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For all the talk of relocation and expansion in the NRL, there’s a simple solution for those who fear their team could be relocated: attend the games.
Sydney NRL fans can call their city the heart and soul of rugby league in Australia, but the thousands of empty seats on a weekly basis say otherwise. For all the talk about how much they love their suburban grounds, they rarely sell out round to round despite existing clubs having decades to build fan-bases.
The Sydney Roosters, for all their success, can’t even half fill their stadium after sustained success. If any other team had the triumphs the Roosters have had over the past six years, they would surely see a substantial increase in crowds, particularly if that team were Newcastle or Parramatta.
The Sydney NRL clubs in particular have had enough time to develop and grow there fan-bases, yet on occasion they’ve had to be bailed out by the NRL for financial mismanagement. By now the clubs have enough funding from the NRL to sink or swim. There can be no excuses for any of the NRL clubs to run at a loss. There are no more bailouts.
For far too long the self-interest and reckless spending of the NRL clubs have created a constant cycle of draining the funds of the NRL. Money is being spent to prop up incompetent clubs when it could otherwise be better directed towards a future fund or potential expansion. Instead it is being pocketed by the established teams just to keep them in existence.
From now to the new TV deal the NRL clubs need to do everything they can to prove they should stay around and survive on their own. If they can’t, they should be relocated, as it’s been far too long that the NRL has rewarded improper management.
So simply put, show up or your team will be shipped out. Low attendance and low membership figures can and should be used as a reason to relocate teams.
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