Funding at Feathsertone - self sustainable club punching above their weight

[The Future is League]

6 hours ago, Steven Grason said:

Many people wondering how Featherstone can attract and afford such talent this season. The club has grown year on year every year since Campbell took over. Here are some points to note:

 

The Wakefield grant has to be spent on facilities and local initiatives in the community and not on players. This was part of the contract. The club already have announced details of various plans to support and invest in local sports clubs etc (not just rugby) . Same money went to Cas and Wakefield too. 

- Martin vickers has raised an additional £250k in sponsorship revenues in the last year or so.

- We have sold a record 1500 adult season tickets this season

- We own our own ground and make a lot of money out of it throughout the year

- We have a healthy and ever growing Squad builder scheme which supporters contribute to on a monthly basis

- We have our own TV channel which many supporters across the country subscribe to each month

I could go on. As Brian McDermott said today in the press conference we are run like a professional outfit and he has no doubt we have a fully self sustainable business model and that we could stay in SL if we get promoted.

Perhaps we need Fev to replace them clubs who can't afford to travel to France twice this season

[Josef K]

5 hours ago, Robin Evans said:

A good many wakey fans turned up Sunday and enjoyed the day.... other than perhaps the result.

We'll be reight

That is great Robin hopefully the new camera setup is already working. 

[Jughead]

7 hours ago, Dallas Mead said:

I did.  #GrowTheGame

Of course you did. 

[JohnM]

All sounds good. Something other clubs could aspire to.

 

As a matter of interest, how much is the stadium complex and any associated land worth? Who owns it?

[Robin Evans]

8 minutes ago, JohnM said:

All sounds good. Something other clubs could aspire to.

 

As a matter of interest, how much is the stadium complex and any associated land worth? Who owns it?

Fev owns the stadium and land. A fair chunk of land. However, mostly green belt. I seem to recall a figure of £17m being touted about ten years ago. Don't hold me to that.... its a long while ago

[JohnM]

Is ownership safe? Not in the hands of one person, I trust.  

[TrueBull]

Completely Fulltime? Or a mix of f/t and p/t?

[Harry Stottle]

4 minutes ago, TrueBull said:

Completely Fulltime? Or a mix of f/t and p/t?

Who?

[The Blues Ox]

10 hours ago, gazza77 said:

If as alleged Fev are currently spending over £1m on player wages with only £180k central funding, spending to cap on SL funding shouldn't be an issue. The problems faced would be recruiting the necessary quality and expanding the backroom functions (physio, etc) to a higher level. 

It says a lot about the state of the game that a club like Fev, if all the above is true, has people scared about them going in to SL in favor of a number of clubs that would likely face a real battle to survive if their SL funding is pulled.

[Sir Kevin Sinfield]

10 hours ago, gazza77 said:

If as alleged Fev are currently spending over £1m on player wages with only £180k central funding, spending to cap on SL funding shouldn't be an issue. The problems faced would be recruiting the necessary quality and expanding the backroom functions (physio, etc) to a higher level. 

Despite it being repeated many times without any evidence that Fev are being sustainably run, I just can’t see how that is the case. £180k central funding and 1500 season tickets doesn’t fund the squad they have this year. 

[Wollo Wollo Wayoo]

7 hours ago, The Future is League said:

Perhaps we need Fev to replace them clubs who can't afford to travel to France twice this season

St Helens refusal to fly to France last year had nothing to do with cash.

[Sir Kevin Sinfield]

Toulouse have footed the travel bill for Featherstone to play them in France so far

[The Future is League]

12 minutes ago, Wollo Wollo Wayoo said:

St Helens refusal to fly to France last year had nothing to do with cash.

Where did is say it was?

I'm on about this coming season.

[The Future is League]

5 minutes ago, Sir Kevin Sinfield said:

Toulouse have footed the travel bill for Featherstone to play them in France so far

Again i say if Super League clubs can't afford to travel to France twice in a season they really shouldn't be in Super League.

[Sir Kevin Sinfield]

2 minutes ago, The Future is League said:

Again i say if Super League clubs can't afford to travel to France twice in a season they really shouldn't be in Super League.

Fully agree, all clubs should fund their own travel, the discrimination against expansion clubs must end.

[Wollo Wollo Wayoo]

2 minutes ago, The Future is League said:

Where did is say it was?

I'm on about this coming season.

Just highlighting previous form.  

[The storm]

14 hours ago, Dallas Mead said:

Good luck and all that, but I personally think the game doesn’t need 3 professional teams out of 12 in the top league in 2023 coming from the district of Wakefield.  Expand or die….

Sydney provide about half of the clubs in the NRL 

[Jack Russell]

19 minutes ago, The storm said:

Sydney provide about half of the clubs in the NRL 

District of Wakefield population 330,000.

Sydney population 5.4 million.

Hardly comparable.

[Damien]

44 minutes ago, Sir Kevin Sinfield said:

Despite it being repeated many times without any evidence that Fev are being sustainably run, I just can’t see how that is the case. £180k central funding and 1500 season tickets doesn’t fund the squad they have this year. 

But 1500 season tickets, and say as an example total crowds of 3000, in a ground you own and with all associated income streams could be worth more than double that in a stadium you don't own with no real extra income streams.

As an example looking at Fev there is a season car parking pass for £50 or £5 single. Then you get food and drink sales etc. Then you have conference hire:

https://www.featherstonerovers.co.uk/news/venue-hire-available-at-ld-nutrition-stadium-Wtr7e/

That is a lot of income some other clubs miss out on.

[JohnM]

Missing out on income? How about income minus costs? Isn't that a better measure? Ok if you use unpaid volunteer staff of course. Is that what all clubs could/should do?

[roversspud]

1 hour ago, Sir Kevin Sinfield said:

Despite it being repeated many times without any evidence that Fev are being sustainably run, I just can’t see how that is the case. £180k central funding and 1500 season tickets doesn’t fund the squad they have this year. 

Well it really doesn't matter one iota whether you can see how that is the case or not. You never, ever have anything positive to say about Rovers, so stick with your warped views and watch with incredulity as we continue to grow year on year.

[Tubby]

12 hours ago, Whippet13 said:

The title of this thread sums up the key problem Featherstone face, they really are punching above their weight with a 15k core population. The club is clearly brilliantly run but as those who went before them have demonstrated will need an exponential increase in player expenditure to survive in SL and I don't see how that potential exists.

I suspect Leigh will win the championship in any case.

When will people understand that the population of the nominal/titular town is not the population from which the crowd is drawn.  I'm from Pontefract, which has a rather higher population from Featherstone and I have friends who support them from many of the towns around the area.  This 15k bull***t is typical of RL people trying to put another club down.  It seems to be that people make their own club stronger by rubbishing the others, you know, like Craig from Leigh.

[Smudger06]

49 minutes ago, Jack Russell said:

District of Wakefield population 330,000.

Sydney population 5.4 million.

Hardly comparable.

Villarreal population 50,000. 

So room for 6 sporting Giants in Wakefield District if we want  expansion.

[Harry Stottle]

1 hour ago, The storm said:

Sydney provide about half of the clubs in the NRL 

But the area is vastly different traveling from one club to the next.

[Smudger06]

9 NRL Clubs in Sydney (Balmain & Wests merged at the nrl level) plus their well shafted equivalent of Featherstone Rovers; North Sydney Bears......Sydney  is basically a bit of a RL equivalent of West Yorkshire with its 11 Clubs.....