Mate, after your reply, I feel like our only option now is to relocate the mighty bulldogs to another market, your comments are certainly the best advertisement for this.
Oh the barriers of entry now are so constricted in the Sydney market, be it for sponsorship,or merchandising or increasing members, what about the bulldogs brand awareness.( the media take good care of this for us)
You are forgetting one thing.
We are the mighty bulldogs, our supporter base is second to none, we are passionate, a little crazy ( suffer from a bit of madness as deano puts it) and certainly possess a " siege mentality".
No other supporter, supports like we do, celebrate and party like we do, in fact there is no other fan in the Sydney that will spend as much money on merchandising like we do.
The existing client base is there already,you need to get them engaged again, to go to the games, to buy memberships, the merchandising and get them back to the league's club.
What is missing Is a winning footy team, and a winning culture.
So spend the frickin money on latrell, spend the frickin money on fafita and JWz , thompson radradra, milford whomever get some of these marquees here as soon as we can with our " dud" chest ( war chest)
It will create excitement, anticipation, the dogs are back and you will wake the long suffering sleeping giant ....the dogs supporter!!!
The money you spend on these guys the marqees is a pittance compared to the millions the club will make from them.
I can promise you the rest will take care of itself.
You will get your bums on seats, increase members to 30k at least , you will get sponsors, and certainly the merchandising will go through the roof
The league's club will start thriving again like the good old days..
What have we got to lose?
As the old saying goes you got to spend money to make money..
Fairdinkum the current board are looking at our dud chest like it's a super fund, using the minimal risk option....someone wake them up
Spend the farkin money !!
In respect to some movers and shakers, on the board, john ribot, David Smith , Gerry Harvey , Phil gould
Not forgetting mate - well aware.
I just don’t think it’s as simple as you say it is.
I’ve followed this great club for 40+ years.
I attend most home games and watch every game I can’t attend. I want the success, but I also put my money where my mouth is. Unfortunately that’s not the case enough. My point about the cricket proves that. After the Ashes that Steve Smith just had, shouldn’t people be lining up to watch him play? Yet this week I’ve seen two almost empty stadiums...
People are more fickle consumers today.
Choice, cost of living and time poorer challenges as well as many conveniences means that too many will watch a game on Fox/Kayo rather than go to it.
If we had Mitchell or other ‘superstars’ - you’re suggesting that means instantly full stadiums, huge membership drives, merch sales and that fixes the entire problem.
I think it runs a lot deeper than that and we’ve spent the same/similar money on Foran as some are saying we should spend on Mitchell. Where’s the ROI? It’s two-fifths of bugger all. It’s a band-aid at best.
What we need in my view is exactly what this board appears to be doing - build the culture, the love for the brand and environment and the reason why kids want to play for the Dogs. That was abandoned during the last regime - and it takes time to rebuild - The Storm are a good example of this - not a flash in the pan but sustained success. Why? Because they were established off our model when Bullfrog and Opes went there in the late 90’s. Yes, a one team town helps, but they have a massive competitive problem with AFL and have managed to build a quality product.
Guys like Mitchell or when some on here were gunning for the Turbos etc will never be Bulldogs at heart. How we regain and maintain that is exactly what will bring the crowds, members and merch buyers back and will negate the need to have to relocate. It’s how we’ll beat clubs with similar problems like the Tigers, who in my view are in even worse shape than us.
This is why I say this board needs two terms - let them do their work. If by mid 2021 we have not seen significant steps forward, then we can demand change. I don’t think they’ve had enough time to turn the ship away from the iceberg.
And again, I run a business - I’m well aware of the need to spend money to make money.
I’m not against opening the purse, in fact I encourage it, but those decisions need to be shrewd - dropping massive coin on short term solutions often fails in my experience.
As for your suggested board members - they have all been successful in their own right, obviously, however none of them jump out at me for various reasons. I could go on, but have to go and get my RSI treated for typing so bloody much!
Good debate mate - not saying who’s right or wrong - just a difference of opinion. I still believe we’re on a good track and will rise again.
Cheers.