It was either in a LoveRugby League website article or in one of the RL papers this week. I noticed it because the figure was slightly higher than the one quoted for Leigh which was £1.31M. It was definitely in print somewhere this week as it also mentioned the BUY BULLS initiative.

So to all you affluent Bulls fans there is a Xmas Sale on and the new Premium Bulls range where it is stating half your spend goes towards the new initiative to fund the team. That is some markup on those goods if you are making a profit in excess of 50% on these goods which is what it actually suggests to me. If the markup isn't 50% then where are you finding the money for your supplier. Someone needs to start asking questions before it is too late.

edit: I have just re read the sales blurb and it seems a proverbial 50% goes towards the team based on the RFLs SC rule of '50% of relevant income'.

This is basically what we've been told. Under the new 'interpretation' of the cap rules, the cap for SL and Championship - and I assume Championship 1, is exactly the same and it's all based entirely on income. PG's statement, that 50% of shop sales [iqualifies[/i go to the team is simplistic but is just setting out what we can spend under the cap. Personally, I'm pretty sure there may well be other calls on our 'spending money', so whether we can actually spend that amount on the team, and still remain in business, might be another matter.

Incidentally, I'm surprised that some have only just noticed the higher end prices on club clothing. This is not new and has been the case for as long as I can remember, and certainly long before Marc Green became chairman. I think it's fair to say it applies to all other clubs too and most likely other sports - it certainly does in soccer. We know it's expensive, but we want to wear our clubs' colours and, ultimately the money goes to our club, so we pay it and smile......

Spot on. They've been expensive for as long as I can remember. But as you say, you grin and bear it a little more when you know the money is going towards the club you love, rather than into Mr. Debenhams' money chest. Are you being ripped off? Yeah, probably. But with the amount they sell compared to the amount big retail stores shift, they probably need a bigger markup to make it worthwhile.
It's almost like wondering why the corner shop charges 30p more for a loaf of bread than Tesco do.

Message to Marc Green, get some Bull Bread in £5 a loaf.....they'd pay it!

Merry Xmas all

You may joke, but I bet some people would!

The only problem being that this constant barrage of 'buy this' 'buy that' and 'buy bulls' is putting the supporter base off, whilst making the club look desperate.

Yes, we know money is extremely tight and that we're currently living on a hand to mouth existence, but please don't alienate the already diminished support base.

Dennis, I know from the email that is circulating from Parker and Hunter Paul re: sponsorship opportunities 2016, that everything is far from healthy in the club's account balance.

The stand off between the disillusioned supporter not buying a season ticket and club isn't just one way. It's fact that the Bradford Bulls' season memberships are one of the most expensive clubs in England to watch Rugby League.

Until Mr Green can find a buyer we're on a downward spiral.

I don't disagree with that. It's certainly putting me off looking at any club media feeds, and I've no doubt it will be to others too. All I'm saying is, they must think the positives outweigh the negatives, or why do it? I'm happy to be personally put off looking at the website or twitter feed, as long as it's working and bringing more cash into the club. Probably a difficult balance to hit right, but since they're still overloading it after a year, I'd think they believe it works.

Again it’s not really the time of year for lots of press releases but bear in mind the press guy recently left and I don’t know if a replacement is in post yet. Hence the sales stuff is getting a lot of prominence. It would annoy me but as I don’t bother with the twitter feed I get to avoid it.

So, because the CEO and marketing manager are courting additional sponsorship, that means the club is in dire straights. It's not that they're doing their jobs or anything like that, then?

The reason for the expensive tickets is that the club wants to get into SL and needs the income to support that goal. Which is also why they're sell sell sell on the merchandise.

If the Bradford fan base got off its collective backside and actually went to the games then the club could afford to offer cheaper tickets. But they won't. They'd turn up if there's a final in the offing, but otherwise they'll stay home.

It won't stop them critiquing the club for its choices of player, coach, strip, choice of toilet paper etc because they feel that, even though they put no money towards the running of the club, the voice should be considered more important than anyone else's.

You see these sorts of people all the time usually in the pub after the game and their question is always the same "how did WE do". If you're that bothered, buy a ticket like the rest of us.

The is no big money benefactor at Bradford. Never had been and likely there never will be. The club is being run as a business by an astute business man who rarely comes second in his dealings. I'm sorry if people don't like the fact that the club is proactively selling itself and its brand, but maybe if we'd had a board that did this 10 years ago, we'd not not be in the state we are

Certainly the only reasons the tickets are so expensive is that the club needs the money.

We've seen where cheap tickets gets us.

That may well be the case but being a Jeremiah about it will only hasten that downward spiral.

We are where we are. We need to get behind what we have. That doesn't mean we need to swallow every bit of hype - just maintain a healthy cynicism and support the team.