http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sp...b/news-story/59bcb3dcdc7e7f74dddef87ee0d91843
Parramatta Eels seek sponsors and claim being western Sydney’s strongest club
Dean Ritchie, The Daily Telegraph
February 14, 2017 4:35pm
PARRAMATTA have devised a provocative sales pitch in their drive to find a major sponsor, declaring: “We are the strongest professional sports organisation in Western Sydney.”
Their boast was met with some resistance yesterday from rival clubs but the Eels are bullish and reinvigorated in their intense search for a heavyweight corporate partner.
Parramatta released graphics and research yesterday showing why they can claim to be the number one club in Western Sydney.
Penrith and Canterbury last night questioned Parramatta’s claim, while the GWS Giants claimed: “We have established a deep connection with the Western Sydney community.”
Respected Eels chief executive Bernie Gurr outlined to The Daily Telegraph his club’s sales pitch as the 2017 season edges closer with Parramatta joining Cronulla as clubs still without a major sponsor.
“By any metric, we are the strongest professional sports organisation in Western Sydney,” Gurr said. “We are the top, not only among NRL clubs but across GWS and the Western Sydney Wanderers. We think we’ve got the best marketing proposition of any other NRL club.
“Number one, the governance issues around the club are being repaired.
“Number two, we will have a new management team which is committed to acting professionally and acting with integrity.
“Number three, our football program is very, very solid and I am really happy with the program under Brad (Arthur, coach).
“Number four, if you look at any metrics, whether it’s free to-air TV viewership, pay-TV viewership, the amount of space we get in publications, such as The Daily Telegraph, if you look at social media, if you look at the number of female fans that support NRL clubs in Western Sydney, we are the top.
“All those metrics should appeal to a corporate partner to link with us. We think we’re on the ‘up’ and that we will repair the club and run the club properly.”
Across NSW and Queensland, club research shows Parramatta’s TV audience is seven times more than GWS and about 14 times more than the Wanderers.
Parramatta also claim to be the most supported NRL club in western Sydney, with 27 per cent of all fans following the Eels, according to a Neilson survey.
But is Parramatta the “strongest” club in the highly competitive Western Sydney market?
“He (Gurr) could be right but he wouldn’t want slip-up because we’ll overtake him,” Panthers group and football CEO, Brian Fletcher.
“We have 128,000 members in our group, 98,000 at Panthers. We have 8500 juniors, I don’t know how many they have got. I think you see Oak (Penrith’s major sponsor) in the Telegraph more than any other sponsor. Plus Gus (Phil Gould) is with Channel Nine.”
A Wests Tigers spokesman said the club’s focus was on genuine engagement with their communities.
“We are the most progressive club in Western Sydney that reflects the ever-changing region. We pride ourselves on being innovative and strive to be relevant with everything we do.
“We have the fastest growing membership among Western Sydney NRL clubs (2016) and our geographical footprint represents enormous opportunity for a brand that has over 300,000 fans.”
Canterbury also lay claim to being Western Sydney’s number one club with CEO Raelene Castle saying: “A strong Parramatta is good for the NRL and is necessary to continue growing rugby league in Western Sydney but currently the Bulldogs are the highest-watched team in NSW over the past five years an also have the highest average crowd attendances in NSW.”
A GWS spokesman said: “As the youngest elite level sporting organisation in Western Sydney, the Giants continue to experience unprecedented growth across all key areas.
“We have established a deep connection with the Western Sydney community — we are on track to sign up 20,000 members in 2017, just our sixth year in existence — and we expect this to grow rapidly in the coming years.”
Wanderers CEO John Tsatsimas joined the debate, saying: “If you compare what we have achieved in under five years with any team in Australia our position stacks up favourably.
“We have created a strong and sustainable partner category, many of whom have been with us since our inception, our digital growth is astonishing and we have excellent diversity in our demographics, including a massive youth audience.”
