Rumour Mill

[FileyBulldog]

39 minutes ago, RogerT said:

You are right, Kirklees are pulling out of the John Smiths Stadium and selling there percentage of ownership.

Which appears to be something that will help Huddersfield Town under their new ownership, not sure what the future of the Giants playing there will be. Certainly don't see much space for a new stadium build anywhere near the town centre.

[FileyBulldog]

20 minutes ago, nineoil said:

Do not rely on Kirklees Council for anything . The current Regime have been wasting money left right and centre and are now crying the poor tale.

We will have to stand on our own two feet , as usual .

 

As a former Kirklees resident and Kirklees Council tenant I know full well to not rely on that shower for anything.

[nineoil]

2 hours ago, Kevin Nicholas said:

We get to know our Rfl distribution amount tomorrow so then we know a bit more about the financial challenge ahead. It will be reasonable news if we are £35,000 down on previous season but anything more will not be. So make no mistake we are in difficult times which we are working through.

We got a team which took us to a Grand Final and we reduced our Admission to £10 and our average gates went up about 250 which doesn’t fill anyone with confidence going forward so we have to take that into account.

So we have to think things through very carefully to get to where we need to be. No we will not spend big money we can’t afford on so called “ big named players” who in reality are coming to the back end of their careers and may not be ready to put hard yards in for Batley when going gets tough. So good luck to other Clubs in that respect.

We have re signed our own players who we know can perform and will try their very best so that’s a big start. We have added some young players to try a rebuilding process. We may run with a slightly smaller squad in hope DR works and we will look for players that could better our squad at the cost we can afford. Off the field we also need to try to progress.

So some may be apprehensive or even disappointed about some things because that’s understandable but it is what it is and we will try our very best to put a competitive team out that we can be proud of but we wish to remain stable and we have a lot to sort this year.

Ending on a positive note we have had some good meetings this week which give us some financial comfort going forward so we are progressing in the right direction at the moment.

This is good information from Kevin !

Everybody should do a reality check because  the bottom line is we can only spend what we have . Our small crowds are the root cause of our financial limitations , period !

The current demographic of Batley's population is not exactly steeped in Rugby League culture and this really makes it almost impossible to significantly increase the gates  . You only have to look at our success on the field in recent years to realise that the local population have not been flocking to The Mount in droves !!!  Consequently , this makes it essential that the Club has to cut it's cloth accordingly unless of course somebody has a spare £100k to give for the recruitment of "better" players !!

In the absence of anyone coming forward with lots of money maybe we should back the current restraint being shown by the club . 

 

[RogerT]

2 hours ago, FileyBulldog said:

As a former Kirklees resident and Kirklees Council tenant I know full well to not rely on that shower for anything.

This crew at Kirklees are also putting a massive stumbling block in front of the Wheelchair teams development as they are shutting all the sports halls down, if and when they are up and running the only places I can see to practice is high schools gyms. 

[FileyBulldog]

28 minutes ago, RogerT said:

This crew at Kirklees are also putting a massive stumbling block in front of the Wheelchair teams development as they are shutting all the sports halls down, if and when they are up and running the only places I can see to practice is high schools gyms. 

It seems pretty clear that Kirklees Council are simply cashing in on their owned properties by selling off houses and sports centres then simply sit back and count all the council tax that they will be getting. It really is one of the worst councils I have ever known. I am not sorry if there is anybody on here that works for them, they are awful.

[fredm]

What was the average attendance prior to last season? I would imagine it was about 1000 or maybe just above that. If there was an increase last season of an extra 250 persons then I would think this is a successful start and would suggest that the deal should be considered to be held again next year. A business would not expect to double things in one instance but would work on the idea and keep promoting it to build it up over a period of time.

[Batley Bob]

38 minutes ago, fredm said:

What was the average attendance prior to last season? I would imagine it was about 1000 or maybe just above that. If there was an increase last season of an extra 250 persons then I would think this is a successful start and would suggest that the deal should be considered to be held again next year. A business would not expect to double things in one instance but would work on the idea and keep promoting it to build it up over a period of time.

I think it was 1,250 for league games 

Edited November 12, 2023 by Batley Bob

[RogerT]

It was 1201 including the Summer Bash the figures are on Rugby League attendances.

[fredm]

So that is an increase of about 20% in attendance. I would think that this would put us at the top of the Division or almost there in increase over the season?

[nineoil]

1 hour ago, fredm said:

So that is an increase of about 20% in attendance. I would think that this would put us at the top of the Division or almost there in increase over the season?

Am I missing something here ! Surely the point is that despite increasing the average gate Batley LOST money on the deal . Bottom line is that they cannot afford to carry on charging a Tenner !!

A very rough calculation demonstrates why Batley cannot afford this policy :-

1. If the new average crowd for last season was , say, 1250 then charging £10 entrance would have yielded £12,500 per game.

2. If the old average crowd was , say , 1000 then charging £18 would have yielded around £18,000 per game.

3. This suggests a shortfall of £5,5000 per game .

4. Over a season of 13 home games the reduction in gate income would amount to £71,500 (£5500 x 13 ) reduced to £41,500 by  the £30,000 sponsorship of the £10 policy on this occasion ! The additional 250 bodies would have spent cash at the refreshment outlets on the ground which is why the overall loss would be reduced further but still levelling out at £30,000.

It's OK taking some pride in the fact that we increased our Gates by around 20%  but at the same time we slashed our income by operating the £10 policy . Repeating the £10 policy for a second season would amount to financial suicide !

Increasing the crowd means nothing  if  income is reduced which in turn means there is less to invest in the Team .

 

 

[Dog forever]

19 minutes ago, nineoil said:

Am I missing something here ! Surely the point is that despite increasing the average gate Batley LOST money on the deal . Bottom line is that they cannot afford to carry on charging a Tenner !!

A very rough calculation demonstrates why Batley cannot afford this policy :-

1. If the new average crowd for last season was , say, 1250 then charging £10 entrance would have yielded £12,500 per game.

2. If the old average crowd was , say , 1000 then charging £18 would have yielded around £18,000 per game.

3. This suggests a shortfall of £5,5000 per game .

4. Over a season of 13 home games the reduction in gate income would amount to £71,500 (£5500 x 13 ) reduced to £41,500 by  the £30,000 sponsorship of the £10 policy on this occasion ! The additional 250 bodies would have spent cash at the refreshment outlets on the ground which is why the overall loss would be reduced further but still levelling out at £30,000.

It's OK taking some pride in the fact that we increased our Gates by around 20%  but at the same time we slashed our income by operating the £10 policy . Repeating the £10 policy for a second season would amount to financial suicide !

Increasing the crowd means nothing  if  income is reduced which in turn means there is less to invest in the Team .

 

 

Well put nineoil.  I'm quite happy to go back to 18 or even 20 pounds admission  if that means helping the club financially 

[RogerT]

I'm tipping it to be £20 full and £15 for concessions.

[toffeedog]

Let's hope for more signings well hope being the appropriate word .we are 43 days away from our first game and we have  only announced 16 players as yet but lost 3 of our younger strike players 

[Fevrover]

2 hours ago, RogerT said:

I'm tipping it to be £20 full and £15 for concessions.

About right that ,£25 full and £20 for concessions  at Fev, imho i think it will put a good few off going and will choose their games. We're only going to Batley, Dewsbury and York this season. 

[RogerT]

On 09/11/2023 at 16:21, phildog said:

Not announced Roger. Someone alleged to the club awaiting a DR arrangement with Cas, not favoured here, seaso long loans maybe, but Kev has also suggested there are still new signings to be announced. With the 3 new guys and should all non-retired/ moved on players re-sign then as I have previously mentioned that would give us a squad of 20. We couldn't manage a season last season with a starting out squad of what we had (29ish?), often down to the 17 fittest. We don't want to be in a situation where some players mightn't really fancy it but think they owe if we were then to end up again down to unfit men. So, that leaves 2 options; to get upto a proper running squad we have to sign 8 players, which was a figure well bandied about on the terraces at the end of last season with guesses as to possible leavers, or we have already signed but not announced 2 or 3 more and are relying on loans from other clubs to top up. It must nearly be time for a 'return to work' for the players and it can't be a comfortable place for Mokko to be at, not knowing who he's going to be coaching, who he's going to be coaching with seeing as he's 2 staff down and he has a game to be ready for in 47 days. It might not be the Cup Final but anybody underprepared playing in that game could quickly find themselves on the sick.

I see Mokko now as is 2 and 3.

[phildog]

Leaving Sparky as new Fitness and conditioner?

[RogerT]

That was suggested a short while ago.

[coolie]

On 13/11/2023 at 18:10, Fevrover said:

About right that ,£25 full and £20 for concessions  at Fev, imho i think it will put a good few off going and will choose their games. We're only going to Batley, Dewsbury and York this season. 

£25 in the current financial crisis is far too much, how are fans ment to afford such high admission prices, I personally wouldn't pay £25 to go to any rugby match, everybody as a price they won't go beyond. 

2 adults £50

Rather put it in the petrol tank and go off on all day adventure

Not that I'm a tight Yorkshire man

Or don't love the game

I just refuse to be held ransom for something I've watched all my life. 

Dewsbury has always been one of the cheaper admission prices. 

We're trying to attract new fans, families to the game. 

Batley tenner in was a bit of a disaster £30,000 shortfall, fair play to Kevin for attempting to drag in new fans. 

No rugby league fan should pay in more than £20...that is the maximum ceiling as far as I'm concerned 

Keep it real

Edited November 14, 2023 by coolie

[Fevrover]

1 hour ago, coolie said:

£25 in the current financial crisis is far too much, how are fans ment to afford such high admission prices, I personally wouldn't pay £25 to go to any rugby match, everybody as a price they won't go beyond. 

2 adults £50

Rather put it in the petrol tank and go off on all day adventure

Not that I'm a tight Yorkshire man

Or don't love the game

I just refuse to be held ransom for something I've watched all my life. 

Dewsbury has always been one of the cheaper admission prices. 

We're trying to attract new fans, families to the game. 

Batley tenner in was a bit of a disaster £30,000 shortfall, fair play to Kevin for attempting to drag in new fans. 

No rugby league fan should pay in more than £20...that is the maximum ceiling as far as I'm concerned 

Keep it real

That's all well and good and iam not saying you are wrong because times are hard ,but players don't play for  nowt  and the club have kept prices down for quite a while. When you look at the prices at some football matches its unreal. £51 to go to Hillsborough as an example.

[FileyBulldog]

2 hours ago, coolie said:

£25 in the current financial crisis is far too much, how are fans ment to afford such high admission prices, I personally wouldn't pay £25 to go to any rugby match, everybody as a price they won't go beyond. 

2 adults £50

Rather put it in the petrol tank and go off on all day adventure

Not that I'm a tight Yorkshire man

Or don't love the game

I just refuse to be held ransom for something I've watched all my life. 

Dewsbury has always been one of the cheaper admission prices. 

We're trying to attract new fans, families to the game. 

Batley tenner in was a bit of a disaster £30,000 shortfall, fair play to Kevin for attempting to drag in new fans. 

No rugby league fan should pay in more than £20...that is the maximum ceiling as far as I'm concerned 

Keep it real

I agree and £25 isn't going to attract new fans. No sport means everything to me (I see so many football fans who put following their teams before everything, which is fine as a young free person but when you have partners and children that don't attend with you, come on grow up), spending time with my family comes before anything and like you say £25 could go towards an outing somewhere.

[Keep The Faith]

19 hours ago, phildog said:

Leaving Sparky as new Fitness and conditioner?

Finally you get something into the stubborn man… 

 

[phildog]

Eh?

[bromleybulldog]

On 12/11/2023 at 11:04, Kevin Nicholas said:

We get to know our Rfl distribution amount tomorrow so then we know a bit more about the financial challenge ahead. It will be reasonable news if we are £35,000 down on previous season but anything more will not be. So make no mistake we are in difficult times which we are working through.

 

A little bit worrying that there has been no update on this. Bad news?

[georgeb1]

On 13/11/2023 at 18:10, Fevrover said:

About right that ,£25 full and £20 for concessions  at Fev, imho i think it will put a good few off going and will choose their games. We're only going to Batley, Dewsbury and York this season. 

Fev expecting attendances to drop after the disappointment of the last 2 seasons , so the £25 the hardcore pay will make up the shortfall 

[Fevrover]

50 minutes ago, georgeb1 said:

Fev expecting attendances to drop after the disappointment of the last 2 seasons , so the £25 the hardcore pay will make up the shortfall 

We've got season tickets and most of our hardcore buy them. I think the games walk ups will probably pick are Wakefield, Halifax and Bradford, probably Doncaster seeing as they've got quite a few ex Rovers players.