What relevance does the Eagles' membership base, attendances and revenue have on a Perth-based NRL team, Dolphins or a third Brisbane team?
Are you naive enough to think it means a Perth-based NRL team will draw similar support from the city as the Eagles?
If anything it probably works against a Perth-based NRL team. With so much money and support tied up with the Eagles there's going to be very little available for an NRL club.
The poor viewing figures for the Eagles and Dockers in Perth is the only metric that matters to the broadcasters. They want a team that will increase the amount of eyeballs watching NRL games. AwFuL games not featuring the Eagles and Dockers only draw 15k more viewers in Perth than games not featuring the Lions and Suns in Brisbane. It's highly unlikely that a game featuring a Perth-based NRL team will increase viewership in Perth by more than 10-15k. Any increase in Perth will be offset by a decline in viewers across Brisbane and Sydney.
All of this is irrelevant to the value of a Perth-based NRL club. Nor does it offer any insight on the value of the Dolphins and a third Brisbane team. The Dolphins averaged 126k viewers in Brisbane this year, despite struggling on the field. The Eagles averaged just 74k in Perth. We can conclude that the Dolphins are more valuable to the broadcasters than the Eagles.
What makes you think that participation and interest can be bought?
The game has invested in Melbourne and Perth. The problem is most people in these cities aren't interested in playing the game. Nor are they interested in anything below Origin and the GF. Despite the millions AwFuL has spent on the Lions, the only time I watch them play is when they're in a preliminary final or GF.
www.dolphinsnrl.com.au
