Quote: MonkeyLover "Whilst it is obvious the club have a history of getting it wrong when it comes to marketing and building a fanbase I am not sure their immediate neighbors, eg the expensive houses a mile around the ground would bring in anything more than the odd curious old bloke on a freebie.
What they are doing, and I personally feel is the best way, is targeting school age kids through various programmes where the kids are at an impressionable age and make take an interest in RL and convince a parent to take them along. It is a slow burner and may take years to see crowds get anywhere n
ear 4000/5000 however IF at the same time the club continue to stop wasting money and start becoming self sufficient then it has to be a positive thing.
We both know exactly what Toronto are doing and you've made an excellent job of posting about it on other forums even when people are trying to stick up for them. LB are only doing what we have both suggested Toronto should have done. Produce their own kids, build a fan base without freebies and get the fundementals right such as getting your gear out for christmas, making hospitality enjoyable, fan events etc.
It will take time, and maybe too long for some of the older fans to see the benefits, but this is a dying game and the Broncos are in an area with very little interest in RL.'"
Well I guess it might work if little Jimmy or Jenny gets a parent to bring them along but if you don't have a winning product, they probably wont come back. If we are going to develop our own youngsters, we need at 17/18 to be signing them on long contracts to avoid them being poached by other teams otherwise you just become a feeder club.
As you say, RL is a dying sport & i'm not sure whether it wouldn't be kinder to put the poor thing down, rather than watch it slowly bleed to death.