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I hate to dash the hopes of fans of the Central Coast Bears concept, but I simply can’t standby and watch a potential fizzer of a decision take effect. The Central Coast Bears should not be admitted to the NRL for these many compelling reasons:
• It’s only a 45-minute drive from northern Sydney (e.g Hornsby).
• It’s preaching to the converted. This is already rugby league territory; it won’t generate new television viewers and it’s not an attempt to win new hearts, minds and wallets to the NRL.
• NSW/ACT already has 11 of the 16 NRL teams. Does NSW need another?
• The Central Coast population is small. Gosford is 170,000 and the greater Central Coast is 300,000. That would make it the second smallest NRL footprint after North Queensland. The Bears can’t claim any of northern Sydney otherwise it’s an admission that this is not expansion.
• The AFL just expanded into two big NRL population areas – western Sydney and the Gold Coast. So the NRL counters by expanding into a small area in its own backyard?
• Queensland has one NRL team per 1,500,000 people. The CC Bears would drop the NSW/ACT ratio to 633,000 people per team.
• Queensland deserves a team before NSW because it’s growing faster and, critically, they have much higher average crowd figures than NSW teams. The Cowboys, Broncos and Titans always figure near the top of the averages. Always.
I want the NRL to be a success. It has to get its finances in order to stem the tide of stars going to other sports.
The way to correct NRL finances is to increase revenue without spreading it over too many teams. TV revenue is the lifeblood of any sports league.
If I could I would force an NRL team to move to Adelaide and create a new one in Perth. SA and WA have a combined population of 4.3 million hearts, minds and wallets to convert to RL.
Only blinkered small-minded people would oppose this move. The NRL is a great product; once people are exposed to it they will enjoy it. The NRL simply needs to work out how the AFL manages expansion, tweak the recipe and march into Perth and Adelaide.
It then becomes truly national, has a national footprint and the TV dollars will roll in even more. That’s what national advertisers look for – the big five capital markets.
Sorry Gosford, you are too small. You’ve got a nice stadium and some passionate fans, but the items above truly trump your bid.
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