Birmingham Sports Quarter - Midlands Hurricanes

[The Daddy]

For those not aware Birmingham City FC have had investment put into the club by Wagner Group and Tom Brady former NFL player.

As part of the investment they are going to develop a sports quarter which includes a new 60,000 stadium for Birmingham City and there's also likely to be a 15-20,000 indoor arena. In addition to this the Wagner Group have also invested in other sports teams in the city. 

Could there be an opportunity for investment into the Hurricanes? If i was involved in the Hurricanes I would definitely be approaching Wagner Group to see if there's any opportunities to get involved in the RL. 

As a general note, how are things progressing with the Hurricanes and RL in Birmingham?

[Eddie]

Do you know what other teams they’ve invested in 

[Click]

34 minutes ago, Eddie said:

Do you know what other teams they’ve invested in 

I assume he is referring to this: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/articles/cj0936eg72qo

Don't think the deal has gone through as of yet though.

[The Daddy]

24 minutes ago, Eddie said:

Do you know what other teams they’ve invested in 

I was trying to find this information. I think one is the netball team and can't remember the other. It's in one or more of Wagner's interviews on the Birmingham FC YouTube channel 

[Futtocks]

53 minutes ago, The Daddy said:

Birmingham City FC have had investment put into the club by Wagner Group

Here's BCFC's new badge.

[The Daddy]

1 minute ago, Click said:

I assume he is referring to this: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/articles/cj0936eg72qo

Don't think the deal has gone through as of yet though.

Thanks for posting. I actually wasn't aware that they were purchasing the cricket franchise too so maybe there's more than 2 brummie clubs they will be investing in

[The Daddy]

6 minutes ago, Futtocks said:

Here's BCFC's new badge.

For clarification its American entrepreneur Tom Wagner that's the investor not a Ukrainian militia

[Click]

1 minute ago, The Daddy said:

For clarification its American entrepreneur Tom Wagner that's the investor not a Ukrainian militia

The Wagner group is very much a Russian group, not sure you could have got that anymore wrong. 

[The Daddy]

17 minutes ago, Click said:

The Wagner group is very much a Russian group, not sure you could have got that anymore wrong. 

Sorry not up to speed on my militia group general knowledge lately 

[Moominman]

2 hours ago, The Daddy said:

For those not aware Birmingham City FC have had investment put into the club by Wagner Group and Tom Brady 

As a general note, how are things progressing with the Hurricanes and RL in Birmingham?

My family live up the road in Walsall, but none of them have any knowledge of the Hurricanes; in spite of knowing I am a rugby league fan.

I was sat next to most of Hurricanes' fans at Whitehaven on Sunday. Most fans I spoke to had travelled from Yorkshire and were related to the players or coach. There were three guys on the Kells End with a Hurricanes flag, who I didn't get to speak to. No idea of their background.

I hope it works for Hurricanes, but it will need a lot of organic fan growth in the West Midlands, as in my opinion, running the club from Yorkshire is not a sustainable long-term strategy.

 

[Click]

15 minutes ago, Moominman said:

My family live up the road in Walsall, but none of them have any knowledge of the Hurricanes; in spite of knowing I am a rugby league fan.

I was sat next to most of Hurricanes' fans at Whitehaven on Sunday. Most fans I spoke to had travelled from Yorkshire and were related to the players or coach. There were three guys on the Kells End with a Hurricanes flag, who I didn't get to speak to. No idea of their background.

I hope it works for Hurricanes, but it will need a lot of organic fan growth in the West Midlands, as in my opinion, running the club from Yorkshire is not a sustainable long-term strategy.

 

"Running the club from West Yorkshire" is quite the claim to make just from speaking to players/coaches families.

And are you surprised that a team in L1 that is relatively new hasn't got much brand awareness yet? 

[Moominman]

4 minutes ago, Click said:

"Running the club from West Yorkshire" is quite the claim to make just from speaking to players/coaches families.

And are you surprised that a team in L1 that is relatively new hasn't got much brand awareness yet? 

Well do you know any differently?

All I can relate regarding their base is what I was told.

The major problem the club has in the West Midlands is that they are trying to gain a foothold for the game, in an area which is so heavily football dominated. Even the rugby union clubs in the area like Moseley and Coventry are a shadow of the strength they were in the 1970s and early 1980s.

[Click]

5 minutes ago, Moominman said:

Well do you know any differently?

All I can relate regarding their base is what I was told.

The major problem the club has in the West Midlands is that they are trying to gain a foothold for the game, in an area which is so heavily football dominated. Even the rugby union clubs in the area like Moseley and Coventry are a shadow of the strength they were in the 1970s and early 1980s.

Every area in this country is heavily football dominated.

It isn't a surprise that most of the players and coaches come from Yorkshire, were they supposed to get them from the Midlands already?

Edited August 17, 2025 by Click

[Yorks Tim]

31 minutes ago, Moominman said:

There were three guys on the Kells End with a Hurricanes flag, who I didn't get to speak to. No idea of their background.

 

There were 3 guys and 1 gal with the flag and we were stood with other family members to left and right. We pretty much ruled that end (having consolidated from being split at both ends in the first half). 3 of us are Yorkshire ex-pats and the other is a Salford fan; poor lad. We came from Coventrry Bears though more recently.

We do have more fans at home games and often take more to nearer away games. Getting enough people to commit to a bus though is proving difficult still. 

Getting a higher profile for the club / sport is extremely difficult in a city with no previous experience. The club is starting to work on links with local schools though and has been doing free tickets for first responders etc. There is no catchment area around the stadium though to speak of. 

Yes, the club is run from Yorkshire but the supporters club / volunteers are based locally.

 

 

[Yorks Tim]

43 minutes ago, Moominman said:

My family live up the road in Walsall, but none of them have any knowledge of the Hurricanes; in spite of knowing I am a rugby league fan.

(snip)

I hope it works for Hurricanes, but it will need a lot of organic fan growth in the West Midlands, as in my opinion, running the club from Yorkshire is not a sustainable long-term strategy.

 

You could do us a favour and tell them there is a semi-pro RL team right on their doorstep as TV / radio advertising is rather expensive! 

Building a team from players and coaches who can thrive at League 1 level is important for attracting new supporters. You don't want casual visitors turning up and being appalled by the poor quality of a local side built from local players. Developing a pathway for Midlands lads will follow. 

One thing that frustrates is that Northerners who know rugby league and live in the Midlands often are not aware of what is going on below Super League. Having Eorl Crabtree on board will hopefully correct that as far as Hurricanes are concerned. 

 

[Moominman]

3 minutes ago, Yorks Tim said:

You could do us a favour and tell them there is a semi-pro RL team right on their doorstep as TV / radio advertising is rather expensive! 

 

I have done now. Persuading them to take in a game might prove a bit more challenging, as several are AVFC season ticket holders.

I myself wish Hurricanes every success.

[Moominman]

5 minutes ago, Yorks Tim said:

Building a team from players and coaches who can thrive at League 1 level is important for attracting new supporters. You don't want casual visitors turning up and being appalled by the poor quality of a local side built from local players. Developing a pathway for Midlands lads will follow.

 

This is the challenge. Having a competitive team is important in the short-term to help put down roots, but eventually the club will need a core of local players. However, when to take that step is the challenge...

[Yorks Tim]

3 hours ago, The Daddy said:

For those not aware Birmingham City FC have had investment put into the club by Wagner Group and Tom Brady former NFL player.

As part of the investment they are going to develop a sports quarter which includes a new 60,000 stadium for Birmingham City and there's also likely to be a 15-20,000 indoor arena. In addition to this the Wagner Group have also invested in other sports teams in the city. 

Could there be an opportunity for investment into the Hurricanes? If i was involved in the Hurricanes I would definitely be approaching Wagner Group to see if there's any opportunities to get involved in the RL. 

As a general note, how are things progressing with the Hurricanes and RL in Birmingham?

I'm not sure what Mike Lomas's plans for investment and sharing his load are currently but I know he is working to expand the Hurricanes brand and he is of course committed to making the club successful. We do now have coaches and players that can compete at this level and aspire to better.

[Yorks Tim]

5 minutes ago, Moominman said:

I have done now. Persuading them to take in a game might prove a bit more challenging, as several are AVFC season ticket holders.

I myself wish Hurricanes every success.

Well I'm a Leeds United season ticket holder and they let me in  

[Moominman]

1 hour ago, Yorks Tim said:

Having Eorl Crabtree on board will hopefully correct that as far as Hurricanes are concerned. 

 

I would wholeheartedly agree.

I spoke to Eorl after the game, as he as sat directly behind me. Having never met him before, he was a real gentlemen. Wholesome in his praise for the Haven side that won, before outlining how he believes Hurricanes can develop.

Edited August 17, 2025 by Moominman

[Yorks Tim]

Going back to the point you were making about your family, @Moominman

I would assume that most Northern RL teams can rely on a hardcore of fans whose first love is their RL club. We don't really have that and I would also assume that the same is true for any new clubs. So we are always missing supporters who have gone to watch their other favourites. I often have that horrible decision to make with Leeds United games at either end of the season.

[welshmagpie]

@Yorks Tim can I ask how the reaction has been to the Alexandra? Excellent stadium but I always feared how the game would be received when viewed so far away from the pitch?

[slowdive]

I'm still not sure of the logic of moving from Cov but I suppose that's going over old ground.

[Yorks Tim]

4 hours ago, welshmagpie said:

@Yorks Tim can I ask how the reaction has been to the Alexandra? Excellent stadium but I always feared how the game would be received when viewed so far away from the pitch?

It's not ideal but you're high enough above pitch level to get a decent view of the game. It's not so much a topic of conversation at games as it is on here, to be fair. There are plenty of other things to moan about!  

[Yorks Tim]

2 hours ago, slowdive said:

I'm still not sure of the logic of moving from Cov but I suppose that's going over old ground.

Club development had stalled in terms of growing the fanbase in the city and competing at the right end of the League 1 table. Widening the catchment area was the spur to moving to Birmingham.