NRL: Lets talk about relocating teams, says QRL boss.

[LeagueXIII]

Cough, June 2018 17,700 fans attend nrl in Adelaide, cough

Cough cough......look at the history of RL in expansion areas, clubs can always draw a big crowd for a one off game ....it's the week in week out stuff they struggle with.

Take the Western Reds in 1995, they drew 25,000 for their first game, by seasons end they were drawing 8-12,000.

In 1996 of their 11 home games only 3 drew over 10,000 including a top of 12,000.

 

[Stallion]

Cough cough......look at the history of RL in expansion areas, clubs can always draw a big crowd for a one off game ....it's the week in week out stuff they struggle with.

Take the Western Reds in 1995, they drew 25,000 for their first game, by seasons end they were drawing 8-12,000.

In 1996 of their 11 home games only 3 drew over 10,000 including a top of 12,000.

If ever there is a city in Australia that should have another NRL club it's Brisbane. The fact that the Broncos have continued this monopoly within this Rugby league city is an abomination of logic and reeks of greed and lack of feel for the code . Some well marketed new franchise called perhaps Brisbane Dolphins? would be successful and a plus for even the Broncos and especially the code in Brisbane.It's astonishing that the Broncos have got away with such a monopoly for such a long time! If I were the NRL I would be adding/reintroducing two clubs/franchises within a few years. These clubs would be the Central Coast Bears with strong affiliation to the North Sydney club and the Brisbane Dolphins with strong links to the Redcliffe/Sunshine coast and surrounds area . These two additonal franchises would consolidate the code in heartland areas and then positive expansion plans into traditional non rugby league areas like Perth, Adelaide and maybe Melbourne 2 should be strategically worked from an 18 team comp going forward. The set up costs/infrastructure advantage is already there for the two "consolidation " clubs. (ie grounds & juniors, plus rugby league savvy market)

 

[Tigers1986]

Relocate the Gold Coast to Ipswich and rebrand as the West Brisbane Titans (??) would be a start

 

[Perth Red]

Cough cough......look at the history of RL in expansion areas, clubs can always draw a big crowd for a one off game ....it's the week in week out stuff they struggle with.

Take the Western Reds in 1995, they drew 25,000 for their first game, by seasons end they were drawing 8-12,000.

In 1996 of their 11 home games only 3 drew over 10,000 including a top of 12,000.

Like Melbourne Storm?
Reds or Rams never finished bottom of the attendance table in their short lives. The bar is hardly set high in the nrl.

 

[Perth Red]

I'm aware of the satire in your comment. However their is merit in upgrading and increasing capacity of suburban grounds as the geography and transport system of Sydney lends itself to locality based rivalries. Sydney's population also demands various local grounds that cater for at least 25 to 30000 capacity grounds. Geographically and mathematically (population wise) Sydney is massive! But don't let valid facts get in the way of weakening rugby league in Australia's largest city.

Grass hills, it’s what the game needs to take us into a bright future.

 

[Perth Red]

Yes I was a bit 50/50 on that one but my point still stands re: VFL expansion not really being all that it is talked up to be.

they’ve got two teams in each of their smaller heartland cities, 9 very well supported clubs in their main city heartland, two clubs in Syney and two clubs in Queensland. Regardless of how you think their expansion performing they have the national footprint they want whilst we are probably 30 plus years to getting close to it. They are decades ahead of us and with our Sydney overstauration and weak leadership it’s doubtful we’ll ever catch up.

 

[Perth Red]

Beat me to it - the AFL successfully expanding is a myth. Yes, they have successfully put dots on the map, but they have far from embedded a national footprint and it is costing them a fortune whilst they try.

It’s costing them less than the value of the content theyve created and sold. Reality is without the suns and gws creating the extra content they would not have got the tv deal they got.

 

[greenBV4]

In 1996 of their 11 home games only 3 drew over 10,000 including a top of 12,000.

sounds like manly

 

[Stallion]

they’ve got two teams in each of their smaller heartland cities, 9 very well supported clubs in their main city heartland, two clubs in Syney and two clubs in Queensland. Regardless of how you think their expansion performing they have the national footprint they want whilst we are probably 30 plus years to getting close to it. They are decades ahead of us and with our Sydney overstauration and weak leadership it’s doubtful we’ll ever catch up.

Lol. "Sydney oversaturation"? Please ! What? And Melbourne has ten top flight AFL clubs with less population than Sydney? Pleeease! Just add franchises you idiot! Have you not worked out that other codes are gaining relevance in Sydney due to existing clubs being carved up in Sydney!? Northern Sydney being a clear example of the code going downhill quickly in relevance for a start!

 

[titoelcolombiano]

It’s costing them less than the value of the content theyve created and sold. Reality is without the suns and gws creating the extra content they would not have got the tv deal they got.

That's a good point - I think what makes AFL types disgruntled though is that Tasmania and potentially Perth 3 could have those spots and wouldn't cost nearly as much to create that content.

 

[titoelcolombiano]

they’ve got two teams in each of their smaller heartland cities, 9 very well supported clubs in their main city heartland, two clubs in Syney and two clubs in Queensland. Regardless of how you think their expansion performing they have the national footprint they want whilst we are probably 30 plus years to getting close to it. They are decades ahead of us and with our Sydney overstauration and weak leadership it’s doubtful we’ll ever catch up.

Absolutely, no argument that they are decades ahead. We were on par in the mid-ninties and then have fallen back since the SL war. Three of their four expansion sides are utter failures to date though. Our one expansion side is a success and I think you would agree that had Perth still been around they would also have been successful provided that the burden of travel costs were removed from them.

With the Pirates looking to move into the NSW cup by 2022, we look set again to return to Perth (finally, I know, I know, we'll believe it when we see it) which I'm sure will be a success. I firmly believe that if RL had the administration nouse that the AFL had, we would be the national sport by now. We focus on our heartlands (QLD, NSW, NZ and a meaningful presence in PNG) and successful outposts in Melbourne and Perth gives us a good footprint without wasting money or needlessly putting dots on a map. We go where the game is wanted and that will apply to Adelaide too. We will go there when they realise they are the only city that has not grown out of the one-code mentality. I remember even Victorians admitting in the late 90's when the Storm came in that Victoria couldn't call itself the sporting capital if it didn't have an NRL team, no matter how big or small it was.

 

[titoelcolombiano]

So we ignore the surplus



However the dots on the map perpetuate a myth that kids and the discerning neutral sports fan take note of.

Good point, although honestly, I'm happy for RL to go where it is wanted and not just mindlessly put teams where they are not wanted (i.e. GWS, GC and to a lesser extent Brisbane). I would rather have a strong:

• Sydney (strong, traditional clubs playing out of quality stadia)
• Newcastle
• Woollongong (Dragons)
• Canberra
• Brisbane (with a second club to solidify us permanently into the future as the only code that matters)
• Gold Coast
• North QLD
• NZ (with a second club to help us grow the game and the Kiwis strength and depth)
• PNG (a meaningful presence for PNG in the second teir backed up by under 18's and under 20's teams in the QLD system, creating a pathway from Digicel Cup right to the NRL)

Then, on top of these solid heartland foundations, two good solid successful outposts in Perth and Melbourne.

 

[Perth Red]

Lol. "Sydney oversaturation"? Please ! What? And Melbourne has ten top flight AFL clubs with less population than Sydney? Pleeease! Just add franchises you idiot! Have you not worked out that other codes are gaining relevance in Sydney due to existing clubs being carved up in Sydney!? Northern Sydney being a clear example of the code going downhill quickly in relevance for a start!

And here we go again..... Melbourne is also over saturated for afl. And Geelong isn’t in Melbourne any more than Newcastle is in Sydney. Too many mouths to feed, not enough bread. Despite a massive grant increase half of the nrl clubs allegedly still made a loss last year. You can’t ignore the facts.

 

[Perth Red]

That's a good point - I think what makes AFL types disgruntled though is that Tasmania and potentially Perth 3 could have those spots and wouldn't cost nearly as much to create that content.

Perth is no where near ready for another club, probably never will be. It’s not needed and would damage Fremantles growth. And Tasmania simply isnt big enough to host a sustainable afl club, like Gosford and Wollongong for nrl. Nrl clubs need around $25-30mill revenue min and afl clubs a lot more.

 

[titoelcolombiano]

Perth is no where near ready for another club, probably never will be. It’s not needed and would damage Fremantles growth. And Tasmania simply isnt big enough to host a sustainable afl club, like Gosford and Wollongong for nrl. Nrl clubs need around $25-30mill revenue min and afl clubs a lot more.

I think some in AFL circles think that the Gold Coast is not big enough either and that there is not enough interest in Sydney for a second team. The evidence seems to agree with them. I take your point re: the additional TV rights paying for the expansion clubs, and I certainly don't care either way as I despise the game, but those in AFL circles seem to feel that if they are going to have the games covered by the TV deal, why not have Tassie and another heartland team in.

AFL HQ for obvious reasons went the dots on a map route to give the perception of a national game which I guess works in their favour for sponsors.

 

[Stallion]

And here we go again..... Melbourne is also over saturated for afl. And Geelong isn’t in Melbourne any more than Newcastle is in Sydney. Too many mouths to feed, not enough bread. Despite a massive grant increase half of the nrl clubs allegedly still made a loss last year. You can’t ignore the facts.

Wrong and predictably ignorant! BTW. You can see Geelong from St Kilda . You cannot see Newcastle from Sydney! It's a massive distance difference! Amazingly ignorant again PR.

 

[flippikat]

Relocate the Gold Coast to Ipswich and rebrand as the West Brisbane Titans (??) would be a start

And change the colours to green & black too a unique identity.

 

[Stallion]

Perth is no where near ready for another club, probably never will be. It’s not needed and would damage Fremantles growth. And Tasmania simply isnt big enough to host a sustainable afl club, like Gosford and Wollongong for nrl. Nrl clubs need around $25-30mill revenue min and afl clubs a lot more.

THE Gosford comment renders itself to a "Why not combine Gosford with North Sydney argument? But that's too logical and business savvy for some! Combining two rugby league areas and recapturing a lost market makes too much sense.

 

[The Great Dane]

Tbf people said exactly the same thing about Melbourne when fox owned them. Fox moved on, Storm havent missed a beat. Not every club can be bailed out by pokies or flogging off their land so we’d better hope the likes of Souths can show sustainability or we could end up with a very small nrl!

The difference's are that Melbourne managed to replaced News, they are the only team in a huge market with lots of potential to make money, and they've continued to be successful on the field since the sale.

 

[Perth Red]

I think some in AFL circles think that the Gold Coast is not big enough either and that there is not enough interest in Sydney for a second team. The evidence seems to agree with them. I take your point re: the additional TV rights paying for the expansion clubs, and I certainly don't care either way as I despise the game, but those in AFL circles seem to feel that if they are going to have the games covered by the TV deal, why not have Tassie and another heartland team in.

AFL HQ for obvious reasons went the dots on a map route to give the perception of a national game which I guess works in their favour for sponsors.

Perception in a word. Two clubs in Sydney creates a certain perception. 90% of the public would have no idea if GWS are doing terrible, especially as the AFL works so hard on the media to paint a rosy picture. TV has paid for their expansion with a bit more besides. The AFL hope long term (20years plus) the expansion clubs will be flourishing and sustainable, they know a tassie team never will be and Perth as said simply isnt needed and would over saturate the market. AFL get more $'s in sponsorship, media deals and overall revenue. Largely because they have successfully created a perception as Australias game with a national footprint.
If you was a non sports fan exec of a national company would you sponsor AFL with their reach or NRL with virtually zero presence in 3 States/Territories?