New York RL - The Full 80 Minutes

[The Daddy]

The owners of New York RL were due to be on the full 80 minutes podcast this evening. Did anyone listen to the show and can they summarise what was discussed? 

Where can I download the show? 

[NickWeaver]

 

[Manfred Mann]

This Ricky Wilby sounds like he is serious. Who is he exactly? A billionaire?

[Man of Kent]

12 minutes ago, Manfred Mann said:

This Ricky Wilby sounds like he is serious. Who is he exactly? A billionaire?

Almost. A PE teacher from Huddersfield.

[Mr Plow]

1 minute ago, Man of Kent said:

Almost. A PE teacher from Huddersfield.

Where did it all go wrong 

[Michael Gledhill]

Watch it back on the Full Eighty Minutes Twitter Periscope here: 

 

 

[Michael Gledhill]

New York Rugby League could be given the green light to join League One for 2020 before Christmas. 

[Kyokushin]

Nobody really believes a word of that do they?

[RayCee]

8 minutes ago, Michael Gledhill said:

New York Rugby League could be given the green light to join League One for 2020 before Christmas. 

Shame, as they would be useful in 2019.

[Damien]

6 hours ago, Kyokushin said:

Nobody really believes a word of that do they?

People said exactly the same about Toronto before they were admitted too.

[Mr Plow]

8 hours ago, Michael Gledhill said:

New York Rugby League could be given the green light to join League One for 2020 before Christmas. 

Should they be starting in League 1? Wouldn’t it be better off teams like NYC and Toronto start in the championship and teams like Manchester Rangers and Hemel ect start in League 1?

[Damien]

4 minutes ago, Mr Plow said:

Should they be starting in League 1? Wouldn’t it be better off teams like NYC and Toronto start in the championship and teams like Manchester Rangers and Hemel ect start in League 1?

I do agree although listening to Toronto they do seem to think that starting off in League 1 was beneficial from an organisation and logistic point of view. I do think that there should probably be a two tier entry, if a club is going to be well funded and full time and can provide some kind of a bond to prove this then start in the Championship, if not and if they are more of a community type club start in League 1. I would though leave the decision up to the club concerned and the other clubs in League 1.

[The 4 of Us]

League 1 is a must. If any of these individuals want to match kind words with good deeds then making sure they’re committed to the journey should be a minimum.

Far better than going in higher, wheels falling off and dropping a league or worse, ending up bottom but then being the beneficiaries of a usual RFL reorganisation fudge which ends with them staying up.

[Michael Gledhill]

2 hours ago, Mr Plow said:

Should they be starting in League 1? Wouldn’t it be better off teams like NYC and Toronto start in the championship and teams like Manchester Rangers and Hemel ect start in League 1?

I think with New York committed to spending the full £1.8M salary cap that you could argue they should be starting in the Championship.

[EastLondonMike]

No way they are getting 5000 average. Toronto had the benefit of a recent history of people attending RL games in Canada, 2013 had 7000 fans attend a Canada V USA RL test. New York doesn't have that, or has had it previously.

I have a friend who is involved with the Brooklyn Kings, who i met with when in New York 5-6 weeks ago. These are guys who have been pushing the sport in NYC for a few years, with some capable people involved. It is a very big sell, getting people interested in a sport they have absolutely no knowledge of. You would have thought anyone interested in starting a pro team in a city like NYC would have made contact with the local RL community, no matter the size, to see what the appetite was like for a pro team in such a city. That hasn't happened.

They may have interested parties from airlines and hotels, but none of that matters without people walking through the turnstiles. I would love to see the reasoning behind the claim of being able to attract 5000 fans on average per season.

If they are prepared to spend full cap of 1.8m, i'd assume they are also prepared to spend the same or higher annually on promoting the team to the people o NYC and surrounding areas, because they will absolutely need to.

I may be completely wrong and judging this bid unfairly, but it seems to be right out of the RL handbook for expansion. All of which seems to be played out on a spreadsheet, rather than on the ground.

 

PS. I haven't actually listened to the show yet, so i may be back to edit the above later after taking a listen! 

[Lowdesert]

17 minutes ago, Michael Gledhill said:

I think with New York committed to spending the full £1.8M salary cap that you could argue they should be starting in the Championship.

I don’t think it does Mick.  By that rule, if they agree to that, plus marquee players and have stadia that fulfills the requirements they could go straight into SL.

Bug difference between people talking and real evidence - as we’re all aware of

 

[Michael Gledhill]

12 minutes ago, Lowdesert said:

I don’t think it does Mick.  By that rule, if they agree to that, plus marquee players and have stadia that fulfills the requirements they could go straight into SL.

Bug difference between people talking and real evidence - as we’re all aware of

 

Time will tell if the proof of £5,000,000 funding and the letters of intent from the Airline and Hotel hold up if New York are given the green light by the RFL. 

I appreciate that in order for this to get the green light, that they will have to start in league one and New York have no problems with that.   

[Michael Gledhill]

 

[cookey]

I would rather set a target of 5,000 and achieve 4,000,than set a target of 2,500 and achieve it.

The problem is people on here would say that achieving 'only' 4,000,when targeting 5,000 is a failure.Unfortunately thats the mentality of many people on here.

 

[Dave T]

12 minutes ago, cookey said:

I would rather set a target of 5,000 and achieve 4,000,than set a target of 2,500 and achieve it.

The problem is people on here would say that achieving 'only' 4,000,when targeting 5,000 is a failure.Unfortunately thats the mentality of many people on here.

 

I tend to agree with this. I think these things are impossible to judge based on normal RL or League 1 crowds, as Toronto has shown. These opportunities are just not normal, and difficult to compare to other scenarios.

I Understand some of the challenges around League1 as the starting point, but I think the Championship is too high to start. I have no issues with it taking at least a couple of years to get to SL. I think Toronto must have learnt an awful lot in their first couple of years. I don;t think it is unreasonable to expect investors to invest and show they can run a club before they get to SL.

[Damien]

17 minutes ago, cookey said:

I would rather set a target of 5,000 and achieve 4,000,than set a target of 2,500 and achieve it.

The problem is people on here would say that achieving 'only' 4,000,when targeting 5,000 is a failure.Unfortunately thats the mentality of many people on here.

 

Can you please tell the RFL that too!

[gingerjon]

21 minutes ago, cookey said:

I would rather set a target of 5,000 and achieve 4,000,than set a target of 2,500 and achieve it.

The problem is people on here would say that achieving 'only' 4,000,when targeting 5,000 is a failure.Unfortunately thats the mentality of many people on here.

 

They aren't targeting 5,000 crowds. They're budgeting for them. (According to the tweets).

[Toby Chopra]

52 minutes ago, EastLondonMike said:

No way they are getting 5000 average. Toronto had the benefit of a recent history of people attending RL games in Canada, 2013 had 7000 fans attend a Canada V USA RL test. New York doesn't have that, or has had it previously.

I have a friend who is involved with the Brooklyn Kings, who i met with when in New York 5-6 weeks ago. These are guys who have been pushing the sport in NYC for a few years, with some capable people involved. It is a very big sell, getting people interested in a sport they have absolutely no knowledge of. You would have thought anyone interested in starting a pro team in a city like NYC would have made contact with the local RL community, no matter the size, to see what the appetite was like for a pro team in such a city. That hasn't happened.

They may have interested parties from airlines and hotels, but none of that matters without people walking through the turnstiles. I would love to see the reasoning behind the claim of being able to attract 5000 fans on average per season.

If they are prepared to spend full cap of 1.8m, i'd assume they are also prepared to spend the same or higher annually on promoting the team to the people o NYC and surrounding areas, because they will absolutely need to.

I may be completely wrong and judging this bid unfairly, but it seems to be right out of the RL handbook for expansion. All of which seems to be played out on a spreadsheet, rather than on the ground.

 

PS. I haven't actually listened to the show yet, so i may be back to edit the above later after taking a listen! 

What you have to remember - and I appreciate this is difficult to swallow for a lot of us - is that in virgin territory like NY, what we're selling is 'Pro Rugby', not Rugby League. That's what Toronto do. Of course they don't deny its RL, and I'd argue RL is always going to be far more attractive than RU to North Americans (in fact everyone!) But the event package as a whole is just 'rugby' 

There is an audience for 'rugby' in NYC/NJ potentially - we actually piggy back off international RU for that. And as we'll be able to offer a higher standard of 'rugby' than MLR, then it *might* have a chance. 

[The Daddy]

11 minutes ago, gingerjon said:

They aren't targeting 5,000 crowds. They're budgeting for them. (According to the tweets).

It's good to see someone is paying attention 

[Toby Chopra]

1 hour ago, Michael Gledhill said:

I think with New York committed to spending the full £1.8M salary cap that you could argue they should be starting in the Championship.

I think so. Given the state that L1 is in now - it might not even be here in 2020 - we really are past the point of pandering to the purists who demand every team start at "the bottom".