m the past two years, with minimal support from their profitable licensed club.
Broncos chief executive Bruno Cullen says: "Over the past four years we've made a cumulative operating profit of $6m."
The Townsville-based Cowboys, a privately owned News Ltd company, made $200,000 last financial year after years of losses.
The club's chief executive, Peter Parr, says: "There has been a massive turnaround the past few years."
The three News Ltd-owned clubs are perhaps the best run of the NRL's 16 clubs.
They are leaders in social welfare programs and have all appeared in the past two grand finals.
News Ltd's original investment in them was not predatory and driven by the motive of ensuring they did not fall over in an era of stratospherically-high player salaries.
As part of the December 1997 peace deal with the ARL, News Ltd did commit to reducing its stake to one club, although no time frame was imposed on this.
In 2002, News Ltd surrendered ownership of the Raiders and indications are it will sell the Cowboys, leaving it with only the Storm and Broncos, last year's grand finalists.
But with News Corporation heir Lachlan Murdoch the No.1 cheer leader of the Broncos, it is certain the Brisbane club is the one NRL franchise News Ltd will never relinquish.
James Packer, however, puts nothing back into the game, despite sharing with News Ltd half the Fox Sports profits and is desperate the NRL do a deal with Betfair which he half owns.
The Packers also did well when News Ltd cut PBL into Fox Sports as part of the peace deal between the warring media companies at the end of the Super League war.
Packer bought in at cost price and now shares the massive profits of Fox Sports without commitments to NRL clubs.
Roy Masters

 

[NRLMad]

Rabbitohs 6,924
Bulldogs 4,044
Raiders 3,400 (approx)
Sea Eagles 3,000 (approx)
Storm 5,500+ (approx)

 

[MsStorm]

I can assure you adam, its not rubbish and has been going on for years now.... I suggest you read the first sentence of this article by Roy Masters in the SMH nearly 2 years ago. http://www.smh.com.au/news/league/h...e/2007/03/09/1173166982379.html?page=fullpage

News Ltd's three NRL clubs
THE $8 million News Ltd draws annually from the NRL is returned to the code via its ownership of the Melbourne Storm.
The grand finalists made a loss of $6m last year and invested a further $2m in development of the game in Victoria.
However, News Ltd's other two clubs - Broncos and Cowboys - now make a profit.
The publicly listed Broncos, owned 67 per cent by News Ltd, made profits of $2.2m and $2.3m the past two years, with minimal support from their profitable licensed club.
Broncos chief executive Bruno Cullen says: "Over the past four years we've made a cumulative operating profit of $6m."
The Townsville-based Cowboys, a privately owned News Ltd company, made $200,000 last financial year after years of losses.
The club's chief executive, Peter Parr, says: "There has been a massive turnaround the past few years."
The three News Ltd-owned clubs are perhaps the best run of the NRL's 16 clubs.
They are leaders in social welfare programs and have all appeared in the past two grand finals.
News Ltd's original investment in them was not predatory and driven by the motive of ensuring they did not fall over in an era of stratospherically-high player salaries.
As part of the December 1997 peace deal with the ARL, News Ltd did commit to reducing its stake to one club, although no time frame was imposed on this.
In 2002, News Ltd surrendered ownership of the Raiders and indications are it will sell the Cowboys, leaving it with only the Storm and Broncos, last year's grand finalists.
But with News Corporation heir Lachlan Murdoch the No.1 cheer leader of the Broncos, it is certain the Brisbane club is the one NRL franchise News Ltd will never relinquish.
James Packer, however, puts nothing back into the game, despite sharing with News Ltd half the Fox Sports profits and is desperate the NRL do a deal with Betfair which he half owns.
The Packers also did well when News Ltd cut PBL into Fox Sports as part of the peace deal between the warring media companies at the end of the Super League war.
Packer bought in at cost price and now shares the massive profits of Fox Sports without commitments to NRL clubs.
Roy Masters

So you bring up an article that was printed 2 years ago.
Admit it, you have got it in for the Storm.

 

[BrisVegas]

The Melbourne Storm is a odd case as all losses are attributed to the club, yet the profit making components are onsold to a News Ltd shell company at a fraction of their true worth (most likely for taxation purposes).

http://www.leaguehq.com.au/news/new...-stays-a-secret/2007/07/31/1185647901984.html

Business structure that ensures Storm's income stays a secret

Jacquelin Magnay | August 1, 2007

THE true financial picture of the Melbourne Storm is buried somewhere in complicated financial accounts.

Storm chief executive Brian Waldron strongly disputed a Herald report last Saturday that stated the club received $13.11 million from News Limited in 2006. "That figure is wrong, just wrong," said Waldron, who refused to talk to the Herald before publication.

So why does the club list $13.11m in the Australian Securities and Investment Commission records of the Melbourne Storm Rugby League Limited 2006 annual report?

It turns out that the Storm doesn't actually hold the licence to run the NRL club down south. That licence is held by another News Limited company, Valimanda. The Storm receives a "management fee" from Valimanda.

Valimanda is the revenue-generating company of the football club, raking in sponsorship, corporate sales and merchandising, and collecting the NRL grant of more than $3.3m. It then hands over net proceeds to the Storm to pay wages and other costs associated with running the football team. In 2006, that fee was $13.11m - up from $9.4m the year before.

It is understood News Limited injects more than $6m of its own cash a year to Valimanda - the remainder of the "management fee" being made up of sponsorship monies and the NRL grant.

The Storm's annual report shows its membership revenue - which it keeps, and does not go through Valimanda - has increased slightly, from $506,000 in 2005 to $549,000 in 2006.

So while the figures are public for the spending side of the business - the Melbourne Storm - the figures are secret for the revenue-generating side of the business - Valimanda. Just how much the club generates in sponsorship, corporate support, and merchandising sales is not released.

Waldron said Valimanda didn't need to produce ASIC accounts as "it does not meet the definition of a reporting entity and is defined as a small proprietary company".

Waldron was also upset that the Herald reported the club received a government grant of $600,000 last year - which it did. He said a timing difference in the receipt of an extra $200,000 on top of the grant - $400,000 a year - had inflated the figure.

Waldron said the grant wasn't for the NRL team, but for the development of the code in Victoria.

 

[phonetic]

Whatever the mighty Saints' total was, it is now +2. Signed me and my Dad up this morning.

Pretty sure we were just under 10k last year, but I have no source. Just from memory.

 

[Godz Illa]

Whatever the mighty Saints' total was, it is now +2. Signed me and my Dad up this morning.

Pretty sure we were just under 10k last year, but I have no source. Just from memory.

Yep 9k. At the Red V Christmas party in early December Doust announced we were at 6k for 09... hopefully we get an official figure some time in the distant future

 

[Nemesis]

So you bring up an article that was printed 2 years ago.
Admit it, you have got it in for the Storm.

This is now well off topic, but no I haven't got it in for the Storm, so don't be so defensive. I was simply responding to Perth Red's claim that News Limited's decision to punt Souths from the comp would have been justified if Crowe & PHAC hadn't bailed them out (see below)...

Lets be honest if Rus and PHaC hadn't bailed them out News would have been totally vindicated!

To which I responded that the same could be said for Manly, as they would have folded in 2002 if Delmege hadn't bailed them out and similarly if News Limited withdrew its funding for the Storm, they wouldn't have survived either.

Having said all that, I'm pleased that all clubs are now focusing on dramatically increasing their membership numbers over the coming seasons, as it is not only crucial for their survival, it is the way forward for Rugby League in Australia.

 

[yobbo84]

Souths 2009 Ticketed Members: 6,949
Souths 2009 Total Members: 12,035

Source: http://www.rabbitohs.com.au/

 

[ouwet]

Bulldogs are at 4074... Last year we finished on 4069, so we've passed that already

 

[The Tank]

Well done Dogs!

 

[dimitri]

Well done Dogs!

i agree! but we need everyone to keep joining up their mates if we are to reach 10k by 2010 - ive tried to join up all my friends and family but so far ive only managed to join 8