Extinction? The West at its best...

[normie]

Force facing extinction: report
April 24, 2009 - 12:03PM

Australia's newest Super 14 franchise, the Western Force, is at risk of folding according to a report in today's West Australian.

The newspaper says that an independent report compiled by LEK Consulting shows the Force are on track to lose $2.8 million dollars this year. The loss is on the back of the failed sponsorship from to the Firepower scandal and crowds staying away from Subiaco Oval as it is unsuitable for watching rugby. Membership with the Force has nearly halved since 2006 while the average home crowd attendance over the same period of time has plummeted by nearly 10,000.

The Force will play at Members Equity Stadium next year and the report obtained by the West Australian says that the move will help ease the final hemorrhaging. However, the problem will not be fixed with franchise's bottom line unless the West Australian government spends $73 million it promised in 2004 to upgrade the facility and increase the capacity from 18,000 to 25,000.

ARU chief John O'Neill has urged the WA Government to honour the deal.

"If you look around Australia, the successful franchises in rugby union, rugby league and soccer have dedicated, purpose-built stadiums," he told the West Australian.

"I'd be greatly comforted if the WA Government would deliver that outcome for the Force. The ARU's commitment to Perth is unambiguous. It was the correct decision to give Perth a team, and they have shown the potential of rugby in WA. 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."

smh.com.au

[The InnFORCEr]

Hey John, want to get us in the black? How about a hand out the size of NSW & Qld's!
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[Darren]

Hang on - this report by LEK consulting wouldn't happen to be the same report that L.E.K. Consulting produced which was actually commissioned by RugbyWA, WARL, Glory to help their work to get govt funding for the MES upgrade? I think there is probably a bit more to it than this article suggests ...

[Blackswan]

Correct on both counts Coach. Nicely timed with state budget due in May (??)

[Burgs]

First time SMH quotes the West in history is to report a problem, how surprising...

[tic]

Hey John, want to get us in the black? How about a hand out the size of NSW & Qld's!
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What handouts have the Reds ever got? To the contrary, the ARU has been blindingly indifferent to Qld's plight - as is evidenced by Qld's ladder position in the last 6 years.

[shasta]

First time SMH quotes the West in history is to report a problem, how surprising...

As is all too common the headline is out of context to the thrust of the article. The report concludes that the Force won't be viable if the move to MES does not go ahead. No surprises there.

[Swee_82]

As is all too common the headline is out of context to the thrust of the article. The report concludes that the Force won't be viable if the move to MES does not go ahead. No surprises there.

Reading the article, I get the impression moving will stop things getting worse, but the upgrade is needed to get the finances back in a strong position.

The headline is quite sensationalist, but by the same token, I wouldn't be surprised if RWA are running that line to try and jolt the government into action.

[Sheikh]

Reading the article, I get the impression moving will stop things getting worse, but the upgrade is needed to get the finances back in a strong position.

Is the rent for MES is as high as for Subi? If not, then for a similar attendance (18,000) and similar ticket prices (ie, similar income) the finances would improve next year.

Of course, loss of corporate boxes may make a dent, so we should just drink more at the ground - MES serves decent beer, right?

[Swee_82]

Is the rent for MES is as high as for Subi? If not, then for a similar attendance (18,000) and similar ticket prices (ie, similar income) the finances would improve next year.

Fair bit cheaper as far as i know..

[benny]

I like it... 1stly the government must have some excess dollars after knocking back the approval for skub-iaco oval go ahead.

Maybe the WA government has woken up and thought GAYFL is only played in one country. Rugby, Rugby League, and soccer is played in most of the world / all of the world.

2ndly. If and I know it will never happen if we move from Perth, where are we going ??

3rdly. why the F*** can't john o'neil step in we have the biggest crowds and largest membership base in all of Australian Rugby if not more than any S14 team / franchise.

4thly, when we move to MES, wouldn't it be nice to have a FULL HOUSE sign up each and every week, no matter who we play, whether it be Tahs or Cheetahs. After the 1st year the government will notice we are on the map and every home game brings in revenue to the state.

What does GAYFL bring to the state 40,000 fans in a morge, sitting there (cant scream, cant yell, cant tease the umpires or players without getting kicked out) watching aerial ping-pong and giving a player 1 point for trying to kick a goal.

[travelling_gerry]

1 point for MISSING you mean?

[shasta]

3rdly. why the F*** can't john o'neil step in we have the biggest crowds and largest membership base in all of Australian Rugby if not more than any S14 team / franchise.

Step in and do what?

[BDAVEY]

The only thing that keeps me from depression is the enjoyment that i get from watching the force in full stride.......... as soon as i read the WEST I go back into depression again. F..K u Barnett get some balls build something that u can say we (Liberals) did that as u will only have 4 years to get something concrete standing.

[welshrugbyfan]

I'm going to drink extra beer next year at MES to do my little bit extra to help.