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Reading the Daily Telegraph today concerning the dire future of Sydney clubs rocked me to the core. I am a NRL tragic, so the very thought of losing any club from the NRL is a scenario I refuse to contemplate.
In case you missed the article, the nine Sydney clubs have had their support slashed from $28.8 million in 2005 to this years $19.1 million due to the State Government’s unpopular poker machine taxes.
Unless a business plan that does not rely on revenue from poker machines is put in place, the future of the nine Sydney NRL clubs is in jeopardy.
I am definitely not the one to tell NRL clubs how to make a profit from their business but I am a loyal supporter of anything NRL so I thought I might let all the NRL clubs know what they could do to get me to hand over more of my precious coins.
Let’s start with membership.
I was a season ticket holder/member of a NRL Club in 2009, went to every game and thoroughly enjoyed every moment. I have not renewed my membership even though I had a cracking time.
Why?
I was expecting more of a community from my membership, which in my eyes is the best sporting club in the world. I received my tickets, sticker, little flag etc. The next correspondence was at the end of the season, inviting me to become a member for 2010.
For the rest of the article I am going to use Parramatta as an example, even though this is not the club I was referring to earlier regarding my membership.
What could the Eels do make my membership make me feel more part of a community?
How about a personal club email address, like Michael@themightyeels.com, that I get to keep forever.
I expect a NRL club website to allow me to interact with players and fans. To be a member of the site, you would need to be a member or had been a member of the club to join the Eels site.
I would love to be able to go to the Eels webpage and upload photos from my day at the footy, or even have a forum on the site so I can praise or vent the performance of our team with other diehard Eels supporters.
Things I would like to buy from my beloved Eels website could be ringtones. I would love my phone to ring the players from my mighty Eels singing the club victory song.
I would even buy phone recordings from the players. “Hi this is Jarred Hayne you have reached Michael’s phone, Mick is currently helping the coach prepare for this weeks game so please leave your message after the beep.”
Every couple of months add another player and change the message. I will keep buying.
Clubs could hold outdoor cinema evenings watching classic matches from the past.
I would pay admission I would spend money on hiring a chair, blankets if during winter and if in summer cold drinks and refreshments. It would be brilliant sitting on my beloved home turf watching a classic 1980’s clash between the Eels and Bulldogs with 5,000 screaming Eels supporters.
I would much prefer to be drinking at the clubhouse (stadium) before a match than the local pub around the corner. Clubs could raffle an autographed jersey before each home game.
I truly believe the NRL is the best sporting competition in the world, yet our competition is under threat. It could only help if NRL clubs worked on becoming a real community where we can be proud to be members, not because our club won last year’s premiership, not because our club has the most Australian representatives but because we have a club that is a strong community.
Once you have that strong community feel within each club, financial opportunities will be bountiful.
If you want more money from me, then stop making me feel like a financial transaction. After all, I am a supporter of the greatest sporting club/community in the world.
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