Home Ground situation needs to change

[Cultured_Bogan]

It's an interesting idea and I remember the talk of Balmain moving there in the mid 90's but I think it fails in just being too far from our ownership base to provide any benefit to Wests Ashfield!

Ashfield are going to want us close to the league's club. So it's BankWest or ANZ I reckon. I think Ashfield have abandoned the Macarthur.

 

[Geo]

No..I new shinny one is already built and we would have it to ourselves..

 

[BZN]

Thanks @cochise ; you're a gentleman and I appreciate that :relaxed:

 

[cochise]

Ashfield are going to want us close to the league’s club. So it’s BankWest or ANZ I reckon. I think Ashfield have abandoned the Macarthur.

I think you may be right to a certain extent The Wests Tigers have increased their involvement in the Macarthur junior league!

 

[BZN]

Ok @Geo: you've got me, but where is it? Perth or Adelaide? :relaxed:

 

[Geo]

NSW demolished QLD there..

 

[BZN]

I've got a feeling you are spot on @cochise. I guess there wouldn't be much difference between Ashfield to Campbelltown as compared to Ashfield to Gosford. Cheers mate :relaxed:

 

[BZN]

Perth is a bloody long way to walk @Geo :relaxed: Although the fact I drove buses for State Transit in Sydney for so many years, I would be entitled to a discount fare on the Indian Pacific 1st class :v: :relaxed: .

 

[Tim Sheens]

Love the idea of Bankwest but i think id love Gosford even more

Have only been there once and only for my young bloke to play, but it had a really warm atmosphere, even though it was a chooks v cows match. It really pains me to to see the chooks sticking their beeks in all over the central coast, particularly as it has a great demographic for the code.

 

[watersider]

@Harvey And you know why ! because the realisation has hit home that there is a state of the art facility that threatens what for so long has been the norm . There has been absolutely no valid argument why the club should not think seriously about WSS.
I do not love the ground in any way , having been there three times only fools think that this arena has not got something to offer covering all aspects for all stake holders .
Believe me ANZ is my preference for travelling but I hate the place because of the non existent atmosphere with club games .. WSS stadium is here and many do not like the reality of it !


Does “state of the art” equate to the last stadium built?

I have only been to one game there, and avoided the leagues club, parking or anything else that put my cash into eels hands.

Can you spell out in simple terms what is so great about the stadium? The angle of the grandstand is brilliant in terms of being close to the action and having a view, but having one side of the field off limits to fans is poor architecture.

Rather than state of the art, my view is that the stadium appears to be slapped together in the shortest timeframe available, based on besa blocks and pre fab concrete, by the same building firms that are responsible for cheap and nasty apartment blocks that currently require millions of dollars worth of remedial work.

I agree with this sentiment. I really like Bankwest stadium, but it's just a stadium, nothing special. I also hate the exclusive cut off corporate area (which is always empty at our matches) and I don't like that the players tunnel is on that side. Leichhardt over that any day without a second thought. I'm surprised so many of us don't mind the idea of playing away from our home grounds.

Do you all prefer the game days at Bankwest and ANZ? If not, why are we settling for it as an option when other clubs haven't? Manly and Cronulla have won premierships in the last 8 years playing at small local stadiums, it doesn't prevent clubs being successful (I would argue it has a positive impact).

I also don't agree that playing at the small grounds makes us more likely to be moved to Perth. If anything, playing at generic grounds and losing our connection to our local communities is going to make a move away even easier.

People say that revenue is higher because corporate boxes are more appealing due to more big events, but we would only be getting a tiny share of that revenue and I think whatever we earn from our corporate boxes at leichhardt and Campbelltown would at least go some way to creating income for the club. This would be especially true if we bothered to play at these venues more. It becomes even more likely if we have success on the field and are able to charge more because of the appeal of our team. And I think we become more successful by playing more at these grounds.

I support the Tigers because of my memories of the club, memories of leichhardt, connection between the old and the new. I don't like new jerseys every year, silly American logos and big generic stadiums. If the traditional grounds are rough around the edges that only adds to the uniqueness of the places. And people love going to those grounds, so I don't agree that we need to move from these grounds. I think providing a unique game day experience actually makes people more likely to go to games not less, Bankwest has steep seating but no distinct character or anything particularly appealing about it. If we were averaging 20 000 a match, I'd have a totally different perspective, but we don't and it's not likely to happen soon.

Anyway, that's just my opinion. I'm just surprised more people don't agree.

 

[Russell]

@Harvey And you know why ! because the realisation has hit home that there is a state of the art facility that threatens what for so long has been the norm . There has been absolutely no valid argument why the club should not think seriously about WSS.
I do not love the ground in any way , having been there three times only fools think that this arena has not got something to offer covering all aspects for all stake holders .
Believe me ANZ is my preference for travelling but I hate the place because of the non existent atmosphere with club games .. WSS stadium is here and many do not like the reality of it !


Does “state of the art” equate to the last stadium built?

I have only been to one game there, and avoided the leagues club, parking or anything else that put my cash into eels hands.

Can you spell out in simple terms what is so great about the stadium? The angle of the grandstand is brilliant in terms of being close to the action and having a view, but having one side of the field off limits to fans is poor architecture.

Rather than state of the art, my view is that the stadium appears to be slapped together in the shortest timeframe available, based on besa blocks and pre fab concrete, by the same building firms that are responsible for cheap and nasty apartment blocks that currently require millions of dollars worth of remedial work.

I agree with this sentiment. I really like Bankwest stadium, but it's just a stadium, nothing special. I also hate the exclusive cut off corporate area (which is always empty at our matches) and I don't like that the players tunnel is on that side. Leichhardt over that any day without a second thought. I'm surprised so many of us don't mind the idea of playing away from our home grounds.

Do you all prefer the game days at Bankwest and ANZ? If not, why are we settling for it as an option when other clubs haven't? Manly and Cronulla have won premierships in the last 8 years playing at small local stadiums, it doesn't prevent clubs being successful (I would argue it has a positive impact).

I also don't agree that playing at the small grounds makes us more likely to be moved to Perth. If anything, playing at generic grounds and losing our connection to our local communities is going to make a move away even easier.

People say that revenue is higher because corporate boxes are more appealing due to more big events, but we would only be getting a tiny share of that revenue and I think whatever we earn from our corporate boxes at leichhardt and Campbelltown would at least go some way to creating income for the clubs. This would be especially true if we bothered to play at these venues more. It becomes even more likely if we have success on the field and are able to charge more because of the appeal of our team. And I think we become more successful by playing more at these grounds.

I support the Tigers because of my memories of the club, memories of leichhardt, connection between the old and the new. I don't like new jerseys every year, silly American logos and big generic stadiums. If the traditional grounds are rough around the edges that only adds to the uniqueness of the places. And people love going to those grounds, so I don't agree that we need to move from these grounds. I think providing a unique game day experience actually makes people more likely to go to games not less, Bankwest has steep seating but no distinct character or anything particularly appealing about it. If we were averaging 20 000 a match, I'd have a totally different perspective, but we don't and it's not likely to happen soon.

Anyway, that's just my opinion. I'm just surprised more people don't agree.

Mate! Could not agree more - NRL can shove those big stadiums as far as I am concerned. Give me the local grounds any day.

 

[gallagher]

@Harvey And you know why ! because the realisation has hit home that there is a state of the art facility that threatens what for so long has been the norm . There has been absolutely no valid argument why the club should not think seriously about WSS.
I do not love the ground in any way , having been there three times only fools think that this arena has not got something to offer covering all aspects for all stake holders .
Believe me ANZ is my preference for travelling but I hate the place because of the non existent atmosphere with club games .. WSS stadium is here and many do not like the reality of it !


Does “state of the art” equate to the last stadium built?

I have only been to one game there, and avoided the leagues club, parking or anything else that put my cash into eels hands.

Can you spell out in simple terms what is so great about the stadium? The angle of the grandstand is brilliant in terms of being close to the action and having a view, but having one side of the field off limits to fans is poor architecture.

Rather than state of the art, my view is that the stadium appears to be slapped together in the shortest timeframe available, based on besa blocks and pre fab concrete, by the same building firms that are responsible for cheap and nasty apartment blocks that currently require millions of dollars worth of remedial work.

I agree with this sentiment. I really like Bankwest stadium, but it's just a stadium, nothing special. I also hate the exclusive cut off corporate area (which is always empty at our matches) and I don't like that the players tunnel is on that side. Leichhardt over that any day without a second thought. I'm surprised so many of us don't mind the idea of playing away from our home grounds.

Do you all prefer the game days at Bankwest and ANZ? If not, why are we settling for it as an option when other clubs haven't? Manly and Cronulla have won premierships in the last 8 years playing at small local stadiums, it doesn't prevent clubs being successful (I would argue it has a positive impact).

I also don't agree that playing at the small grounds makes us more likely to be moved to Perth. If anything, playing at generic grounds and losing our connection to our local communities is going to make a move away even easier.

People say that revenue is higher because corporate boxes are more appealing due to more big events, but we would only be getting a tiny share of that revenue and I think whatever we earn from our corporate boxes at leichhardt and Campbelltown would at least go some way to creating income for the clubs. This would be especially true if we bothered to play at these venues more. It becomes even more likely if we have success on the field and are able to charge more because of the appeal of our team. And I think we become more successful by playing more at these grounds.

I support the Tigers because of my memories of the club, memories of leichhardt, connection between the old and the new. I don't like new jerseys every year, silly American logos and big generic stadiums. If the traditional grounds are rough around the edges that only adds to the uniqueness of the places. And people love going to those grounds, so I don't agree that we need to move from these grounds. I think providing a unique game day experience actually makes people more likely to go to games not less, Bankwest has steep seating but no distinct character or anything particularly appealing about it. If we were averaging 20 000 a match, I'd have a totally different perspective, but we don't and it's not likely to happen soon.

Anyway, that's just my opinion. I'm just surprised more people don't agree.

Why would we be getting only a tiny share of corporates at Bankwest? If we sell those boxes we'd get the income. Better facilities will increase corporate partners.

 

[watersider]

Why would we be getting only a tiny share of corporates at Bankwest? If we sell those boxes we'd get the income. Better facilities will increase corporate partners.

I believe corporates buy yearly access to the stadium which gives them access to all events at the stadium. So they're not buying corporate boxes specifically for the Tigers and we therefore don't get all the money from them. But I assume Bankwest is able to pay us to play there because it makes corporate boxes and catering contracts etc more appealing because there are more events. For that reason, corporate boxes are good, but I don't think the income they would generate for us would far exceed what we'd earn from corporate boxes at leichhardt and Campbelltown. But perhaps I'm wrong about how all that works? I only bring up the point to suggest that the only argument for playing at these grounds (the financial benefit) is not that big a benefit. Even if I was wrong about that, I would still say money's not everything and the cost of playing away from our home grounds is greater than any income we gain from selling that little bit more of our souls. Besides, we've managed to make huge losses as a club over the past 20 years with the vast majority of that time playing at least half our games at big generic stadiums, so that strategy doesn't work, perhaps it's time we rethink our approach?

Basically, atmosphere sucks at big stadiums, players and fans like local grounds more, we lose money with our current approach: Let's try change! Honestly, I don't rate our chances of survival if fans don't care about turning up to games. The best thing to ensure our survival is strong support and exciting atmosphere at our home games. That's a product everyone wants. That makes us valuable.

 

[Harvey]

Why would we be getting only a tiny share of corporates at Bankwest? If we sell those boxes we'd get the income. Better facilities will increase corporate partners.

I believe corporates buy yearly access to the stadium which gives them access to all events at the stadium. So they're not buying corporate boxes specifically for the Tigers and we therefore don't get all the money from them. But I assume Bankwest is able to pay us to play there because it makes corporate boxes and catering contracts etc more appealing because there are more events. For that reason, corporate boxes are good, but I don't think the income they would generate for us would far exceed what we'd earn from corporate boxes at leichhardt and Campbelltown. But perhaps I'm wrong about how all that works? I only bring up the point to suggest that the only argument for playing at these grounds (the financial benefit) is not that big a benefit. Even if I was wrong about that, I would still say money's not everything and the cost of playing away from our home grounds is greater than any income we gain from selling that little bit more of our souls. Besides, we've managed to make huge losses as a club over the past 20 years with the vast majority of that time playing at least half our games at big generic stadiums, so that strategy doesn't work, perhaps it's time we rethink our approach?

Basically, atmosphere sucks at big stadiums, players and fans like local grounds more, we lose money with our current approach: Let's try change! Honestly, I don't rate our chances of survival if fans don't care about turning up to games. The best thing to ensure our survival is strong support and exciting atmosphere at our home games. That's a product everyone wants. That makes us valuable.

I think the stadium gets to sell some of the corporate space as you mention, and the tigers get nothing. This is what the stadium use to be able to pay clubs to take games there. The tennants will also get some corporate space for their sponsors, or that they can sell.

 

[AusTigers]

Well the talk I hear is we won't have a Balmain leagues anymore but an amalgamation to have a Wests tigers leagues club at Rozelle.

In saying that Wests Ashfield group in their interests we would keep playing our of Leichhardt or Allianz when it's rebuilt. Would be a quicker drive back to Rozelle compared to Bankwest.

 

[gallagher]

Why would we be getting only a tiny share of corporates at Bankwest? If we sell those boxes we'd get the income. Better facilities will increase corporate partners.

I believe corporates buy yearly access to the stadium which gives them access to all events at the stadium. So they're not buying corporate boxes specifically for the Tigers and we therefore don't get all the money from them. But I assume Bankwest is able to pay us to play there because it makes corporate boxes and catering contracts etc more appealing because there are more events. For that reason, corporate boxes are good, but I don't think the income they would generate for us would far exceed what we'd earn from corporate boxes at leichhardt and Campbelltown. But perhaps I'm wrong about how all that works? I only bring up the point to suggest that the only argument for playing at these grounds (the financial benefit) is not that big a benefit. Even if I was wrong about that, I would still say money's not everything and the cost of playing away from our home grounds is greater than any income we gain from selling that little bit more of our souls. Besides, we've managed to make huge losses as a club over the past 20 years with the vast majority of that time playing at least half our games at big generic stadiums, so that strategy doesn't work, perhaps it's time we rethink our approach?

Basically, atmosphere sucks at big stadiums, players and fans like local grounds more, we lose money with our current approach: Let's try change! Honestly, I don't rate our chances of survival if fans don't care about turning up to games. The best thing to ensure our survival is strong support and exciting atmosphere at our home games. That's a product everyone wants. That makes us valuable.

I think the stadium gets to sell some of the corporate space as you mention, and the tigers get nothing. This is what the stadium use to be able to pay clubs to take games there. The tennants will also get some corporate space for their sponsors, or that they can sell.

This would have to be correct. There was an article around the time of the opening that Parras corporate support doubled from last year. That would be stadium related.

 

[watersider]

Well the talk I hear is we won't have a Balmain leagues anymore but an amalgamation to have a Wests tigers leagues club at Rozelle.

In saying that Wests Ashfield group in their interests we would keep playing our of Leichhardt or Allianz when it's rebuilt. Would be a quicker drive back to Rozelle compared to Bankwest.

That's greta news. As a balmain fan, I'm glad Wests Ashfield would control whatever leagues club we get back. Balmain's administration of their club was hopeless and they somehow managed to turn a great location into a huge debt which ultimately killed us as a club. That said, I miss the days of walking back to the leagues club after a match and I hope they're able to return to that in whatever form they end up with, be it wests, balmain or whatever.

 

[BZN]

Good morning @watersider: only being a newbie on this forum, I am not up to speed with who pays for the upkeep, etc for Campbelltown Stadium and Leichhardt. Please enlighten me and thank you in advance :relaxed:
Ps...I used to love watching Noel Kelly, Peter Dimond, Arthur Summons etc playing at Pratten Park in Ashfield. How would we go ditching the 'big' stadiums then just playing out of Leichhardt, Pratten Park and Campbelltown? :relaxed:

 

[cochise]

Ps...I used to love watching Noel Kelly, Peter Dimond, Arthur Summons etc playing at Pratten Park in Ashfield. How would we go ditching the 'big' stadiums then just playing out of Leichhardt, Pratten Park and Campbelltown? :relaxed:

They are owned and managed by their respective councils.

 

[BZN]

Good morning @cochise: I have just realised that's a photo of you playing your Fender, pretty groovy, baby. What is that photo called ie is it an avatar?
When you say "they are owned and managed by their respective councils", does that mean we pay 'rent' to the respective councils for the upkeep they carry out :relaxed: