53 replies to this topic

[The Parksider]

Honestly, if the RFL wants a team down here then they've got to get involved themselves and actually do something about it.

Mark is doubtful of the other SL clubs supporting more help for London, but if we can go back to the end of 2011 didn't Mr. Hughes meet with the RFL and basically say he could not fund the club wholesale, and didn't the RFL make concessions in the area of the junior development which is what Viking Warrior says the RFL want most out of a professional club in London?.

At that time Mr. Hudgell was of the opinion if Mr. Hughes "walked" then London would have to be funded "centrally". Given Mr. Hughes has been reported as putting in a million a year if not more then come 2015 the RFL may indeed be faced with conceding £2M of the SKY money to London every year???

That may mean a drop back to 12 clubs in SL. HOWEVER that day has not come and this year and next is based on Mr. Hughes funding and running the first team at will because he's paying for it. I cannot see how or why the RFL would move before 2015 unless they themselves have a few million to spare?

Which they don't.

Edited by The Parksider, 06 February 2013 - 01:08 PM.

[gingerjon]

Stephen Fry on BBC TV Breakfast this morning claimed he hasn't read a newspaper for eight years. He says he relies on Twitter for his news as it is generally factual and not tainted by the negativity of journalists. I'd have though that now was teh time for RL and particularly Broncos to embrace and promote this medium wholeheartedly.

RL and the Broncos are pretty active on twitter.

The southern RL journalists are generally positive and talk up the game unlike their northern equivalents who seem to spend their entire time watching other sports and saying things like, "Watching the Super Bowl really shows how little ambition #rugbyleague has".

[keighley]

The fixtures you quote attracted 1500 and 1800 last year anyway so there'll be no "shock horror"

It should be apparent by now that London are not in Superleague for their attendances.

They are in for other reasons.




As for the benefits of booting London out and replacing them with another club with awful attendances then let's go ahead.

The challenge is to name a club that will bring more to the game than London across the board.

Also take on board that when it's important for SL clubs to save £100K each on junior development they aren't going to upset Mr. Hughes who puts in what?? £1,000,000 into Superleague a year?

Let's not narrow the argument down or we'll be kicking clubs out because they have an awful shirt.

Which means Widnes out on Sunday's showing.

That post is a fair assessment but it seems to me to be wrong that London are not in danger because of their attendances but potential SL applicants have to demonstrate a pre set level of attendances when they are not yet even in SL. I think the crowd criterium should be removed from licence applications.

[JohnM]

I need to get out more

On Twitter,

SuperLeague has 25,246 followers
Wigan Warriors have 21375 followers
London Broncos have 5441 followers
Leigh have 3281 followers
Fax have 2787 followers
Fev have 1409 followers
Oldham - 923 followers
Swinton - 685 followers

For comparison
John Inverdale - 2089
Sale Sharks - 13, 278
George Riley - 20,498
Harelquins RU - 22, 121
RFU - 137,452
Clare Balding - 368,933
Manchester City FC 708,208
Cheryl Cole - 3,503, 859
Stephen Fry - 5,425121
Justin Bieber - 34,017,135

[trakl]

Sam Tomkins and Sam Burgess have over 50000 Twitter followers each - considerably more than even their big name Australian/Kiwi rivals - other than SBW who has around 200000...

[JohnM]

And considerably more than read the RL columns in the national dailies. And that's a key point. Through Twitter the game is capable of reaching many more people than it ever could in the printed press. We just need a few high profle tweeters on board

Sunset Times Jones has only 7145 idiots following him.

[Manx RL]

And considerably more than read the RL columns in the national dailies. And that's a key point. Through Twitter the game is capable of reaching many more people than it ever could in the printed press. We just need a few high profle tweeters on board

Sunset Times Jones has only 7145 idiots following him.

You reckon every tweet tweeted is read by every follower?

[JohnM]

no, just as not every RL column is read by every newspaper buyer.

[EastLondonMike]

like a lot of companies/brands do these days, a twitter hijack day is a good way of creating more buzz and picking up new followers, for instance someone like Bradley Wiggins tweets on the RFL twitter account during a challenge cupgame, or play-off semi final.. or an England World cup game.. etc..

Social media is the way forward, unfortunately a very large majority of the RFL's target market still buy a daily paper and spend longer reading that than they do on things such as twitter..

[Northern Sol]

Wigan Warriors have 21375 followers
London Broncos have 5441 followers
Leigh have 3281 followers
Fax have 2787 followers
Fev have 1409 followers
Oldham - 923 followers
Swinton - 685 followers

Interesting that Broncos have (relatively speaking) so many followers, I wonder whether this is because a lot of folk in the north follow them because they like expansion or there is a fairly large potential support base that is not being tapped up.

[Northern Sol]

Money is part of the problem at London and as another poster said I would personally like to see them get a bigger share of the Sky money. Sadly Heartland clubs are to one eyed in most cases to agree to that.

They are too poor to agree to that.

Could Wakefield, Bradford or Salford really afford to agree to accept less TV money?

[hindle xiii]

They are too poor to agree to that.

Could Wakefield, Bradford or Salford really afford to agree to accept less TV money?

Ahem, we had to.

[nadera78]

Mark is doubtful of the other SL clubs supporting more help for London, but if we can go back to the end of 2011 didn't Mr. Hughes meet with the RFL and basically say he could not fund the club wholesale, and didn't the RFL make concessions in the area of the junior development which is what Viking Warrior says the RFL want most out of a professional club in London?.

At that time Mr. Hudgell was of the opinion if Mr. Hughes "walked" then London would have to be funded "centrally". Given Mr. Hughes has been reported as putting in a million a year if not more then come 2015 the RFL may indeed be faced with conceding £2M of the SKY money to London every year???

That may mean a drop back to 12 clubs in SL. HOWEVER that day has not come and this year and next is based on Mr. Hughes funding and running the first team at will because he's paying for it. I cannot see how or why the RFL would move before 2015 unless they themselves have a few million to spare?

Which they don't.

If the RFL wait until 2015 then it will be too late. They need to be involved whilst Dave Hughes is still prepared to pump 1.5million p/a into the team otherwise they'll be forced to cough up that amount and more on top. They also need to act before the moron in charge, Gus McKay, moves the club to Gillingham.

[Manx RL]

'I knew nothing about the game but decided if you cannot beat them join them. We became friends – Nigel came racing with me and he fixed up for me to watch my local team St Helens. I have watched Grand Finals at Old Trafford.
I then said to Nigel if there was ever an opportunity to buy a club, let me know, because I could see what a great game rugby league was.
Before Christmas, he telephoned me and brought Salford to my attention. I realised the club’s potential and things started from there. I came back from holiday in Dubai and started the complex hard negotiations.'

Wonder if he was ever offerd a chance of ownership or a share of the Broncos?

[THE RED ROOSTER]

The brutal truth is that the club is a badly run club in a badly run sport that may have passed the point of no return.

As some would say I spend most of my time posting negativity on this forum let me point out those things the club has no control over :

Monday night v Leeds in August is a SKY TV commandment the club has no choice but to comply with.

Major Rugby Shirt manufacturers like Puma and ISC do not want to be involved with the club as they do not feel they would sell enough shirts.

Brian Noble has said he was offered a Super League coaching opportunity last year but the management of the unnamed club doubted his commitment to the role. In my personal opinion that club could well be London. Given the state the club';s in going for Tony Rea who is a loyal club man is better than going for a "name" coach that wants to spend the money that's not there.

No Cheerleaders is not the clubs way of ingratiating itself with the pious of Tower Hamlets but is a cost cutting measure.

What the club has done right

It has sponsors who perhaps while not paying much at least give the club a more authentic feel

Changing the name back to London Broncos

That's it.

If there is a Foreign millionare in the London area wanting to sink his millions into the club then I do have an idea as to how you can secure the bricks and mortar at reasonable cost to make Rugby League in the Capital more of a viable business proposition. And can state with certainty that if such a purchaser approached David Hughes then our current owner would gladly sell the club.

[Red Willow]

'I knew nothing about the game but decided if you cannot beat them join them. We became friends – Nigel came racing with me and he fixed up for me to watch my local team St Helens. I have watched Grand Finals at Old Trafford.
I then said to Nigel if there was ever an opportunity to buy a club, let me know, because I could see what a great game rugby league was.
Before Christmas, he telephoned me and brought Salford to my attention. I realised the club’s potential and things started from there. I came back from holiday in Dubai and started the complex hard negotiations.'

Wonder if he was ever offerd a chance of ownership or a share of the Broncos?

Is the club up for sale? Difficult to offer a club to anyone if the owner isn't selling. Anyway hands off the good doctor

[Adeybull]

The only way it would work is to give London a bigger slice of the Sky money, I mean an extra £1m per season, but I can't imagine the other clubs going for that. They also need some smart marketing to get people to games.

You mean the way the majority of the other 13 clubs voted to give London the 2013 and 2014 Sky money confiscated from Bradford, rather than divide it up amongst themselves?

Oh, hang on though...

[Manx RL]

Is the club up for sale? Difficult to offer a club to anyone if the owner isn't selling. Anyway hands off the good doctor

It's difficult to tell if Hughes has a genuine desire to sell or is looking for shared investment. Does the good Doctor have a southern based wealthier brother you can point at broncos?

Edited by Manx RL, 06 February 2013 - 08:10 PM.

[mick wilson]

Playing so far away from where many amateur clubs are/have been based based like South London Storm, North London/Hemel/St.Albans etc hasnt helped them reap the rewards of working with the local amateur scene in London. and the failure of the Broncos/Quins to work with its current fan base let alone working with potential new fans.

Do the Broncos do anything to attract all these amateur/semi-pro London & District RL clubs players & fans to watch their SL games ?

[Lobbygobbler]

Anyone know how much Hughes has put in over the years? Would it not have been better to buy a ground when he first started backing the club? Similarly if he plans to put in 1M over the next 10 years, is it not better to buy a stadium?