Quote: AXE2GRIND "I made a few bob over the years in the Marketing Game. I freely admit to it not being an exact science, but perseverance is part of it and alas, that's not something the guardians of the game in the UK are renowned for. I'll admit that not all of the examples below are 100% marketing, but you'lll get the drift, I am sure
Example #1
In 2009, Saracens hired Wembley. I have no idea of the cost of such a thing, but cheap, it wouldn't have been. 130,000 attended 3 games in that stadium that season....38k for one game the next year....84k the next year.......then back to 40k the next....they were averaging about 6,500 over these years, but they stuck at it.
Example #2
December 2008 and Quins rented Twickenham Stadium and attracted 50k to their "BIG GAME".....yes, it's Christmas and it's a jolly, but given the stoop held 12k at the time, that's pretty impressive all the same....80k this year by all accounts and the stoop still only holds 15k.....
Example #3
When London Broncos reverted to that name, Hughes sent MacKay out to look for a suitable stadium to call home. He visited a site that had a stand already delivered in flat pack form, that simply needed someone to agree to erect it and finish the project in return for a long lease...somewhere to call home. Instead we moved to Barnet and Sarries picked up their stadium at a fraction of the cost.
Example #4
Wasps buy Coventry, raise the capital cleverly and rent it to the RFL for a League game!.........
As I say, perseverance is key to these things.....but again, at the risk of repeating myself, Wakefield and Castleford merging is seen as a non-starter, not even sharing a stadium, so the potential remains untapped. The Harlequins Big Game could be replicated in a town like Manchester....July 22 2020 is the Government Day for the start of School Holidays in the UK.....Wigan v Salford is scheduled that weekend.....take it to City's ground and market the 'arris out of it to kids, schools, businesses, local amateur clubs and the entire city. "The Manchester Summer Bash" has a nice ring to it....get a local business to sponsor it..."The Co-op Manchester Summer Bash".....selling tickets for a tenner a pop, or as a reward for CO-OP shoppers?????? Think outside the box and think bigger....12,066 rattled around the DW last year for this fixture.......aim for 50k...make some noise and make some news.
Have a gander at the maps for SL & The RFL Championship on Wiki, then look at the top 2 tiers of Union on wiki......and point out any similarities in the top 24 of each game.....that ain't no morror'"
Some good examples of the differences in attitudes in our games.
The final part includes a lack of knowledge the average RL fan has of the size of club Union the days. When you factor in the 10 Celtic sides, 2 Italian sides and 14 French clubs also, you see how dwarfed we really are.
And I can tell you now, regressing to a little Northern comp isn't going to be the answer. It'll be the beginning of the end.
