It wouldn't surprise me if this article wasn't timed to provide a boost in season ticket memberships, which isn't a bad thing.
But the answer really is simple - cut a better TV deal next time and direct some of that extra money to the clubs to make up for the shortfall in loss of pokie revenue.
The thing is, people look at television as being the single solution to all our financial issues. An increase in television revenue will most likely end up in an increased salary cap (to fend off other sports poaching our players) and the top 100 established players (and their agents) will be the beneficiaries. The clubs will use the money to update badly needed ground renovations or to add in new training facilities for elite players etc.
Junior development and community projects (the main losers in the lower poker machine revenues) will be so far down the ladder of conscious thought it will be well beyond funny.
We have a robust product because of Junior development. Why else would other codes look to ours for their talent pools?
Television is a part of the answer, but it's not the entire solution.
Higher taxation by the government means that money earned by Rugby League clubs for Rugby League goes elsewhere. Say, the funding of a new GWS AFL franchise, or to pay the salary of some State Labor politician who allows unchecked property development where it's not wanted in return for party funding so they can remain in power.
This need to draw more funds away from our sport is purely because the State Government is so f**king inept. They presided over the biggest glut of government income in the history of our State (stamp duty from the biggest property boom ever) and they spent it on what exactly? Funding themselves and their mates and increasing the size of government.
Then when they reaped a 2nd windfall from GST in return for abolishing stamp duty, they kept the stamp duties in place and the GST money too and what did NSW get? New rail lines? New roads? New schools? Well, no they'd spent all that money and then the housing boom ended and they needed to rob whatever they could from wherever they could.
The NSW State government are the most inept pack of losers in the history of government and Rugby League is having to fund them because they've run out of anyone else to rob. f**k them and f**k their taxes.
I'm not a fan of gambling, in fact I hate it. But I'd rather the revenue raised from the evil went somewhere useful rather than on things we dont want.
Yes clubs need to find other ways of raising funds and memberships are now ALL important as is television and local forms of advertising ie at the stadiums etc. We need proper businessmen running the game and coming up with proper business plans. We're all agreed on that. But we should be far more angry about the way NSW State Labor has treated the working mans game. They're robbing us f**king blind.
. Yeah I agree the NSW Government has got to be the worst ever.
