Why aren't we making profits?

[saint.nick]

Seriously, pardon my ignorance, but I've been discussing with an Easts fan, and he's told me we've never made a profit. Why? Is it the downward spiral of the leagues club? Are we just commercially inept? Why are the Roosters so successful?

*This question is aimed at the more knowledgeable people on here like Willow.

 

[murraymob]

Seriously, pardon my ignorance, but I've been discussing with an Easts fan, and he's told me we've never made a profit. Why? Is it the downward spiral of the leagues club? Are we just commercially inept? Why are the Roosters so successful?

*This question is aimed at the more knowledgeable people on here like Willow.

All leagues clubs are struggling simple fact.Yours in not in a great location other than game day if you even play at Kogarah

The roosters home ground would have close to 100 private boxes .Kogarah would have 8 or nine just there alone is a huge dollar difference

Lets not forget third party deals .The roosters have channel nine to help them out .Not sure how many the dragons have

 

[dino2170]

because put simply WE CANT COMPETE ON THE FIELD

 

[saint.nick]

because put simply WE CANT COMPETE ON THE FIELD

I'm talking over a time frame of at least a decade. Saints have generally performed better on the field than Easts.

 

[Willow]

You have a strange choice of friends Nick.

Never made a profit? Not true. In fact, in the 1960s, the St George club was reportedly showing 400% profit when Glynn Price was treasurer. Nevertheless, these were very successful times that allowed St George to build what was then Rugby League's first and best 'Leagues Club' in 1963 - it was a beacon for other clubs to aspire to. But that was then - over 50 years ago.

The St George club was still cash rich into the 1990s, what a legacy left by the likes of Frank Facer and Glynn Price. And what a debt we owe to the players that this foundation was built on.

Those who inherited this wealth only had to reinvest a solid percentage back into the same foundations.

But unfortunately the prosperous times didn't last. The Taj as a building remained in good condition for a while, but it did eventually start to fray around the edges.

FTR, it's quite easy to trace those responsible for the financial management of the St George Leagues Club over the last 40 years.
eg:
https://secure.stgeorge.org.au/news/static/article_80.asp
http://promos.stgeorge.com.au/stgeorgefoundation/governors.asp

 

[RAB-161]

Seriously, pardon my ignorance, but I've been discussing with an Easts fan, and he's told me we've never made a profit. Why? Is it the downward spiral of the leagues club? Are we just commercially inept? Why are the Roosters so successful?

*This question is aimed at the more knowledgeable people on here like Willow.

Easts Football club have never made a profit either. They make a loss every year, and their Leagues Club writes a cheque to cover the loss. No different to a club like Melbourne where News Ltd have always been the ones to write the cheque.

 

[saint.nick]

You have a strange choice of friends Nick.

Never made a profit? Not true. In fact, in the 1960s, the St George club was reportedly showing 400% profit when Glynn Price was treasurer. Nevertheless, these were very successful times that allowed St George to build what was then Rugby League's first and best 'Leagues Club' in 1963 - it was a beacon for other clubs to aspire to. But that was then - over 50 years ago.

The St George club was still cash rich into the 1990s, what a legacy left by the likes of Frank Facer and Glynn Price. And what a debt we owe to the players that this foundation was built on.

Those who inherited this wealth only had to reinvest a solid percentage back into the same foundations.

But unfortunately the prosperous times didn't last. The Taj as a building remained in good condition for a while, but it did eventually start to fray around the edges.

FTR, it's quite easy to trace those responsible for the financial management of the St George Leagues Club over the last 40 years.
eg:
https://secure.stgeorge.org.au/news/static/article_80.asp
http://promos.stgeorge.com.au/stgeorgefoundation/governors.asp

Sorry, I'm talking about since the joint venture :lol:

 

[saint.nick]

But thanks very much for the input. And thanks RABs, I'll gladly notify him of that, trusting that what you said is true.

 

[saint.nick]

You have a strange choice of friends Nick.

DragonBoyd you're a strange f**king friend indeed.

 

[Twenty10]

Winning helps. We haven't done that for a while. And when we did all profits when to SIR Wayne!!

 

[Cagey Mac]

The decline IMO is mostly the incredible changing population demographic of the St George area
Suburbs around the club now have populations where a little over 30% were born in Oz so culturally the Rugby League and the traditional Taj are not at the forefront of local consumers minds.

The Shire is running 70-80% Aussie born and even NSW in general is more than double St George area's traditional RL market.

The Dragons disparate band of followers is large but capitalising on that broadly spread following is not easy.

Embracing the community in general and marketing to differing demographic groups is challenging and in an environment where we are judged against all and sundry, perhaps the club needs more support than criticism. (As I clear my throat... there may be a cut price solution to our immediate problems however)

 

[MKD Saint]

The club decline coincides with the increased reliance on gaming and decreased reliance on entertainment and family patronage. The demographics that you speak of are largely Asian and have a pretty keen interest in gaming so one would assume it would be an ideal location to capitalise on this market.

Other venues in the area have moved with the modern approach of providing more of a complete experience outside of gaming however 'The Taj' seems to be lost in the headlights (although there has been some recent developments that I am yet to see personally).

Our leagues club was also one of the main voices in opposition to the poker machine tax. Other clubs initiated change, developed new revenue streams and grew their business. Saints Leagues seems to have gone the other way and conveniently decreased their grant to the football operations and cried poor throughout the duration.

 

[Willow]

Sorry, I'm talking about since the joint venture :lol:

They probably did well out of the NRL grant, but that didn't last forever. The club has definitely been in a financial slide since the JV began. Kind of ironic really, considering that forming a partnership with Illawarra was supposed to ensure our future.

But RAB is right. If you are talking about the Football Club, none of them make a profit, Easts included.

 

[Willow]

The decline IMO is mostly the incredible changing population demographic of the St George area
Suburbs around the club now have populations where a little over 30% were born in Oz so culturally the Rugby League and the traditional Taj are not at the forefront of local consumers minds.

The Shire is running 70-80% Aussie born and even NSW in general is more than double St George area's traditional RL market.

The Dragons disparate band of followers is large but capitalising on that broadly spread following is not easy.

Embracing the community in general and marketing to differing demographic groups is challenging and in an environment where we are judged against all and sundry, perhaps the club needs more support than criticism. (As I clear my throat... there may be a cut price solution to our immediate problems however)

Changing markets should be seen as an opportunity, not a stumbling block.

Rugby League is a game that has immediate appeal to anyone who hasn't seen it before, to ignore that based on enthic grounds makes no sense. Just look at the faces at any League game and you'll see people from all sorts of backgrounds.

It comes down to marketing, and seeking out where the strengths are.

Sadly, 'changing demographics' is often used as an excuse by managers struggling to accept their own prejudices and lazy ways.

 

[Acka]

Same goes for a lot of professional sporting organisations. I think Manchester United in the EPL don't make money. In the days before the super league war it was quite common for rugby league clubs to make profits but since then with the massive escalation in player payments that has been a thing of the past

 

[Cagey Mac]

Changing markets should be seen as an opportunity, not a stumbling block.

Rugby League is a game that has immediate appeal to anyone who hasn't seen it before, to ignore that based on enthic grounds makes no sense. Just look at the faces at any League game and you'll see people from all sorts of backgrounds.

It comes down to marketing, and seeking out where the strengths are.

Sadly, 'changing demographics' is often used as an excuse by managers struggling to accept their own prejudices and lazy ways.

You can't back up your last statement mate; frankly it's crap.

A leagues club can be morphed into one that suits an Asian market but the dichotomy of maintaining it's RL identity and pursuing a largely Asian market is very tough.

Building NRL loyalty in an area where for the immediate future you have a dwindling junior base because of changing ethnicity and zero Chinese NRL stars is also challenging. Perhaps a weight indexed junior comp district if not state wide will return and make junior growth feasible.

Remember too that we are in a highly competitive environment.

To say that managers are lazy or prejudiced is a ludicrous statement and you know it Willow. Frankly it's unworthy of someone with your stature within the forum.

Stronger ties with the soccer community and the pursuit of other Asian /Australian leisure interest groups is probably the way the I would would grow the Leagues Club's income if it was my gig.

Seeing it develop as an income stripper that causes hardship for the local community by ramping up its gambling based marketability is obviously also an option but one that a proud community based club should avoid.

 

[Acka]

My brother and a number of my friends have worked in the pub/club industry their whole working lives and they say the only thing they make money on is poker machines. I don't like it as much as the next person but it seems to be the financial reality and a lot of these fancy facilities you see at other licensced clubs are actually space rented out, So the only money the club makes out of them is the rent. A perfect example is the Crown Dragon Chinese Restaurant at St George Leagues

 

[saint.nick]

They probably did well out of the NRL grant, but that didn't last forever. The club has definitely been in a financial slide since the JV began. Kind of ironic really, considering that forming a partnership with Illawarra was supposed to ensure our future.

But RAB is right. If you are talking about the Football Club, none of them make a profit, Easts included.

My Easts friend then started banging on about some 1.2M influx of merchandise buying they had...didn't really get what he was talking about (don't worry I understand what influx and etc means :lol

 

[Cagey Mac]

Bandwagoners buying stuff and anticipating back to back wins
The cost of having a bunch of fans unhappy with the coach and results is significant
Souths is a good case of slick marketing. I'd be looking to them as a model for merchandising savvy too.

 

[Willow]

You can't back up your last statement mate; frankly it's crap.

Not sure what brought on that sort of response. I am certain that there are many managers who are lazy and narrow minded and even prejudiced when it comes to change. The best managers see change as an opportunity. Of course you're welcomed to disagree with that view. But it's not 'crap'.

To say that managers are lazy or prejudiced is a ludicrous statement and you know it Willow. Frankly it's unworthy of someone with your stature within the forum.

LOL. Well for a start I didn't put all managers in one basket, that appears to be your take on my post... that's what you get when comprehension gets chucked out the window.

Or perhaps you believe that all managers are gods. If so, we'll just have to agree to disagree.

But thank you for telling me my opinion or how I should behave according to my forum stature. lol

Look Cagey, I fear there's been a misunderstanding on your part. I simply don't agree with the notion that a changing demographic should be viewed as a barrier. Perhaps you need to read back and cut us lesser mortals some slack.