I suppose Us and Wire are in a slightly different situation than leeds. We have converted all our debts to director loans, so we aren’t in hock to a bank, off course the directors could call in the loans but how likely is that?
Leeds have just completed a partial (and costly) refurbishment of Headingley which will need to start to return on the investment. It’s funny how it’s only King Gary that is bleating. Yes this will hurt us and wire but with no bank debt we will come through and bounce back.
Interesting they are looking to see if sky will cover every game with a pay per view option such a season ticket for each team if large gatherings are banned still
I don’t mind not accepting a refund for my season ticket in the long term interest of the club but I would have issues with paying extra for pay-per-view games involving Saints.
I'd agree with that. I'd much rather follow a competitive semi-pro rugby league than a situation where there were a handful of pro clubs who dominated everything and the rest being also rans. I know there is an essence of certain clubs dominating in every sport, particularly in professional situations (though even in the GAA, wholly amateur, a couple of teams are always there or thereabouts) but I'm thinking of avoiding a situation like with soccer. There you have at best a couple of teams that win everything every year (England 2 or 3, Scotland 1, Italy 1, Spain 2, Germany 1 etc; Europe 2 or 3) which frankly is boring. As much as I would love to see an extended period of Saints success, if somebody said to me that after all this is over, Saints will win everything every year and generally speaking comfortably so, it wouldn't float my boat. Sport is entertaining when you don't know who is going to win. It becomes somewhat redundant if you know exactly who is going to win before a competition has even started. Not knowing is also what makes the thrill of winning special.
https://amp.theguardian.com/sport/20...mpression=true
Also agreement from SL clubs to blackball players who will not accept the pay cut?
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/no...pionship-wages
Could Championship clubs be in a better position due to their smaller wage bills?
All sports are going to go through a significantly uncertain future as this Virus opens up the fragility of all aspects we have taken for granted.
COYS Stay Safe
Not a fan of blackballing anybody. Smacks too much of bullying. Yes, it is obvious that players will have to take a wage cut but it should be done through negotiation, not threats, as it is their living at the end of the day. The clubs can strengthen their hand by choosing a collective approach as I am sure they will do.
I doubt it. I would imagine championship clubs have less financial reserves to fall back on. The lower down a club is, the more likely it is to fold I would think.
I'm not 100% sure but I think it's illegal and any decent union would have a field day. I think everyone realises the seriousness of the situation but players have contracts, they also have bills to pay and short careers. A loy of them aren't that brilliantly paid either, especially for what they put their bodies through.
It’s one of the joys of RL to know that you’re watching a group of players that aren’t getting paid tens of times the amount of those watching them, and in some cases there will be hundreds or thousands in the stands getting paid more than some of the team. RL players in the main don’t get top dollar for what is a tough game with genuine risks.
It may be that the players themselves see what is coming down the road and offer to take the cuts voluntarily, to stave off a situation where half of them have no career to look forward to if the worst comes to the worst.
The more I think about this the more I see a not too rosy future for the SL clubs if the aim is to remain as a fully professional comp. I see the issues that some lower league football teams are in and I compare them to half of the SL teams in terms of income and fan bases. Unfortunately for SL clubs they don’t have mega rich clubs and a competition above them that can push money down the system to help them out. I honestly don’t know where the money is going to come from, given that in times of relative comfort the game has struggled to bring in real investment anyway.
I know this sounds really basic & not well thought out but I'm trying to use my limited knowledge of business & economics (I get a little twinge of satisfaction when I pay my gas & electric each month, so fellow posters, this is where I'm at).
Would it not be worth considering going to £10 for adults, £5 for kids/senior citizens & lower kiosk prices just to get the numbers through the gates & spending on matchday so we can get cashflow back into clubs?
I have the same limited knowledge mate, but I don't think getting the numbers back will be the problem. I can't wait! I'm expecting bumper crowds for the new start of the season whenever that is.
I'm struggling a little with the season ticket thing. If this season is written off, do I expect it to 'roll over'? That would be good for me, but a big financial hit for the club. I was wondering if they would introduce a longer term season ticket again, like the ones we were offered when we move out of KR. That would at least put some longer term cash back into the club, and give them a bit of breathing space. You could 'trade in' your current season ticket, and top it up to a multi-season one. Give folks the change to pay in monthly installments too.
I'm not sure about the shirts. Again, if the club went for a 'roll' over, great for the fans, but not for the club, as it's another income stream shot down.
Fun and games eh?
The season ticket suggestion is an interesting one and something I'd certainly consider taking up if it was offered.
I also take your point about attendances & thinking about it, you're most likely correct that attendances will increase significantly as and when spectators are allowed through the gates as normal.
What happened though if we get another outbreak of the virus again and we end up back in the same situation? Not saying it will but I think covid is at best, coming back as a seasonal hit for a very long time now. Some will say we are a summer sport so it wouldn't affect us as badly but we do start at the tail end of January & finish in mid to late November so I'm not so sure
On a separate note could we use the present problems to unify the game and it's administration.We have three different organisations running the game why not bring them under the same roof? Could it ever happen?
Learned comment from The Don
There's a proposal now that games will be behind closed doors with all games shown on Sky but apart from the two games which Sky normally would normally show the rest would be on pay per view.
I understand that the idea of pay per view is to raise extra money but I think we will be missing the opportunity to pick up new viewers for the game. Maybe at the the extra money is more important.
If every game was free I would watch them but apart from Saints games I dont think I'd pay for many others, it depends how much.
It could come back. They don't yet know if it will fade in the warmer months, and I think that until we have an effective vaccine, or we've all had the virus (and hopefully become immune!), then we'll be in this limbo situation.
We could end up with situation where only those with immunity are allowed out to events. The others stay in lockdown. This goes on for a number of years and they all move underground and eventually turn into Morlocks! ...(or Wiganers)
I'll get my coat.
The really shocking thing is that the NRL is in the same, if not a worse, position. With the amount of money floating around in it, admittedly not to the levels of other sports but still significant, you'd think they'd have managed to build up reserves. Fifth and Last podcast have been talking a lot about it in recent weeks.
Better membership packages for those of us who for whatever reason can't/choose not to go regularly to matches. If you look at similar packages for NRL clubs, they are a bit more expensive but include different types of merchandise (that wouldn't necessarily cost the club a lot).
For example, a basic Saints membership is £20 and more than pays for itself if you go to Magic Weekend and a home match but doesn't really have a lot extra and if you don't go for whatever reason at all to matches could seem a bit like handing money over simply to support the club (no bad thing, a lot will be happy to do that particularly at the moment). A Brisbane Broncos (just an example) one though is just under £40 but includes a scarf, a lanyard, a cap, a drink can, a mug and a couple of other things. It's more expensive but seems better value possibly enticing more people to buy it whilst, because the club is bulk buying, is likely cheap enough to put together probably making them more coin.