The legacy of Hughes inept recruitment as well as his refusal to accept that he is 100% WRONG in terms of his marketing strategy (Field of Dreams just doesn't work) is that we had a competitive side with 4,000+ regulars back in 2007 and that was costing £4,000,000 a year to bankroll. Sky paid about 1.8 of that, leaving £2,200,000 to find. I was told the income per entrant was approximately £14.00, so 50,000 over the season delivered £700,000 of that and Hughes to oft quoted £1,500,000.
As the years went by and he eroded the side and fans through mismanagement and neglect, he continued to bankroll the club at the same level but for a diminishing return until in 2014, his opus (part 1) was completed and we were relegated with 1 win under his belt. 2015 saw him continue to bankroll the side, which continued to underperform. I genuinely think that Covid gave him the perfect excuse to cut back his level of funding back, but the reality is, this has been a slow death and so as to answer your question, regeneration of London back to a competitive side playing to 4,500 fans would cost considerably more than it did on 2007. I'd guestimate nearer to £10,000,000 per year over 2 decades and you'd get a 10K average delivering £3,250,000 on the gate, the same in residuals with SKY and sponsors covering the rest, but until you get it up and running, there's the matter of another source covering the missing £6.5 million on the gate and merch/beers, as well as the Sponsors.
I'll say it again. IMG should bankroll it if they think it's a "sleeping giant", but Hughes should be allowed nowhere near it.

If it were me. I'd return to trailfinders as an investment partner, helping underwrite the new stand they need, but on a long term lease, with full and equal distribution of the match day costs and incomes. I hardly recall a single "offer" to entice me into the corporate area at Trailfinders, the Hive or the Stoop, whilst before that, Stripes was never anything but rammed!

It would seem to me that Loubser championed corporate income as a key fact in the farcical move to PL and Hughes called his bluff by saying if he was that confident, he could pay his wages from the corporate takings ......Oh how I wish that were true It would show that a lesson about consequences of failure was being taught!

Capacity at Ally Pally rink is 1,250 from memory.

When I lived in London I often nipped to the Pally for a game.Haringey Racers used to fill the place in Tier Four with free admission. Then they introduced a £1 chargee, gates collapsed overnight. Racers morphed into Haringey Greyhounds and built the gates back up. A name swop back to Racers coincided with declining gates and Racers ceased to exist. Huskies were founded and have done a good job building up their gates

South of the water, Streatham have also seen big gate increases, as have Haringey Borough FC.

It's hard work but with the right strategy, you can build a crowd.

What is most frustrating is that through the efforts of Chris Warren, Broncos knew this too once.

Actually I should have said with the right strategy and right product...

Not sure Broncos offered either last season. The off field plans do sound like they may offer something this season. On the field remains uncertain.

We go and attend Guildford Flames when we can, and its usually at about 80% capacity, even with rail strikes etc. I really feel if Basketball / Ice Hockey can manage it with a lot less funding than RL in the south, it should be possible for a RL team for London.

Interesting debate. It strikes me you could really do with two southern teams. Maybe one in London and one in North Kent? Get a derby going.

I don't think having a derby would be a key factor. The main thing is having a competitive team and a decent match day experience.

We have had much better crowds in the past but it takes hard work. The current ground provides all the facilities required to provide a good experience but last season the club put in very little effort to welcome and retain fans (unless you wanted to go in the lounge). Seems some lessons are being learned for next season but it ain't rocket science is it.

Maybe IMG has prompted more than Leigh's rebrand. RLFans has a new look too. These new user badges are making many of us look reminiscent of a tin of Azera coffee. It is to be hoped that Nescafe are paying a premium for this?

Not sure that can really be called a derby & things didn't go well for Kent Invicta all be it in Maidstone, did they?

I see the club are tweeting the IMG stuff out now. Hmm.....reading the blurb thus far, the missing word that matters is Broncos. London is a great place for event games, but the sick puppy that is the Broncos have never been able to grasp the idea of events.

Yes other Championship sides tweeting about their not too shabby recent recruits, us tweeting about this type of thing. Here’s hoping this week’s newsletter has more meat in it than the last half dozen.

Yes, and not seemingly realising that IMG's conclusions are basically saying London have wasted opportunities to build on interest in the game.

I have alot of time for our opposition fans but far too many of them do not understand living in London is a burden, and for an established player with a wife and two kids is just crazy when you compare it with say Hull. That used to equate to being 3 players light in a SL squad a decade ago, and now that has got even wider. The salary cap must link to the cost-of-living in an area or else there is no point in even talking about London being a powerhouse, because no powerhouse starts the season off with 75% of the players that everyone else has, because you are having to pay massive rents, or treat fully grown men as students in shared accommodation. Paying several million pounds for a few houses, and then charging £1 a year rent to the players is the only way to even begin thinking about being competitive at the top table. https://www.home.co.uk/for_rent/london/ ... ion=london https://www.home.co.uk/for_rent/hull/cu ... ation=hull

I have alot of time for our opposition fans but far too many of them do not understand living in London is a burden, and for an established player with a wife and two kids is just crazy when you compare it with say Hull. That used to equate to being 3 players light in a SL squad a decade ago, and now that has got even wider. The salary cap must link to the cost-of-living in an area or else there is no point in even talking about London being a powerhouse, because no powerhouse starts the season off with 75% of the players that everyone else has, because you are having to pay massive rents, or treat fully grown men as students in shared accommodation. Paying several million pounds for a few houses, and then charging £1 a year rent to the players is the only way to even begin thinking about being competitive at the top table. https://www.home.co.uk/for_rent/london/ ... ion=london https://www.home.co.uk/for_rent/hull/cu ... ation=hull

There are 3 themes on our Twitter feed at the moment. A countdown to start of season, who is excited about next season and a shout out for the club shop. On the latter one sharp fan has already pointed out the absence of new shirts which I guess would be the biggest seller - nuff said and on the other two themes- I’d be a lot more excited if with so little time left I heard we had a full squad that was better than last year. The clock is ticking.