vidmar link said:
[quote author=abnc link=topic=184091.msg275659#msg275659 date=1279241959]
Come on all, we have to look at the bigger picture here. Melbourne is one of the most important links in the competition when it comes to revenue like NRL sponsors and tv rights. Without a Melbourne team we will never compete with AFL in regards to TV rights and sponsors and the game we love will be worse for it. Less dollars means less money for juniors and all clubs. Not a good situation at all.
Why do you think they throw big money at Melbourne every year to cover the losses? Because they know how important they are to the overall scheme of things. We need to pull our heads in and stop this over-the-top Melbourne bashing because it is better to have a Melbourne team in the comp then not.
Yes they deserve the punishment and everything else, but at the end of the day we still need them, especially with the TV rights negotiation coming up soon.
All well and good in in the grand scheme of things you'd be right in the point that the NRL need a strong presence in Victoria.
That said, their average home gate is around 16/17k which is not bad (6th rated as per last weekend for the NRL) but compared to the lowest AFL Melbourne based teams average gate so far in 2010 after 15 rounds (Kangaroos with around 26,700) or amazingly the highest AFL average gate in Melbourne (Magpies with around 54,600 people) they are plainly well behind.
In addition the distinct lack of free to air coverage and negligable exposure in the local press is doing nothing to promote the code or the team.
A wander around the streets of Melboure will let you find all manner of sports stores or supporter shops awash with every type of merchandise that you could stick an AFL club logo on but little or in some cases none for the Storm.
It's well documented they are losing around $6mill a season (plus the latest episode will have a massive impact on that with the loss of ME Bank and Host Plus) and you would have to wonder how long any team/business can afford to carry that loss with little in way of momentum building or support from TV/media?
(an interesting article here re TV ratings and viewer numbers)
http://www.theroar.com.au/2010/06/21/2010-tv-ratings-and-the-magic-billion/
[/quote]
Well, i think that article says it all. If the networks actually did their job in Melbourne the next TV deal for NRL would be astronomical. Considering the worth of ads in NSW/QLD are more than VIC, i would suggest are price should be significantly higher then AFL. We only seem to struggle with the crowds. But i know the reason for this.
A lot of my friends that support AFL tell me that they would rather watch an NRL game on TV then an AFL game. NRL is made for watching on TV, AFL is made for watching live. The networks and Foxtel aren't stupid, they already know this. And the average ratings prove it.
My point simply is that no matter how much it costs the NRL to keep the Storm, the benefits far far outweigh the cost. The storm will never ever be able to compete with the AFL teams for the gate takings, but if the next tv deal is done in the right way, we will be in a strong position tv wise.
They are here to stay..