Expansion Criteria!!

[Bengal]

First the Central Coast then the Gold Coast, next Wellington and now Christchurch.

If a team wants to enter the competition the NRL should look at initiating some imposing conditions of entry, conditions that will sort out the pretenders from the contenders.

This is on top of the usual conditions i.e. sufficient financial backing, facilities etc (which I reckon most of the above towns will be able to meet).

One such (imposing) condition could include a team having to come up with a certain amount of pre-sold seats over a certain period of time.

I’d like to see 10,000 pre-sold seats, with each seat having to be purchased for a minimum time period of three years
at a cost of say $400.00 per-seat ($130 odd per season).

So each fan buys a ticket (that lasts 3 seasons) that entitles that person to 13+ NRL games, probably in the main areas of
that teams grandstand(s) at a cost of $400

The Positives:

For the Fan - if their team gains entry the large initial outlay will end up been a bargain.

For the Team - they are ensured a healthy crowd in a period which is normally difficult to do so i.e. once the initial euphoria has run its course. Of course they will also have a decent sum to help them start off also.

For the NRL – they will have concrete evidence that there really is genuine support for an NRL team in that area (once again, on top of the usual qualifying factors like financial backing etc).

How I see it, each team has their own reasons for wanting to be in the NRL, but very few of these reasons deal with the issue of crowd support e.g.

Gold Coast.
One reason given for basing a team here is because of its large population. Another reason is to get a team established there before our competitors do.

Wellington
The reasons for basing a team here include:
1) Because of a supposed Billionaire
2) To stop the drift of Kiwi talent overseas

Christchurch
Actually Lord knows what the reason is here! They haven’t a show.

Central Coast
Same reasons as the Gold Coast plus a decent (under-utilised) stadium.

Most of these reasons are valid with the Central Coast coming closest to addressing the issues of home town support.
Alternatively if $400 is too much of an outlay, have fans commit to a 2-3 year long membership (at whatever a price) anything that shows the NRL that there is real support!


Basically at the end of the day I’m sick of hearing about this place or that place wanting to be in the NRL. If they truly want to be there go out and show the NRL that there is ‘genuine’ support from the fans, not just sponsors, local councils, businesses etc.
And cement that support as well, don’t do the big crusade to get in and then have the supporters turn into fair-weather friends (aka Souths). Make them commit to 2-3 seasons at least!

On the NRL’s part – give teams something to shoot for!

 

[joshreading]

So when are the other teams going to be required to have 10 thousand season tickets signed up for three years???

 

[dimitri]

i agree


whichever team is closest to filling the CRITERIA should get the 16th spot

and i imagine that would be gold coast

 

[Bengal]

So when are the other teams going to be required to have 10 thousand season tickets signed up for three years???

If the NRL makes it a condition of entry each team will canvas their community for support at the same time as they are doing their preliminary discussions with financial backers, sponsors, councils etc.

Teams will submit their x amount of season ticket holders as part of their formal proposal.
The amount of season ticket holders and the period of time a supporter needs to commit to isn’t as important as the condition itself.

The condition could simply be the team that signs up the most season ticket holders that sways the decision their way (taking for granted that they’ve already met all the other criteria).
As long as there is a condition that takes into account the likely support of a team.

This is what has been bugging me since all this expansion huha came into being.

That is more weight is given to various reasons other than the one that really counts -
will the community support their team?

It’s all well and good to have rich backers, good stadiums, the chance to create more opportunities for players’ etc, but if that team doesn’t have decent hometown support, these things are meaningless.

All new teams start off with a hiss and a roar, crowd wise, but that soon dissipates as the season wears on.
The three-year time period is designed to do two things:
1) Help the culling process
2) Take advantage of the enthusiasm and goodwill many fans have at the beginning.

This time period is not set in stone, but it makes sense to try and cement the support while it is fresh and keen and untainted by poor results.
South Sydney is a good example of a team who had overwhelming support, but missed the opportunity to cement a good deal of that support for years to come.

Basically the gist of this topic is to draw attention to the fact that little credence is given in finding out whether a town actually wants an NRL team or not.

Once a team has established that there is enough support, then we move to the second main theme of this topic - the culling process.

With so many teams wanting in, each armed with valid reasons for inclusion, one way to sift through the contenders is to award the team that can show the most support!

Too many teams!
Too many reasons!

Lets start sorting through the team.
Lets start sorting through the reasons.

 

[In-goal]

if all new clubs can sell 10K season tickets befoer they play a match then they should all belong.

 

[Bengal]

if all new clubs can sell 10K season tickets befoer they play a match then they should all belong.

That is a fair point!

It would be awesome if one let alone all teams could achieve it.

With that sort of support the NRL will have to react to it.

Imagine if all four teams can meet this criteria what a healthy situation the game will be in then!

The next step then, will be to make the team or teams that finish near the bottom go through the same qualifying process i.e. sign up X amount of supporters along with all the other usual criteria.

Of course a team that finishes last but has already met the conditions say one season ago is exempt from having to undergo the process.

However a team that finishes last and is in the last year of its three-year qualifying process will have to undergo it again (should their be another team from outside that wishes to enter the competition).

As you can see this criteria can be used to formulate the games first promotion relegation scenario, but one based on support alongside of finance.

If the situation rises where every year a new team meets the criteria, will simply raise the bar!

Now that really would mean the game is in good stead if that happens.

This is but just a start in looking at ways to include or eliminate teams especially potential new entrants.