House is full at Members Equity for Force fans

[shasta]

I would have thought that it would have been prudent to initiate subsequent stages to extend capacity etc ages ago ........ there was plenty of evidence that the ground would be well patronised by Rugby and league as well as the Glory.

Of course you are right. Problem was/is that the WAFC has so much influence among WA politicians. The very fact that a revamped MES would be used by the sports you mentioned is what stopped any further work at MES. It would have worked against the Carpenter/WAFC/AFL plan to coerce them into tenancy at their "Multi Purpose" AFL stadium, their cash cow to the future, funded by WA taxpayers.

[Darren]

Heres the original

http://twf.com.au/showthread.php?t=20062

what that one fails to mention is that as it stands now, there are more season ticket holders (includes members, corporates, "freebies" for clubs, families, sponsors etc.) than there are physical seats

[jargan83]

The NRL has been wanted to play games in Perth for while and surely these games would have been negotiated well in advance, giving the MES owners a fair idea of their potential income.

In a somewhat bizarre twist the A League are going to play some games at Subi! What does it all mean!

The NRL "took a break" from Perth to see what the impact of the Western Force would be and obviously are dipping their toes into the water again.

The WARL buys the home games off which ever club, so the actual club has made their money, it's then up to the WARL to try and make some money off the fixture. The game in 2005 between the Cronulla Sharks and New Zealand Warriors was a Sharks "home game". I would imagine though that the NRL is still very interested in crowd figures, TV ratings etc, espeacially with a TV rights re-negotiation comming up in 2011 (i think)

I saw that in the fixture list for the Glory yesterday, one would assume that MES was previously booked on that date (only one fixture is being played at Subiaco) as I have no idea why else they would play at Subiaco

[shasta]

The NRL "took a break" from Perth to see what the impact of the Western Force would be and obviously are dipping their toes into the water again.

Off topic I know, but I'm finding it hard to see where the current goss about Cronulla re-locating to Adelaide is coming from. I mean how much more expensive is it to fly to/from Perth than Adelaide. The difference in ground attendances would easily make up any difference and most likely leave a tidy surplus by comparison.

[Rugby Chick]

Thanks guys I hoped this would be the case that loyalty will be rewarded.
Good to get it from those in the know

[fulvio sammut]

as it stands now, there are more "freebies" for clubs,

Freebies? Freebies? Where! Where!

[normie]

Freebies? Freebies? Where! Where!

the blue crew??!!?

[fulvio sammut]

My freebies have to be accompanied by canapes and champagne, Normie ...

[hertryk]

I would be another, if as a Gold Member from day one, we weren't rewarded for our loyalty...

[PerthGirl]

We'll be alright now that Len Buckeridge has offered to refurbish MES for cost price

[TrevorM]

House is full at Members Equity for Force fans

16th April 2009, 8:15 WST

Western Force matches at Members Equity Stadium next year are shaping to be members-only events.
Occasional spectators face exclusion from Super 14 matches because of the ground’s insufficient capacity which, even with the erection of temporary seating and corporate pavilions, will be restricted to about 20,000.

<snip>

DAVE HUGHES

"Any suggestion we would willingly move the team from Perth to Melbourne is ludicrous. However, we've got to get the Force back in the black as soon as possible. The ARU is not a lender of last resort."

Perhaps the most worrying recent comment is the one above from John O'Neill, and his use of the word willingly.

CEOs usually choose their words carefully, so is this a warning that WA Rugby had better get its house in order, and quickly?

It would be nice if Rugby WA started telling us apprehensive gold members what is going on with MES next year, what seating will be available, and who, if any, are going to miss out on acceptable seating there. It's hard to remain optimistic in this deafening silence.

[.X.]

Trevor - I do not speak for RugbyWA, But I can tell you this - there are staff who have been looking at this exact problem for the last 3+ months, and will continue to look at the problem until they believe that they have the best answer to this exact problem.

What has been stated previously is that loyalty will be respected.

[hertryk]

hell yeah! I'd rather go to one game at MES than all the games at subi.

Im going to have to find that waiting list...

Just received this today from Force membership...

Thank you for your enquiry regarding membership seating for Emirates Western Force members at Members Equity Stadium in 2010.
Whilst we do not at this time have a detailed seating configuration from Members Equity for the stadium as it will be in 2010, I can assure you that all existing members will be given priority over new members for the 2010 allocation (including over any persons who may be placed on a waiting list at some time prior to 2010 memberships becoming available). Consideration in this process will be given to both the ‘length’ and ‘category’ of membership.
This does not necessarily guarantee a ‘seat’ however, as a large portion of the current Members Equity capacity is in fact ‘standing Room’ and the final result will depend on just how many ‘seats’ are available for us to use. I would be confident, however, that long standing members with continuity will be offered seating – and that we will be endeavouring to not break-up existing family groupings.
Once we have finished reseating all members we will send out renewals the same as previous years. All members renew at the same time.
I hope this helps clarify the situation for you, and thank you again for your membership and support.

[Garfiep]

The seating plan at MES for the Crusaders game had 3907 ‘gold seats’ available – do we know how many members we have at what level?

[Burgs]

Not that I know of, but most of those will be used up on Corporate and Diamond overflow.
If you aren't Gold already I hope you have good knees.
18,000 seats huh, nice spin...