Harlequins brand damaging the ESL club how exactly?

Fan numbers were about the same over 4 years as Quins RL as they were as the Broncos at Griffin Park........the team became absolute , that's when the attendances tapered off.......
Rupe1 and the other "chiponshoulders" claimed we'd see the massed hoardes of RL fans return in their gazzillions once we were free of the Union name......let me know how that's panning out?

The only thing damaging the ESL club in London is the continued neglect when it comes to promotion. Change the name to the south London Stags, or Noth London Norsemen....East London Eels even.......build a purpose built 20,000 seater arena and fill the squad with entire Kanagroos squad....it wil make no difference unless they F()(king tell anyone.

The first 4 years as Quins saw 199,000 fans watch 53 games of Superleague......the previous 4 years at Griffin Park saw 194,000 watch 54 games of ESL with some taken OTR. The previous 4 years saw about 160,000 watch 56 "Home" games..........prior to that........well, prior to that, there was even less marketing....the novelty value was enough back then.....and since 2010, the team have been utter crap, still are!

There is no evidence that anywhere would be a good place in London for the ESL team to be situated, but before another expensive and unrequired move is considered, they should at first have a crack at MARKETING IT in an area where they have been trying to build some form of community network.. (no matter how badly they have gone about it)

OK... I'll make this ton. Is ESL European Super League?

It is.....although some think is stands for EASTLONDON Superleague

ESL doesn't exist, it's a dumb thing dumb Aussies say. Along with Marones, Wigan is playing well, five eighth, mongrel and look at my ridiculous home made sign I made that says 'Sweet and Soward' or 'Please take my Cherry-Evans, Daly'.

Day-boo

1. Damage to the LONDON BRONCOS brand, Most people who have watched Super League on TV and may want to experience Live do not in the norm identify with union, they see the image of the Twickenham and the Rolls Royce cars with picnic baskets and champagne, it is the same as with Cameron and Eton! - when we decided to re-brand I always felt that would have been the time to completely split and move from the stoop. I accept though that we just had to re-brand and finding a suitable ground is not going to be easy and with the new licence period it had to done now, sadly with the on the field results after such good recruitment we have not produced the goods and the impact of the re brand has been lost.

2. No One really knows fully the discussions taking place about a renewal of the agreement with our landlords or the search for a new ground! correct? If our landlord was so enthusiastic to retain us as "easy money" and a nice profit making exercise they would be doing everything to retain us, I have never seen this time around since we have been at the stoop any enthusiasm towards us from the landlords, yes when we re-branded as Quins they did make a small effort to let their supporters know about us but that is all. Now we are The London Broncos once more and currently the way we are perceived (the landlords only need to have a glance at this forum) we will be seen as sinking fast, so they may even feel now is it worth it being associated with us?

Only time will tell gutterfax but I never feel that we will be able to build upwards via the local Twickenham community if we stay, if we do not start to turn things around and Super League is reduced to 12 teams next time around what is out future, the bargain some people think it is to play at the stoop will not be affordable in the championship unless David Hughes decides to work until he is 70! What income do we have currently, not much from season ticket sales, none hardly from sponsorship (while the Skolars seem to do so well) merchandise limited and I am uncertain what profits we are able to get on a match day from bars and entertaining do we keep all the income from this sector?

Just wish I had the funds of DH, as I have no family commitments at all, over the good years for myself I put in as much as possible with sponsorship of players shirts and match balls etc, but I have no doubt if my circumstances do change I will put my money were my mouth is! no way should London fail.

Tell me another ground in London where we could play for £200K ? Bear in mind that while we might generate more revenue on a ground of our own we would also have much higher costs.

I wonder how many Quins RL ST holders have stopped going since we reverted to Broncos, just a thought, it may account for some of the drop in gates!

There was enthusiasm from our Landlords at the start of the venture, but this petered out as the performances on the pitch faltered and the crowds dropped (or were static at best.) They then realised that we were not going to make any impact on the competition and basically are a loss making business which wasn't worth investing in (who can blame them ? Especially now we see how they have built their team and their crowds?).

It is correct to say we don't know if Quins are trying to retain us, but I would guess they are, as it is worth their while financially.

Jaybs doesn't want us to play at The Stoop or another RU club, so this leaves us with getting involved with a soccer club (again).

The down side to being a tenant at a Soccer club is that they will want to kick us out for 2 months to work on their pitch. Hence we will have weeks of away and on the road games, which will impact on us being able to build support (and we know how our team thrives away from home!).

Thanks at last someone like 2Dan Stains woz God2 who is willing at least to discuss and accept we can have different opinions, it would be a boring world if we didn't.

I wanted to return to the stoop, I had happy memories from first time around, but it has simple not worked, the only reason I can think of is first time around it was something different and we had a good time especially the World Championship matches. If we did go in with any other union club it would have to be one with a ground up to Super League standards, which are worth considering? if it is another area of London would they be more willing to accept us? will travel at any other union club provide us with better tube links?

Yes we will have some problems with re-seeding at a football club, but pitches these days are much better, can't remember Wigan Warriors having any on the road games? I know many will not agree but I enjoyed our time at The Valley, it felt more like a home than the stoop.

Anyway need to get on the M62 now!

The Bit in Red is on of the more assumptive claims you have come up with recently......firstly, if they watch the game on TV they Know who we are and what we play, next up, Union is not the MASSIVE beast I sometimes wind northerners up about.....Twickenham is a leafy suburb to most people that happens to have a large stadium where England play Union in front of crowds that do not reflect the unpopularity of its club games. Futhermore, Your use of RR cars, Picnic baskets and Etonian Cameron point to where this "idea" really comes from. Not all wealthy people who come from old money are s......same way northerners aren't wife beating ex-miners with whippets!
As for the Re-brand......it was always doomed to failure.....as a matter of courtesy I said I would reserve my judgement until after the Castleford home game.......but I saw it was bollox back in October and I have seen nothing at all to make me change my thoughts on that. Being the Broncos has not brought 1 benefit I can see........feel free to let me know where I am wrong. Yes, a winning team would be handy, but my first game as a fan was a loss.....I still came back for more......from 4,900 to 1,900, games 1&2 as Broncos at the stoop this year, is shocking.....truly shocking!


Cool story bro, but where's the evidence that the landlords would WANT to reduce their income by getting rid of us? YES.....when we were Quins RL it was very annoying that a lot of the "joint venture" stuff never happened, but since the first 3 yrs were up, we became tenants.....I expect my tenants to pay their rent, maintain my properties and that's pretty much it........what EXACTLY is it you expect from Harlequins RFC other than what we are paying for......?


Cool story II bro.....but your feeling that we can't build a fan base in Twickenham is actually a flawed assumption......if the club actually tried, then yes, I might say after 6 years it's maybe time up sticks, but they have done little or nothing in the area...ask Darth....he's a journo in the area........they are shocking in their total lack of activity on that front.....



Cool Story III bro.....I wish I'd pick 6 + the bonus ball, but I still reside in the REAL WORLD! I buy shirts (when they make it possible to do some from outside the UK), but it is not my JOB to turn this around.



I never said we didn't have options.....I just said your BLIND EAST IS THE BEST WAY mantra was flawed, because there was no proof that it was, nor that West had even been tried properly.

I see Wakefield have managed to shake us and Widnes off.....looking like June 9th is the decider for the wooden spoon.......

'it was always doomed to fail' a rather broad statement and by the looks of it based on hindsight unless of course you wrote the business plan and knew it was a waste of time.

At the end of 2005, the club had a net worth of MINUS £890,000
At the end of 2010, the club had a net worth of MINUS £8,870,000

From Season start 2006 - to season end 2010, the club played 136 games, won 50 (36%) and attracted an average gate of 3,686 at, according to Ian Lenegan (circa 2006) a value of the club of £9.85 each.

Given I can't access the net worth of the club for 2011, let's say, to keep you happy, they broke even 2.01708984375:5