I can't help but feel that as a club we fail to organise our support base to it's fullest financial potential. I know our pass, ticket and merchandise sales are up there but there must be at least 1000 more ardent / affluent supporters who would be prepared to pay into a share scheme (not necessarily for dividend but for love of the club)? Have we ever investigated this type of revenue stream?

Yes but equally the SMC wont find the approx 15 days of revenue we bring in if we left. The stadium is now old, theyve tried and failed with concerts and it isnt 1st choice for proms, weddings etc like it was when it opened. It would sit empty most weeks if only City played there.

Agree, also with the current situation of paying off the Covid loan they could have looked at selling 2 or 3 year passes to get revenue in early.

I think a lot of the issues with the lack of use of the Stadium by other & non sporting possibilities such as concerts, weddings, events etc can be laid at the foot of the SMC under the reign of the Allams.

The personal feelings seemed to me to take precident on what was/wasn’t done rather than what was beneficial for actual Stadium. It certainly changed when they fell out with just about everyone involved such as the city council, AP etc as shown by kicking out the community groups from the Arena and all the other tricks that then came along etc.

It was as if the Allam’s ran the SMC at that time was doing everything it could to hamper/hinder the Stadium rather than anything positive due to pettiness for not being handed the Stadium or the surrounding land for nothing.

The stadium can not exist sufficiently unless the SMC maximise its use and its something that needs addressing.

The SMC having to share profits with the council doesnt help matters. I can what the council were thinking a nice stream of revenue from events...but corporate business think creatively and the SMC have maybe thought 'who bother gambling on booking a concert if we have to split the profits?'

It was as if the Allam’s ran the SMC at that time was doing everything it could to hamper/hinder the Stadium rather than anything positive due to pettiness for not being handed the Stadium or the surrounding land for nothing.

The stadium can not exist sufficiently unless the SMC maximise its use and its something that needs addressing.'"

It’s not something that directly effects him or Hull FC though. Unless he wanted to hire it to put on concerts, I suppose.

To be honest I'd say it actually does directly affect AP & Hull FC as well as Hull City as the less use the Stadium see's outside of rugby or football match days the more the cost is for both Hull FC & Hull City as both clubs will bear the brunt of this. The more use/revenue streams they can attract/get from external sources such as Concerts/Events will help towards the running and upkeep costs which in turn should help to reduce the burden on both clubs to cover the majority of the costs.

The more use it sees, the more upkeep and running it requires, as well. There may be some marginal gain for Hull FC, but if the stadium started generating profits I’m sure there’s a whole load of social care and potholes and stuff like that, that could make a dent in them.

The underlying problem is that, as Pearson alluded to recently, RL doesn’t generate enough revenue. Trying to fix it by relying on concert promoters or property developers or suchlike won’t make much difference because those people want the profits from their activities.

I think you make a valid point, but, the additional upkeep costs would then also be factored into the fees charged for the use of the venue, so materially would not increase Hulls percentage cost of that element, it may be that if enough regular events can be attracted , that would actually lesser our's and City's burden.
If you consider that Hull's financial strength was unquestionable, without the pandemic derailing it, and attendances and memberships are still strong, with a bit of innovative marketing the stadium could become a strength rather than a weakness, that some perceive it to be. The state of the game in general in the UK is what should worry us all. There are numerous clubs, among all divisions who are getting by on a week to week basis and the whole sport, in its current format could be at its weakest point ever, such is the dwindling interest in the UK game of RL.

Who mentioned the Stadium in terms of generating profits? What I was saying was that if the Stadiums potential was unlocked in terms of other uses other than Hull FC & Hull City fixtures this could be used to offset the operational & upkeep costs, reducing the burden to both clubs, the SMC and Council.

The upkeep required with more use would actually be marginal and any extra costs incurred should/would be added to the price for its use/hire.

It's also not about 'trying to fix it by relying on concert promoters or property developers or suchlike won’t make much difference because those people want the profits from their activities', it is simply about improving/increasing its revenue stream to offset running costs. In simplistic terms instead of just having 2 parties having to eat 2 big pieces of a pie you have 4, 5, 8, 12, the pie would remain largely the same size but each party has a lot less to eat than just 2.

While the stadium size doesnt suit every music act, looking up the coast Middlesbrough have hosted acts like Arctic Monkeys, The Killers and Take That in recent years. How much money that makes for the stadium I dont know, but having gone to the Killers gig the town centre was heaving and hotel prices extrotionate so the boost to the local area is significant.

I’m somewhat dubious about the amount of potential there is to unlock, but setting that aside…

You are talking about profits… it’s just that you’re immediately converting them into a discount for Hull FC (and City). Realistically, Hull FC are going to be back of the queue behind management and ownership.

Or, if Hull FC unlocked their potential and increased SMC revenue, then maybe they could offer more attractive deals to Bronski Beat or Kasabian or Little Mix.

Another interesting read from AP in the Yorkshire Post, makes some good points regarding IMG needing funding.

yeh good piece the SMC stuff is such a good idea at least in some respects for the RFL have been to inward looking and too parochial for far too long. We certainly need to do something to rescue a game which is fast going backwards but at present I think Adam is right its bricks without straw as we are expecting them to reposition the game in the eyes of the sporting public in an ever expanding market place with no core financial support. As for what he says about the complaints from clubs that are 'relegated' not on league position but on grading that's a given. They all signed up to it but when it's actually them that's going down on their grading rather than their league position, there will be hell on with a lot of shouting, recriminations and no doubt threats of legal action. her it is if you haven't read it! https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/sport/r ... ue-4478452

yeh good piece the SMC stuff is such a good idea at least in some respects for the RFL have been to inward looking and too parochial for far too long. We certainly need to do something to rescue a game which is fast going backwards but at present I think Adam is right its bricks without straw as we are expecting them to reposition the game in the eyes of the sporting public in an ever expanding market place with no core financial support. As for what he says about the complaints from clubs that are 'relegated' not on league position but on grading that's a given. They all signed up to it but when it's actually them that's going down on their grading rather than their league position, there will be hell on with a lot of shouting, recriminations and no doubt threats of legal action. her it is if you haven't read it! https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/sport/r ... ue-4478452