Financial fragility of the game

[Perth Red]

To be fair, they’ve had good reasons to show faith in their CEOs over the years.

thye also have no choice, no influence on the commission and perpetual licenses (some of which are not actually owned by the clubs) locking them into agreeing or closing down as the only options. It’s what happens when you have an independent commission

 

[flippikat]

it proves that 15k regularly gave a f**k for NRL in Adelaide.

Yep, and that's not bad considering the Rams were pretty average on the field.

There's probably still a latent fan-base in Adelaide, but that the sporadic scheduling of games there means we can't build that.

 

[Generalzod]

it proves that 15k regularly gave a f**k for NRL in Adelaide.

Oh well darken lot of good it did they don’t have a team

 

[The Great Dane]

Already forgotten about the Vikings

It's extremely hard to forget the Vikings when they are probably only second to the Raiders as the biggest sports club in Canberra.

The Vikings' problem isn't that they are forgettable, it's that everybody that isn't part of their club hates them with a passion and the Vikings are too proud to make concessions to try and get the people that hate them onside.

 

[The Great Dane]

And only got half their crowds 22 years ago. Just double talk sayin.
But I agree with you, Adelaide should have a team before Perth as their crowds were much better than Perth’s were 23 years ago.

Almost every club's attendance took a hit in 98, and it's hard to get a new fan base to buy into your club when everybody is certain that they are going to be kicked out of the comp at the end of the season.

There're also a few clubs that had similar or smaller attendance numbers than they did and survived, and when the Rams were forced to fold they had money in the bank.

 

[The Mad Hatter]

Rams and Reds would bring more to NRL than detract.

National ad campaigns for sponsors for one.

 

[Cactus]

It’s what happens when you have an independent commission

Sounds good. How do we get ourselves one of those ?

 

[Perth Red]

Sounds good. How do we get ourselves one of those ?

Delorean back to 2011 and find a leader with balls to tell the clubs, nswrl and qrl to get fcked.

 

[T-Boon]

Since there are to be no crowds combined with the fact there is no sport on in the USA presently I wonder if they should play some games in the morning. Have a Sunday morning game and a Monday morning game. Going into California in prime time.

 

[Generalzod]

it proves that 15k regularly gave a f**k for NRL in Adelaide.

f**king lot of good it done them ol

 

[Mr Parramatta]

They really do buy in to the growth of their sport. I think the AFL clubs love AFL while the NRL clubs do not love Rugba League.

You put shit on V Landy’s re Rugba League comment, if it wasn’t for this guy, the game would be in the shitter, as hard as you try you are the furthest thing from being funny....carry on though.

 

[AlwaysGreen]

If T goon and Perth Red love afl so much maybe they can f**k off and watch it.

 

[Hello, I'm The Doctor]

Seriously though would it be a good a idea to float the NRL?

No

 

[T-Boon]

If T goon and Perth Red love afl so much maybe they can f**k off and watch it.

I've had at least 50 magnificent ideas for the game in the last 24 months. How many have you had? The answer rhymes with muck hall..

 

[Perth Red]

f**king lot of good it done them ol

yeh if only they had a pokie den, seems that’s the main criteria for many clubs existence.

 

[Perth Red]

If T goon and Perth Red love afl so much maybe they can f**k off and watch it.

It’s a sht game to watch, tried a few times when I moved here, but f**k it’s run well compared to our ongoing sht show!

 

[Generalzod]

yeh if only they had a pokie den, seems that’s the main criteria for many clubs existence.

if only lol

 

[Perth Red]

Afte all the flak being aimed at Grenberg for the nrl’s financial situation the spotlight is starting to turn to the clubs and their failures to use the hundred million $ each they’ve received since the tv deals ramped up to grow their own viability.

Brad Fittler believes former NRL chief executive Todd Greenberg can walk away with his head held high, saying "incredible" club spending contributed to the game's financial plight exposed by the coronavirus crisis.
But NSW coach Fittler said "impatient" clubs should have been held accountable before the finger was pointed at Greenberg over the NRL's precarious financial position during the pandemic shutdown.
You've got to say, (Greenberg) has been held accountable for the whole finance of the game and what everyone looked back and thought was quite poor running of the game.
"When you look at the clubs and the amount of money wasted on their CEOs and their bosses going in and out of the clubs, it's incredible.
The amount of wastage we have in this game. There's an absolute lack of patience going on at the moment."

Fittler's comments come days after a News Corp report revealed NRL clubs had lost a combined $31 million in 2019 despite annual grants from the governing body from the lucrative broadcast agreement.
A report had also claimed there had been 100 different CEOs and chairs in the last five years among the clubs, contributing to excessive spending.
https://www.smh.com.au/sport/nrl/we...hb.html?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook

 

[Hello, I'm The Doctor]

Almost every club's attendance took a hit in 98, and it's hard to get a new fan base to buy into your club when everybody is certain that they are going to be kicked out of the comp at the end of the season.

There're also a few clubs that had similar or smaller attendance numbers than they did and survived, and when the Rams were forced to fold they had money in the bank.

One thing I have never heard a decent explanation for is why Perth and Adelaide never managed a merge agreement....

Of the 7 Sydney teams to fold or merge (not to mention the Huner Mariners who were never gonna be allowed to stay while based in Newcastle), I just dont understand how Perth or Adelaide never managed to put a deal together:
"We will use all of your branding, your logo your colours, whatever the f*ck you want. We just need the team based in Perth/Adelaide".

Given some of the clusterf*ck merges that were actually accepted, it just seems crazy that not one ever said yes to this....

(Perth Tigers and Adelaide Magpies, and we're done.....)

 

[The Great Dane]

One thing I have never heard a decent explanation for is why Perth and Adelaide never managed a merge agreement....

Of the 7 Sydney teams to fold or merge (not to mention the Huner Mariners who were never gonna be allowed to stay while based in Newcastle), I just dont understand how Perth or Adelaide never managed to put a deal together:
"We will use all of your branding, your logo your colours, whatever the f*ck you want. We just need the team based in Perth/Adelaide".

Given some of the clusterf*ck merges that were actually accepted, it just seems crazy that not one ever said yes to this....

(Perth Tigers and Adelaide Magpies, and we're done.....)

The mergers were clusterf**ks because they weren't planned at all. There was no independent group helping to decide what would or wouldn't be a good idea, it was rushed, and it was totally left up to the clubs themselves to organise the mergers, and the clubs (as always) were all totally governed by self interest.

None of the Sydney clubs would have agreed to merge with the Reds or Rams unless it was a merger in name only. They would have demanded that they effectively have majority control over the club, that the team be based in Sydney and play most, if not all, of their matches in Sydney, and that any semblance of the Reds or Rams prior existence be effectively scrubbed away.
At that point even if Reds and Rams wanted to take the deal News wouldn't have allowed them because News would have preferred keep the players free for Melbourne to pick up, and if you were the Reds or Rams why would you bother anyway, there was nothing in it for them.

There could have been potential in a merger with one of the teams outside of Sydney. For example merging the Chargers and Rams could have been a good idea in hindsight, but that was unlikely to happen for other reasons.