If you won the Lottery and had a spare few million £s

[Lowdesert]

....would you help your Club or even be tempted to help one?

Ive often thought of this and mine would go straight down the route of development and engagement more with Schools, Colleges, Uni’s.  Some of this is already going on but not to the level i’d like and give funds for, say, the next 10 years.

Another option, for me, would be to improve the options and links between Colleges and Uni’s so kids/youth have access to all Courses not just lower level options with the local facility. I know of young men who’ve binned the game to choose a course that they cannot get locally.

Of course, you could chuck it straight at Latrell Mitchell or one of the Turbos.  

Tin hat time, but what about Marketing?  IMO this would be the last I would bother with but maybe it should be the first.  Brands can be very engaging. 

£5m would also be very nice in the hands of Cas and Wakey right now for grounds/stands plus your name would be up there for a long time, plus, you wouldn’t have to buy a beer at the local pubs again!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[The Future is League]

I would buy Oldham their own ground and build them a stand with everything in it like the clubs offices, and office space to rent and changing rooms, and bar with a stage in it to have shows and a bar-restaurant and a conference room and a child's nursery that could be used every working day and match days and a training ground with medical facilities and a gym. In other words a State of the Art stand and training ground. A facility that could be used 7 days a week.

[Pyjamarama]

The problem is that virtually every area of the game is crying out for more finance.
However, I would love to set up a property branch of the RFL whereby they start to invest & purchase pitches/clubhouses & so on throughout the country so that amateur clubs in non-traditional areas aren't having to rent RU/football grounds & have a more secure tenure, so that every penny generated by these clubs stays in the game.

[Copa]

I’d help my club by buying a fancier season ticket.

[The Hallucinating Goose]

I've thought about this before as well and I think I would do something for amateur teams developing outside the heartland. I think I would choose a number of teams and buy them each their own pitch/pitches and build them all a brand new clubhouse and a small stand. A permanent home and brand new facilities will certainly give a team a lot of presence in a community and I think modern facilities like that give the sport as a whole more credibility as well.

Plus I get to build a few small stadiums which is always fun! I remember playing a football management game on playstation when I was younger (I forget the name of it now) where there was a pretty in depth stadium building section and I spent more time doing the ground up than actually managing the team!

[Oliver Clothesoff]

Probably not. “A few million” no longer holds the value it once had, sports clubs are a great way to lose your fortune and Saints are doing a pretty good job on and off the field, so that is all good enough reasoning not to invest in the club. 

I’d be more likely, if I had ridiculous amounts of money and certainly not “a few million” to invest in the bottom end of the pyramid, in the form of the junior clubs and local schools in St Helens, as these places are where we get our Wellens’, Lomax’s, Thompson’s etc and without these clubs, we’d have no game. 

[Adelaide Tiger]

I would fund a development team that would operate under the International RL body.

The team would consist of staff with skills such as negotiation skills with national/Government bodies, coaching and referee development, marketing, promotion, attracting sponsors, creating video packages, social media skills etc.

This team, or members of the team, would visit second/third tier and fledgling nations to work with the national body to plan a sensible path forward and to be on call to offer assistance all year round.

I would also fund ex players that have a connection to that country to go with the development team to explain their connection, love and challenges they faced in playing the game.

[Gav Wilson]

1 hour ago, The Hallucinating Goose said:

...Plus I get to build a few small stadiums which is always fun! I remember playing a football management game on playstation when I was younger (I forget the name of it now) where there was a pretty in depth stadium building section and I spent more time doing the ground up than actually managing the team!

LMA Manager. Great game! 

[The Hallucinating Goose]

30 minutes ago, Gav Wilson said:

LMA Manager. Great game! 

Thank you! That's the one!!

[Lowdesert]

3 hours ago, Pyjamarama said:

The problem is that virtually every area of the game is crying out for more finance.
However, I would love to set up a property branch of the RFL whereby they start to invest & purchase pitches/clubhouses & so on throughout the country so that amateur clubs in non-traditional areas aren't having to rent RU/football grounds & have a more secure tenure, so that every penny generated by these clubs stays in the game.

Great idea mate.  But have the RFL got a good record in that department?

[jim_57]

A few spare Billion and I might go down the David Argyle route somewhere that interests me. A few million? Wouldn't go near any sports teams, well maybe a bit more merch and a membership.

[Wile E Cayote]

I love the idea of running a rugby league club, but I am not sure it would be worth the hassle. Imagine, working hard to build a club and then the RFL don't want you anymore and they kick you out like they did with Blackpool, Chorley and Nottingham. Plus, they don't look after clubs. So many have come, so many have gone in my lifetime in the pro ranks. How many clubs have been and gone in the time they have taken over the amateur game? They have ruined that. 

I think until they can sell what is essentially a great product, then the game will always struggle. So why take a risk of investing in a club?

But what do I know, I am just a Coyote? But the RFL reminds me of Acme, they have potentially great products, but they always let you down. That's why that stupid bird keeps getting away....

 

[Tre Cool]

It's the first thing I'd do.  I'd buy Keighley I reckon. Build a new stand.

[mrfranco]

I reckon I'd put money into the grass roots in Jamaica, help them really kick on with the great work already done there, certainly get them their own ground that could be the centre of things for the national team & local competitions.

Think I'd have to have Argyle-type spare cash before I'd think about a pro team on top of that though...

[FearNothing]

I would want to put some in a Trust for Cru, definitely, but with the ability to pull funding if the whole thing (i.e. the lower leagues died off due to SL not sharing) eventually died a death... even £50k a year would make a big difference down in L1.

[DavidM]

Do I have to buy a ticket first ?

[barnyia]

6 hours ago, The Future is League said:

I would buy Oldham their own ground and build them a stand with everything in it like the clubs offices, and office space to rent and changing rooms, and bar with a stage in it to have shows and a bar-restaurant and a conference room and a child's nursery that could be used every working day and match days and a training ground with medical facilities and a gym. In other words a State of the Art stand and training ground. A facility that could be used 7 days a week.

À New watersheddings, night club ? 

[barnyia]

I'd set up a club in montpellier with a catchy logo of a predator , announce signings from everywhere including a few Australians , set up a online club shop. Promise to go straight into elite 1 then super league, get interviews and a full page spread in rugby league world, find a great stadium for them to play in, then resign as president to become the coach then leave them when they're in place and sit back and basque in the glory! Oh wait somebody as already done/promised that but didn't actually win the lottery! 

[Lowdesert]

3 hours ago, Tre Cool said:

It's the first thing I'd do.  I'd buy Keighley I reckon. Build a new stand.

Certainly get good value there.

 

[Lowdesert]

2 hours ago, FearNothing said:

I would want to put some in a Trust for Cru, definitely, but with the ability to pull funding if the whole thing (i.e. the lower leagues died off due to SL not sharing) eventually died a death... even £50k a year would make a big difference down in L1.

And this is often missed.  A couple of dedicated people being paid the going rate can make a big difference.  

[The 4 of Us]

I’d fund the redundancy deals for a few RFL senior members. 

[Chris Taylor]

6 hours ago, Gav Wilson said:

LMA Manager. Great game! 

 Still is...... Never gets old.

[graveyard johnny]

if my numbers came out I would contact euro millions and tell them to make the cheque out to a MR S.B. Williams  and agent to see how long it took dollar bill to realise he cant quite settle at wolfpack and needs a new challenge in my over 30s tag tues nite tig n pass team, bet it wouldn't take long

[Mr Frisky]

9 hours ago, Lowdesert said:

....would you help your Club or even be tempted to help one?

Ive often thought of this and mine would go straight down the route of development and engagement more with Schools, Colleges, Uni’s.  Some of this is already going on but not to the level i’d like and give funds for, say, the next 10 years.

Another option, for me, would be to improve the options and links between Colleges and Uni’s so kids/youth have access to all Courses not just lower level options with the local facility. I know of young men who’ve binned the game to choose a course that they cannot get locally.

Of 

£5m would also be very nice in the hands of Cas and Wakey right now for grounds/stands plus your name would be up there for a long time, plus, you wouldn’t have to buy a beer at the local pubs again!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yep I would and I would happily sit in the Frisky stand!

[Futtocks]

If I won the lottery, a couple of million wouldn't really do much for a SL club, but you could make a massive improvement to a lower-league side, especially if you had specific conditions on where the money could be spent. The addition or upgrade to clubhouse, gym or spectating facilities would be a great lasting benefit.