A lot of articles published in the media, both amateur and professional, proclaim to have the answers to rugby league’s woes.
Some journalists in particular would have you believe they could walk into the CEO’s vacant office tomorrow and be the savior the NRL needs.
But the reality is that it is not so much as a hit-list of actions that the NRL needs to employ – from bringing back the shoulder charge and the biff to match scheduling and officials – but rather it is someone who will consider what the fans want.
It is more about a cultural shift that centres around the fans.
If the fans are happy then the game will grow. If the fans are happy they will buy merchandise, tickets, take their kids to play, attend in greater numbers and watch in greater numbers.
If more people are coming or watching then the sponsorship and advertising space is worth more and the game has more to reinvest.
It is not a simple process, it is not something you can sit down and just nut out in an afternoon. It is a holistic shift.
It means getting new staff, cutting out the deadwood and increasing money committed to research to find out what necessary to achieve targets.
But the reality is that the NRL have $2 billion from their next TV deal. It is an eye-watering amount of cash and the plans need to be drawn up about how that is going to be spent.
The KPIs for the NRL needs to include: increasing crowd numbers, investing in juniors and increasing participation rates, increasing social media interaction and increasing community engagement through all NRL players.
How they do that is the crux of it all. It is not as simple as reading fan articles, but it is as simple as asking the fans.
The most frustrating thing for fans is that their complaints are not heard. Businesses make decisions all the time but the most successful tend to ask their consumers what they want on a regular basis.
Have you ever been surveyed at an NRL game?
Fans of the NRL feel ignored and neglected. Yes, the NRL have to make some unpopular decisions like banning the biff and the shoulder charge for some very good reasons. But other decisions are made with consideration to only the media or sponsors because they bring in the bulk of the cash.
It is a hard line. It is between a business that needs to make money and a game that once belonged to the fans. The sponsors and media bring the money, but they only bring it because of the audience that engage.
Maybe clubs wouldn’t be funded by the NRL if they weren’t forced to play on Monday nights, or if they were on free-to-air TV and received exposure to impartial fans. The money would be reduced in the TV deal but clubs would find it easier to self-fund and save the NRL money.
There are plenty of questions and demons for the NRL to deal with. They need rejuvenation, innovation and clarity over where they are going and what they want to look like in ten years.
If they keep going the way they are, making it more and more difficult for fans to come to live matches and catering to sponsors and media first and foremost, then they are selling their soul.
It may be great to have $2 billion coming in, but is that what the NRL wants to stand for? It’s about that balance between the stakeholders and considering how the decisions are going affect the fans.
Because if no one comes to the game, will it all have been worth it?
Charlie Poulsen
Guest
As far as the bunker there seems to be some different interpretations of the rules . Why don't we use the commentators as the bunker being that they are all Footballers and have a more real view of the game rules and common sense .
Train Without A Station
Roar Guru
It's a bit like the Titus O'Reilly article about James Hird. "When I said the fans, I meant my fans that support my view of the world"
Crosscoder
Roar Guru
Misleading LOL .Then have a chat with the opposition code.Membership numbers represent committed interest and generally an increase in revenue,as shown by football accounts. I agree wholeheartedly with Eagle Jack on this one. Fair dinkum turbo you would find a lemon taste in a ripe mango,always looking for a negative.Sometimes in our code there are positives believe it or not.
Crosscoder
Roar Guru
Yet when NRL fans crowds hate going to Homebush(which affects their crowds),it is not classified as an excuse.Try a little harder Clipper. I will repeat myself ad nauseum,the Storm had a salary cap debacle,they rarely get the cover the Swans get in Sydney(despite their past News ownership).The Age pretends at times they don't exist.The Swans got a decent leg up in 1997 with Super league which help set them up here permanently. Both Sundey papers have given the Swans more than expected coverage ,with many fluff pieces. The Swans have been in Sydney for 33 years,the Storm in Melbourne 17 years nearly twice as long .The Swans Tv audiences in this city after all those years is still abysmal.This with all the marketing and promotion.Wait till they have a year or two near the bottom,then check the score cards.
Epiquin
Roar Guru
Absolutely!
William Dalton Davis
Roar Rookie
If the fans had their way, and I mean this in the nicest way possible, there'd be a s#!tstorm of conflicting opinions that would eventually lead to the death of the NRL. Seriously you see on Facebook and Twitter crazy people demanding that test/origin matches be an optional gold coin donation to attend. They argue over whether or not Representative matches should even exist. You get half for golden point half against with half of each group happy to just change the way it's done and the other half of each group happy to make it for finals only. Every mistake or 50/50 call by the referee is lambasted by fans as obvious bias and every time the ref checks upstairs they wonder why he can't make a decision. Fans complain about jersey costs (which are cheaper than most US and European jerseys) then complain they don't like the jersey, then complain that they've changed the jersey design they didn't like in the first place. If the NRL listened to the fans about everything they'd all be out of a job. Not because they wouldn't be needed anymore but because the business would go broke and the game would end up broken.
ZF
Guest
i agree...The game day sux...There is very little atmosphere .There is a far to bigger gap between under 20s and first grade....players warming up is not entertainment. Hence why most of the crowd is cramming through the gate just before kick-off....Any sporting event that I send more time in my car getting to and from the game is not value for money. If the NRL are not going to bring back reserve grade then at least put the under 20 at a decent time for everybody to watch.
Birdy
Guest
2 outa 3 ain't bad. The point of my post though was revenue from merchandise sales.
pete bloor
Guest
The roosters jersey changes all the bloody time. Do you want the hoops, or the white with two Vs or perhaps the navy, oh you just have to have the Anzac day camo number and don't forget the captain America. that's without the subtle year on year changes
clipper
Guest
The crowds have gone done in the Swans / Collingwood games for several reasons, mainly because Swans fans hate going to homebush and Collingwood are not near the pointy end of the table anymore. Nevertheless, the Swans average is still above 30,000, even with the 2nd AFL team in Sydney and is still the best attended team in Sydney - a big point of difference to Melbourne where the Storm, who are as successful as the Swans have been, are thousands short of the worst performing AFL team there.
Birdy
Guest
Not a well thought out reply Turbodewd. If a parent buys his 5 year old son a $50 junior membership and the pack contains $49 worth of merchandise , the club still has the potential of gaining a life time member.
Birdy
Guest
It would be good to keep basically the same jersey for decades like saints souths chooks etc. Trouble is , I just read an article on merchandise sales for 2014. ( I don't know how to provide a link, no kids left at home) Sales are growing at around 12% p/a. Rugby league, including SOO $200m approx in sales, Afl $145m in sales , Rugby union $2.4 m in sales didn't mention s15. Biggest sellers are SOO , warriors by a hefty margin. With marvel jerseys and the Penrith pink women's jumper with high figures. I agree with you in keeping jerseys simple but how do you knock that sort of revenue? Maybe it's time to only have 1 sponsor per jersey at $1m per season.
eagleJack
Roar Guru
That's ridiculous. Membership numbers are the key indicator here. More and more fans are willing to pay money to be part of their club. That is significant. The revenue generated isn't even a factor worth considering. It is for the respective clubs, but has no bearing on the sports popularity. To take the point to the extreme the NRL could make memberships $1bn each. Only one guy in Packer buys one. So they have generated $1bn in revenue, but that reflects only one fan willing to part with his cash for the privilege. Suddenly sponsors and networks become nervous that the sport is losing traction with its fans, with more looking elsewhere for their entertainment. Membership numbers are a key indicator that the sport is moving forward and gaining popularity amongst its supporters.
turbodewd
Guest
Membership numbers are misleading, u need to calculate the REVENUE from them...not the number of them.
turbodewd
Guest
ANZ is pretty good. We just need to have more games which attract 40,000 or more fans. The NRL has shown it can attract such crowds if they get the recipe right.
turbodewd
Guest
Amen to the one jersey! NRL jerseys are covered in ads. Change almost yearly. EAch team wears about 5 jerseys per year. The jersey designs are too busy, ergo ugly. The AFL and the Yanks know jerseys - keep em clean and fairly simple. Rarely change them. NRL jerseys suck.
James T
Guest
The game day needs to offer something that tv doesn't. The bbl seem to have made a priority of getting families to matches whereas the nrl scheduling leaves parents more inclined to watch it on the box. Essentially put games on when people can get there. Players need to be able to control the garbage that goes on in tackles, because the refs don't. The biff wasn't a terrible thing when controlled
pete bloor
Guest
You've had enough enjoyable Mondays as a pats fan so I won't shed too many tears for you :)
Jackson Henry
Roar Guru
Very good Epiq, that is excellent! Ha.
Jackson Henry
Roar Guru
Well, congratulations to you sir on today's effort. Well played. I'm crying myself to sleep tonight. And tomorrow night.