So far your ideas appear to consist of Sale offering £99 season tickets for their matches and suggesting this offers us endless opportunities. Don't be dissuaded from putting forward ideas on here because of a minority you don't agree with. If you want to convince people you've got to advance your case.

As I've said before the idea that one sight of RL has RU people converting in droves is total folly. To suggest the answer to our long term support problems will be found in swathes of Sale fans becoming Salford fans is ridiculous.

Beyond the rugby stuff, I really despair for a handful of people who share this forum and (if they differ) the clubs Facebook feed.
Consistently ignoring any evidence and reasoning put before them, they have no interest in entering a discussion, just to spout vitriol and repeat the same bitter rhetoric no matter what the subject.
A drawback of online forums I suppose. In the real world these myopic, self-absorbed gobsh*tes are easier to ignore.

I'm sure someone can list the number of promotions, franchises and national league trophies etc if you want?


No you don't, you take action;
Whining like a 12-year-old b*tch on the internet, hidden behind a username.

Shame on those of us unwilling to man-up and follow your lead...

No I merely quoted what Sale were offering. It showed that at least their marketing was getting into gear.

The people of Salford for one reason or another appear not to be following the club. Fact. So we as a club have to increase our fanbase somehow. I am not suggesting Sale will be our provider but they could help maybe with say 1,500 floaters. Its up to the club now to reach out much further afield than the Salford boundaries.

Sale have changed their name already. Interesting.

Perhaps now it's easier to understand why Sale still haven't posted a profit. They are doing a Bradford. cheap admission prices, huge crowds, but still unable to be solvent.

Is that what we really want our club to do?

1,500 Sale 'floaters' aren't going to start supporting Salford, 1% of that number might. I of course agree with what you say about Salford increasing our support but Sale moving into Barton will have no positive impact on that and it is baffling that a sensible poster thinks it will. The mere fact we are looking to Sale to solve our ills is proof enough of our own poor management.

We aren't solvent either.

Have you actually looked at their price structure? My seat would cost me £549 if I wanted to watch Sale - more than double what Salford charges.

I suspect the £99 deal is simply intended to provide an entry level for new customers.

We aren't going to convert swathes of Sale fans; it's a fallacy that anybody who watches a game of Super League is instantly converted.

People who choose to watch Sale play rugby union do so because they like Sale and they like rugby union; the same logic applies to Salford rugby league.

That said, there is a small but significant number of crossover fans who enjoy both games and would be tempted by the prospect of year-round rugby in a nice modern stadium (in my experience union fans tend to be more open minded when it comes to watching the other code). It would be myopic and plain silly of us not to at least try to exploit this opportunity. I've left two messages on our Facebook page (slightly more chance of a reply than email/phone) suggesting that we offer Sale season ticket holders reduced price entry to our remaining games (I'd certainly take the offer from Sale if it was reciprocated). It seems like a no-brainer to me, particularly if our new 'partners' will help us to publicise the offer to their members, but we will have to wait and see whether our club chooses to act on this suggestion. It wouldn't cost us anything to try though!

You're quite right to state that Sale's presence isn't going to transform our club's management; the best we can hope for is that they at least try to learn from the things Sale do well.

However, what Sale's presence will do IMO is sort out some of the ridiculous and, frankly, amateurish practices that currently compromise the matchday experience. If they can fetch their Shark tank so we've got somewhere to congregate prior to and after games it'll at least be a start. I certainly don't see the current 'amateur hour' approach to Stadium management being tolerated by Brian Kennedy & co for too long.

Having a partner to share costs with in terms of marketing and branding in and around the stadium is another potential benefit if we're willing/able to be proactive.

We should already be talking to Sale about sharing the costs of billboards on the approaches to the ground, 'tarting up' the walkways/concourses, naming bars after past players etc. In reality though, we probably won't do this and sooner rather than later Sale will implement these and other such initiatives themselves - at which point our resident moaners will start complaining about how Sale are "taking over" etc when, in truth, any slip down the stadium 'pecking order' will be down to our own mismanagement/inaction.

Inactivity, apathy (on the part of the local public) and mismanagement are the three things that will potentially lead to our club's downfall - with or without Sale!

All Sale's arrival really does is:

1) provide us with a massive wake-up call
2) provide us with the opportunity to work together to sort out the stadium management company and improve the stadium infrastructure.
3) provide us with 9,000 *potential* floating customers to target - if we choose to.

Our ability to grasp these opportunities and our ultimate success or failure will be down to US not THEM.

At least Sale's arrival guarantees one thing: if we do ultimately fail to improve as a club, at least this fantastic stadium (which, let's not forget, was an investment on the part of our local council tax payers) does not end up being a white elephant.

The future is in OUR hands.

Good post WF and I am singing from the same Hymn Sheet.

Quality post, I'm affraid peoples reaction to this will very anti RU and with many I suspect it is down to old ignorances rather than a genuine axe to grind.

Embrace things and make changes for the better or die from lack of progress.

Has the penny not dropped yet? We already were 'second class tenants' (read my earlier comments about 'amateur hour')

Any problems that Salford RLFC has/had haven't appeared by virtue of Sale's arrival.

I agree with all this so I'm not sure why you are asking me if the penny has dropped.