Re: Summer Bash 2018 : Fri Dec 15, 2017 2:09 pm  

Notice that the Halifax game has probably moved as Well, fax saying most likely not being played in canada

Re: Summer Bash 2018 : Fri Dec 15, 2017 8:54 pm  

'tis my recollection that the biggest "dummy spit" was Sky moving a game day in France for Quins v Catalans.....meaning that about 30 or so fans were actually in the air heading back to London when the game was kicking off.......some bloke called fax in the gutter or some other like-name was invited to Parliament for his aggressive stance towards Murdoch and the RFL thinking that they own the game when in fact it is actually us fans that own and pay for the game.......I do often wonder what happened to that stalwart of reality?
Toronto bled cash last year and will do so this......if they don't go up then it'll soon become apparent that the "rich blokes" toy isn't worth the investment.....I've had reports from Toronto residents that what we perceive here isn't actually what's happening there......8k gates were nothing like 8k and their core support is in the 3 hundreds......with an awful lot of freebies and favours being dished out.......it's an expensive habit this RL thing....just ask Dave and North Americans (other than college students) like to sit in comfortable surrounds when watching sport......not wooden benches and drinking warm ale from plastic in a tent....

Re: Summer Bash 2018 : Sat Dec 16, 2017 2:12 pm  

Wonder how the marketing and selling the game is going down in Toronto at the moment?
I do remember someone on here having a bit of a dig at me when I suggested that the claimed 7k in a 9k capacity stadium looked strangely false when you saw the TV pictures, think it was suggested that I hadn't taken into account the folk in the beer tent.
So 13 home games planned, potential 7 not going to be at there home ground, as they say SELL IT SELL IT

Re: Summer Bash 2018 : Sat Dec 16, 2017 6:01 pm  

northernbloke wrote:

Wonder how the marketing and selling the game is going down in Toronto at the moment?
I do remember someone on here having a bit of a dig at me when I suggested that the claimed 7k in a 9k capacity stadium looked strangely false when you saw the TV pictures, think it was suggested that I hadn't taken into account the folk in the beer tent.
So 13 home games planned, potential 7 not going to be at there home ground, as they say SELL IT SELL IT

The "selling it" is less important this year as there is a massive reliance on getting to SL........I applaud Eric Perez and his passion, but there is a niggling feeling that I have that they really do believe that visits from Wigan and Leeds will draw crowds and as London well knows, sticking posts in the ground and announcing KO times isn't a viable marketing strategy......and we averaged 10k in our first season which was down to a great number of away fans being curious and ex-pat norvuners.
As for "crowd counting"......I will always take announced crowds at face value.......if they are fibbing then the reality is that they are only fibbing to themselves........and the reduction in their "home" games this year points to the sponsor tightening the belt due to lack of increased ticket sales to Toronto....are the wheels starting to come off?????

Re: Summer Bash 2018 : Sun Dec 17, 2017 9:29 am  

Not sure how "selling it" is less important this year! I would have thought building on last year would still need selling, or are you suggesting it's job done? By that logic we should still be drawing 10k crowds.
So year 2 and suggesting sponsors belt tightening, does not build confidence in the product on sale.
What actually worries me, magic weekend in Newcastle they play Toronto Toulouse game and say it's about drawing folk in, where from? Who are the extra fans that will turn up that will not go anyhow! Why are they not trying to look at proper expansion of the game closer to home, Newcastle thunder facilities are excellent yet they struggle, with poor gate numbers.

Re: Summer Bash 2018 : Sun Dec 17, 2017 8:32 pm  

northernbloke wrote:

Not sure how "selling it" is less important this year! I would have thought building on last year would still need selling, or are you suggesting it's job done? By that logic we should still be drawing 10k crowds.

Not at all.....the job of marketing is never "done", but I believe that dishing out free tickets week in week out, with very few people actually paying has probably made the owner realise that he's not going to get much return on his investment until they are hosting clubs like Wigan or Leeds.....clubs that they can leverage to market games. Perez will continue to do the rounds on local media and pepper the facebook page, I suspect that free tickets will continue to be distributed like confetti and the beer tents and hot dog guns will all be back for 2018......but I have no doubt that they are hemorrhaging cash at an alarming rate at present and are mistakenly of the belief that the SL cheque is a silver bullet!

northernbloke wrote:

So year 2 and suggesting sponsors belt tightening, does not build confidence in the product on sale.

AirTransat will have hoped to have filled planes on their route, with paying fans travelling to watch their team in a new city. £440 return from Manchester to Toronto flying out June 8th and back on the 11th...there are 346 seats on their planes, so forgetting first/business, they would expect to pocket £150,000 and change from the 2 flights......I've heard reports from "away" fans who traveled last year of planes flying less than half full.

Your Squad and support group will number probably 23, so that's £10k a visiting side in free seats...I reckon there were about 20 trips made by either the visitors or the wolfpack in 2017......so let's call it £200,000........so for AirTransat to break even, they would have needed 500 fans from Oxford, Hemel, Gloucester, York, Hunslet, coventry or Barrow (2), Doncaster, Newcastle or whitehaven.....and that's just to BREAK EVEN.

northernbloke wrote:

What actually worries me, magic weekend in Newcastle they play Toronto Toulouse game and say it's about drawing folk in, where from? Who are the extra fans that will turn up that will not go anyhow! Why are they not trying to look at proper expansion of the game closer to home, Newcastle thunder facilities are excellent yet they struggle, with poor gate numbers.

If it's on TV then it'll have a crowd that makes us v Catalans look busy. I don't see the logic in it myself......but logical thinking isn't associated with the RFL or the Wolfpack.....they claim an 8k average but wigan, with a 14k average managed to lose cash last year and those 14k were paying for tickets

Re: Summer Bash 2018 : Mon Dec 18, 2017 1:16 am  

You make it sound like air transit are reliant on Toronto Wolfpack for there revenue stream! Trust me they have been in the airline business long enough to happily survive without TW money. Air Transat didn't need any fans from any club to break even, they just needed there normal passenger flow. TW lodged £300k with the RFL last year for away team travel and accommodation costs, that was part of the deals entering the league

Re: Summer Bash 2018 : Mon Dec 18, 2017 1:45 am  

northernbloke wrote:

You make it sound like air transit are reliant on Toronto Wolfpack for there revenue stream! Trust me they have been in the airline business long enough to happily survive without TW money. Air Transat didn't need any fans from any club to break even, they just needed there normal passenger flow. TW lodged £300k with the RFL last year for away team travel and accommodation costs, that was part of the deals entering the league

Yip......and as a way to reduce other "outgoings" AitrTransat were on board as [TRUMP MODE]a massive sponsor...the biggest ever[TRUMP] in the history of the game.......yet suddenly, rather than play games at an alternate venue whilst lamport is being rejigged, they are essentially playing games in Blocks, which gives them a massive advantage...........they should be home and away like everyone else and if it's too cold, then they should find an indoor arena.......letting them start with a block of games in the UK, then finish by hosting teams fresh of the plane is just Biased.......sorry, but it is!

Re: Summer Bash 2018 : Mon Dec 18, 2017 1:48 am  

As for the route being half empty, then it's obviously a loss making route for them hence the ability to offer "free" or heavily discounted seats for travelling teams the only cost then is the extra fuel burn which using conservative figures is going to be about 500kg of fuel each way which in the grand scheme is nothing, trust me when they start filling that route they will start paying.
So actually we are agreed then dog, TW is a rich mans plaything who will be around as long as mr Perez puts his Money in

Re: Summer Bash 2018 : Mon Dec 18, 2017 2:01 am  

But they are a development team dog! Should they not be allowed to do that without anyone complaining? Or are you saying it gives them an unfair advantage? Am confused now, in another thread I do believe you said London Broncos should not be bound by the overseas player rule, would that not effectively give LB an advantage over teams they play that were bound by overseas player rule.
Actually in my opinion they should play home and away the same as everyone else, if it's not possible due to weather then it's a bit of an inconcieved plan, bit like having world ski champs in the alps in august. It will be interesting if/when they are inserted into SL if the other SL teams will be as willing to bend to there demands.