Spot on. The merchandising is vital to clubs these days. It's this additional spend that really helps clubs incomes. At Leeds, IIRC, merchandising revenues are over £2m a year.

If you don't want to buy 3 shirts then don't buy them. I didn't buy any shirts last season, my one from the previous year was fine, it doesn't mean I object to the club bringing a new shirt out each year.

Following RL is not expensive, far from it, however Nottingham Rover is atypical of the tight fisted moaning RL fan that wants tickets for the cost of twopints of beer ootherwise they won't bother. This is typically shown at internationals especially if it's not on their doorstep.A decent wedge of Northern based fans whinge and moan at ticket prices and thus are reluctant to attend unless there is a discount on offer. Its why using two club stadiums and one larger venue is still the best option because we can only just sell out the club stadia never mind places like wembley or the olympic stadium.

It's still going to be a difficult job drawing soccer fans away, its ingrained, similarly to how RL is for most of us. Soccer fans are more likely to watch a local lower league team inbetween going to their preferred top tier club than adopt a long term affiliation to a RL club. That's not to say they wouldnt attend one off games and that clubs shpuldnt try to expand their support but I just can't see any significant swing from soccer circles.

It's a question of selling the game to a new fan base. You have to make the product come alive for them. The point of the Magic Weekend was to promote the game in areas less traditionally associated with RL, but the RFL think that word of mouth is sufficient to market the game. You can't have an event like this and just turn up on the day and say "Hey, we're here, come along" because no one will, most likely because they've already made other plans. The RFL needs people in place in the city for at least a month before the event. You have to make people aware this is coming and what it's all about.

Whilst I agree with people who are saying it's a choice to buy shirts,any one with kids knows that they want the latest everything. It wasn't that long ago that football clubs were being castigated for the constant turnover of new kits, we are heading the same way. I travel to every game I can, currently a 200 mile round trip, am certainly not "tight fisted" having spent god knows how much following rovers for the last 45 years but still feel that fans in general are being pushed to spend more and more. I agree £20 a ticket is good value and said as much in " the big listen", the walk up price is now £25 just on the edge of good value. I don't care about the entertainment of cheerleaders or music( and I have never heard anyone saying that it makes a difference in attendance) I want good rugby and the feeling that as a fan I am valued.

Whilst I agree with people who are saying it's a choice to buy shirts,any one with kids knows that they want the latest everything. It wasn't that long ago that football clubs were being castigated for the constant turnover of new kits, we are heading the same way. I travel to every game I can, currently a 200 mile round trip, am certainly not "tight fisted" having spent god knows how much following rovers for the last 45 years but still feel that fans in general are being pushed to spend more and more. I agree £20 a ticket is good value and said as much in " the big listen", the walk up price is now £25 just on the edge of good value. I don't care about the entertainment of cheerleaders or music( and I have never heard anyone saying that it makes a difference in attendance) I want good rugby and the feeling that as a fan I am valued.

And anyone who has kids also knows that they can't have the latest everything.

Of course clubs are trying to get more money from their fans. Why wouldn't they? I'd be very disturbed if a club thought they could sustainably get a higher income from their fans but didn't do so. Again, no-one is being forced, criticised or cajoled into paying/buying more. But fortunately clubs are finally starting to realise they have to substantially increase their revenues and so things like merchandising and additional membership schemes aren't a nice addition anymore, they're core activities.
As for just wanting good rugby, well firstly don't forget that whilst of course that's a primary issue, how that rugby is presented is a big issue for lots of other people, especially families. All the little extras, be it pre-match entertainment, mascots, cheerleaders etc, add something for some people.
Secondly, if you want good rugby it has to be paid for. If you want good players then they have to be paid, as do the coaches who train them, the equipment and facilities they use to train, the conditioners who get them in the right physical state, the physios and doctors who try and keep them in a decent condition etc etc etc.
At the moment there's only 3 or 4 clubs who can actually afford this amount and even then they're only scraping the barrell in some areas of their operations. To properly run a top RL club with all the trimmings would cost approx £12-13m a year (IMO). Sadly, most RL clubs are nowhere near this figure.

it wasn't that long ago that kids understood "no".
i was brought up with the saying "i want, won't get" but it seems the easiest way to parenting these days is to let the kids to what they want so they won't nag or bother.

if you choose to fork out for replica shirts every year then that is your choice, not the clubs, they don't make you pay £ hundreds for merchandise, so if RL is expensive for you, it's because you've made it expensive.

Heading the same way? Rugby league clubs stared changing their kits every year before football clubs did. It was about 1996 when Super League came in that RL clubs had a new home and away kit every season yet right up until 2002 football clubs were keeping the same kits for two years.

Plus when I was a kid I was told a simple "no". Whether it be a chocolate bar, a super soaker or a football kit (I didn't get into RL until my teens). And if I was told no I dealt with it. I knew I'd get something else at another point, even at a young age.

Why do modern day kids think they have the right to demand and receive? Just because Tristan and Jemima (or whatever daft names kids get these days) down the road get everything?

Well, when people bend over and let 6-10 year olds have an iphone, you do wonder wtf is going on in the world.

[i"its what they wanted!"[/i

I have to take issue with this.

The RFL is not the sole body for marketing the sport. In fact, the RFL is only responsible for marketing the competition, and about 5-6 events per year (most of which sold very well last year). The rest? That's down to the clubs.

The marketing of the sport at club level is, in many cases, utterly appalling. We've had clubs underselling the sport, excessively discounting and devaluing their product, clubs not utilising social media, not utilising community marketing and not doing a whole host of things particularly well.

Expensive football tickets are not a new phenomenon. If clubs are just starting to see the opportunity now, where have they been for the last 10 years or more?

This needs a whole new thread or a completely different forum.

The modern way is style over substance in almost all walks of life.
Why else would folk with barely any cash "need" the most up to date mobile or pair of trainers ?

RL as a sport has to explore new ways of generating cash. However this generally means that existing fans parting with a larger share of their hard earned wonga.

As others have said, just because something is available doesn't mean that you have to buy it but, in an ideal world we would increase income by attracting new fans and not by leaning more heavily on the ones that we have.

My kids waited for birthdays/ Christmas to get a new shirt etc. Just like a fan isn't forced into buying club merchandise, a parent still has the right to tell their child 'no'. They don't HAVE to have everything and won't die for the lack of the latest socks. It's no wonder kids these days have no understanding of the value of anything. We are doing our kids a massive disservice for their futures.

I know what you mean but I don't think it's a bad thing that RL is trying to get more money from its existing fan base. I think it's been woefully poor at doing that. Of course though, ultimately we have to grow our fan/supporter/customer base, something that RL has also been very poor at. The well run clubs will be trying to do both.

exactly!
it's easier now to just give in to kids rather than say no to them, after all nagging kids interfere with facebook and all the other stuff people do these days.

agreed, and unfortunately i think it's too late, today's children are the next generation and what will happen when they reach adulthood and demand to have everything because they want it?