Salford are getting there.

Salford are getting crowds that would meke me, a London Broncos fan., embarrassed.
Mergers are the best way to build a sustainable top tier..... But the lower divisions will never let that happen

The fixtures for this part of the season were announced on 1st August. Even if we assume that Wakefield didn't know about the fixture list before it was made public (which is unlikely, but nevertheless), are we honestly saying that 16 days is not enough time to sell an event - an event where a large amount of tickets are already pre-sold?

The more I hear this argument, the more I think Hetherington was right; too many clubs are using the format as a convenient excuse for their own poor commercial performance.

Salford are getting where? Into administration again

Though I understand and to a certain extent agree with the theory of mergers they simply do not work. Fans do not have the affinity with new teams and in a lot of cases would rather not go than follow a merged team.

There are a few locations where there is an outside chance, perhaps creating a Cumbria ‘Lakers’ team with Whitehaven, Workington and Barrow feeding it.

Agreed. I think there would be little to lose by forming a merged 'Manchester' team from Salford and some or all of Swinton/Oldham/Rochdale. Manchester Regional Arena (next to the Etihad) could be a potential venue for them, maybe requiring some work to be done eventually to increase capacity if it worked out (currently 6,500 according to wiki though, more than Salford ever get). They all have hardly any fans anyway, so the risk of them walking away is smaller than the opportunity of attracting new fans IMO. There are three big universities in the area for them to exploit.

Agreed. I’m a Trinity supporter and a massive Carter fan, he’s made huge steps towards making the club viable and competitive. But - I don’t see a great deal of marketing going on. Perhaps I’m just not looking in the right places but I shouldn’t be the one who has to go looking. As an example; I live near Birmingham and have occasionally bought tickets for the T20 at Edgbaston. Warwickshire CC now have my email address and I regularly - 2 or 3 times a week - get fixture reminders, updates and ticket offers for upcoming matches plus a thank you for attending games. I was a season ticket holder at Trinity for several years and now regularly buy tickets on line but I’ve never, ever had similar marketing emails from the club. How hard is it to keep a data base of everyone who’s ever bought a ticket and keep in touch with them? And yes, 16 days is ample time to bombard people with the fixture list and publicity.

The thing is, a true fan of a club will not change his allegiance. For example if Hull and Rovers formed a superclub, some fans might attend, the otgers would wait for their club to be reformed in the liwrt leagues or just quit the sport. I'm sure that's the same fir Salford fans as well. The new superclub woukd then nred to attract mainly new fans and that is a massive gamble. Fans of a club msy watch neuteal games, but if their team didn't exist they would drift away.

It always seems to be Leeds, Wigan or Warrington fans that are all for it. Yet suggest that Wakey, Cas, Leeds and Bradford all merge into a West Yorks club playing at Elland road and they simply say there's no need. It's very easy to have big opinions if your club is financially safe. One day they might not be.

Abandoing clubs to force new superclubs into existance is not the answer. People won't support them and it'll be a financial disaster. That is almost as guilty as the Keigh charman throwing money in an all or nothing approach that needs immediate results. The only way to grow is to KEEP what you've got, generate interest in the game and then people will WANT to join. For all the moaning at Toronto, that's what they've done and done well so far. Will it last? Maybe.

Back on topic......

SL is going to 14 teams next year anyway. The only people that seem not to see
this is the RFL itself. I don't care what has officially been said so far, all the signs are clear to see.







Of course, I've been wrong before.

It would be a big gamble if Salford etc had a lot of fans to lose. They don't. Even if 80% of them walked away, I'd argue that a brand new heartlands club in a big city could still reasonably expect to attract better crowds and sponsorship than what Salford get, as well as more away fans if the ground was more conveniently situated (as Manchester Regional Arena is, for example). It's easy for me to say, but if Wigan had 3k crowds every week and were in dire straights, I'd still support them if they moved to Manchester to make it work (not Liverpool though *spits*)

But if Wigan merged with Leigh and became Manchester Moles or something, different shirts, logo etc whilst a new lower league Wigan was created which game would you regularly attend? It's not a case of moving, it just wouldn't be Wigan at all.

Liverpool is a bit of a stretch, even for me. Now Birmingham (Peaky) Blinders is an interesting idea.

I still reckon 14 teams starting next year.....

Quote Kevs Head="Kevs Head"Agreed. I’m a Trinity supporter and a massive Carter fan, he’s made huge steps towards making the club viable and competitive. But - I don’t see a great deal of marketing going on. Perhaps I’m just not looking in the right places but I shouldn’t be the one who has to go looking. As an example; I live near Birmingham and have occasionally bought tickets for the T20 at Edgbaston. Warwickshire CC now have my email address and I regularly - 2 or 3 times a week - get fixture reminders, updates and ticket offers for upcoming matches plus a thank you for attending games. I was a season ticket holder at Trinity for several years and now regularly buy tickets on line but I’ve never, ever had similar marketing emails from the club. How hard is it to keep a data base of everyone who’s ever bought a ticket and keep in touch with them? And yes, 16 days is ample time to bombard people with the fixture list and publicity.'" Indeed. I mean, I know London Broncos have had a whole THREE days longer, but it doesn't seem like the part-time team there has had trouble finding the time to promote their game this week. https://twitter.com/LondonBroncosRL/sta ... 7545559040 I can only sympathise that 16 days was not enough for a full-time operation to do something similar outside Westgate.

Quote Kevs Head="Kevs Head"Agreed. I’m a Trinity supporter and a massive Carter fan, he’s made huge steps towards making the club viable and competitive. But - I don’t see a great deal of marketing going on. Perhaps I’m just not looking in the right places but I shouldn’t be the one who has to go looking. As an example; I live near Birmingham and have occasionally bought tickets for the T20 at Edgbaston. Warwickshire CC now have my email address and I regularly - 2 or 3 times a week - get fixture reminders, updates and ticket offers for upcoming matches plus a thank you for attending games. I was a season ticket holder at Trinity for several years and now regularly buy tickets on line but I’ve never, ever had similar marketing emails from the club. How hard is it to keep a data base of everyone who’s ever bought a ticket and keep in touch with them? And yes, 16 days is ample time to bombard people with the fixture list and publicity.'" Indeed. I mean, I know London Broncos have had a whole THREE days longer, but it doesn't seem like the part-time team there has had trouble finding the time to promote their game this week. https://twitter.com/LondonBroncosRL/sta ... 7545559040 I can only sympathise that 16 days was not enough for a full-time operation to do something similar outside Westgate.