Wests Tigers Private Ownership is that the Answer?

[MotoG]

It looks to me like HBG powerbrokers get some kind of perverse satisfaction just having WT on its books and watching it flounder.
Why sell when you can get this much entertainment for little cost?

As long as that hospitality, liquor and gaming empire is profitable, and the people holding the keys to the operation are on a good wicket from all of it - then the club results are really secondary. Whether its the Wests Tigers, or now the Central Coast mariners (W) as well

 

[MotoG]

My final words on the subject I kicked off for discussion are:
1. We are the WESTS TIGERS and have been for for approximately
two and a half decades.
2. Balmain Tigers and Wests Magpies are mere memories of "once upon a time".
3. The Holman Barnes Group have proven to be consistent failures in the running of the Wests Tigers
4. The ARL Commission (governing body) along with the Chairman Peter V'Landys then followed by the CEO (soon to exit Andrew Abdo), and the NRL Administration, plus the 17 clubs (18 clubs in 2027 and 19 clubs in 2028) seriously need to consider extracting the Wests TIGERS NRL Licence from HBG.
They are an embarrasment to the great game and can no longer be permitted to hold the licence to participate in the NRL as the WESTS TIGERS. Whilst their ownership may be a somewhat privately controlled rugby league club made up of 90% Wests Magpies and 10% Balmain Tigers HBG have a created a massive divide between supporters.
In other words they couldn't organise a Sausage Sizzle at a BBQ.
An Auctioneers final words would be "Going, going gone"!

If you are looking for action from the NRL and PVL...

The NRL will intervene to the minimum extent necessary to protect its own brand

ie; If the Wests Tigers boardroom drama, warring and politics starts to spill over and threaten the NRLs brand or public image, there will be minimum intervention necessary to restore that image. Hence the reinstatement of O'farrel, but no real structural change otherwise

..

Think of the LA clippers who were badly run by Donald Sterling for many many years.. It was only when he did something that threatened the NBA's brand image that he was extracted and dismissed from ownership...

🙏

 

[Cultured_Bogan]

So how does it get changed?

This is a very tough question, nearly unanswerable

About 100kg of Semtex should do the trick.

 

[NT_Tiger]

I google AI'd why wt have remained poor over the past 15 yrs. The response:

The main reason the Wests Tigers have remained a poor side for 15 consecutive years without playing in the finals is deep-rooted off-field organizational dysfunction and severe roster mismanagement. Experts, players, and commentators attribute their prolonged failure to an unstable joint-venture hierarchy, constant executive turnover, and a fractured team culture

Who would have guessed?

 

[jadtiger]

About 100kg of Semtex should do the trick.

Lucretia Borgia to take over the cooking for the next HBG meeting would be the best option.

 

[diedpretty]

Snippets cited by the NRL during various court cases involving the NRL. See below example:

It is the responsibility of the central sporting administration to manage and grow the commercial interests of the sport (the NRL had grown revenue from $20 million in 1990 to over $500 million in 2018)

It is in the interests of all participants – including clubs and players – for the commercial interests of the sport to be protected

The sport’s reputation and its commercial value are intrinsically linked

It could be argued the running of the club and governance issues has impacted the commercial interests of the NRL and/or the Wests Tigers reputation amongst it's own fans has now impacted the NRL's commercial interests - less members, less crowds, media drama, less merchandise sales impacting royalties etc.

The full participation agreement is not public and that is common k owledge...I'm sure you were trying to find a gotcha on that one, but the snippets the NRL has used to argue certain cases before are cited above. It's not my opinion.

Pretty hard to prove they have damaged the NRL commercially when the NRL has never been in a better position - record TV deal, on the verge of 100mil hotel acquisition, increasing assets to potentially 1 billion, possibility of 50% stake in ESL

 

[weststigers]

Pretty hard to prove they have damaged the NRL commercially when the NRL has never been in a better position - record TV deal, on the verge of 100mil hotel acquisition, increasing assets to potentially 1 billion, possibility of 50% stake in ESL

I am suggesting that if the Tigers fans revolt, pull all support, stop turning up to games and don't buy memberships and merchandise + lots of media around those things, then the financial impact is more tangible and a debate on that point can ensue...only IF the NRL has the balls to step in on that basis. I am talking about "the only hope" rather than some other suggestions that rely on HBG to do anything that would make the fans think things are going in the right direction. I've lost hope in them at this point.

If you are talking about right at this very moment, then yes, there is no eveidence whatsoever to argue the NRL has been damaged commercially, but it wasn't the point I was making.

 

[liltiger]

I am suggesting that if the Tigers fans revolt, pull all support, stop turning up to games and don't buy memberships and merchandise + lots of media around those things, then the financial impact is more tangible and a debate on that point can ensue...only IF the NRL has the balls to step in on that basis. I am talking about "the only hope" rather than some other suggestions that rely on HBG to do anything that would make the fans think things are going in the right direction. I've lost hope in them at this point.

If you are talking about right at this very moment, then yes, there is no eveidence whatsoever to argue the NRL has been damaged commercially, but it wasn't the point I was making.

Were in a hopeless situation. Stoppjng membership, merch and no crowds at games does nothing cause HBG can just write a bigger cheque to cover the shortfall. The people calling the shots on the HBG board could care less, its not their money theyre throwing away. Voting the HBG board members off the board cant work cause theres no voting its a closed debunture system. They wont sell, they will never have a reason to. They dont care if they lose money its not theirs, they dont care if we never perform cause technically we have our own board whos responsability it is and the HBG board members cannot be removed. So were stuck in a perpetual state of going nowhere, constant rebuilds, constant failure and constantly funded by the owners to a point of being able to field a team without ever achieving anything. Any success we have is pure luck. Shows how big an achievement 2005 was for Sheens.

 

[hammertime]

Were in a hopeless situation. Stoppjng membership, merch and no crowds at games does nothing cause HBG can just write a bigger cheque to cover the shortfall. The people calling the shots on the HBG board could care less, its not their money theyre throwing away. Voting the HBG board members off the board cant work cause theres no voting its a closed debunture system. They wont sell, they will never have a reason to. They dont care if they lose money its not theirs, they dont care if we never perform cause technically we have our own board whos responsability it is and the HBG board members cannot be removed. So were stuck in a perpetual state of going nowhere, constant rebuilds, constant failure and constantly funded by the owners to a point of being able to field a team without ever achieving anything. Any success we have is pure luck. Shows how big an achievement 2005 was for Sheens.

100%, but what a significant drop in attendance and viewership would do is put the pressure on the NRL to do something.

Wests ashfield members are also frustrated where their money is being spent.

Those two places are where the money comes from. Can't beleive these guys get to spend it with impunity.

NSW L&G need to grow a pair. If they deem this debenture structure is legal under current laws, then rewrite the bloody laws. If they mess around with the ex premier again, he may lean into his old Labor colleagues.

 

[Pringle Gold]

I think the only way to make a statement is to boycott everything. Memberships, merchandise, games. Anything that brings the club revenue.

HBG would have to address it or at least acknowledge it.

Has the club also posted anything about 2026 membership figures? I couldn’t find it but would be interesting to see if there was a dip from 2025.

 

[Tucker]

Exactly. Losing money to them means nothing. Theyll just use an accountant to use tgeir wizadry to have it written off as a loss. Its not their money theyre playing monopoly with, so they really dont care.

How rich and successful do you think they are?
Business wise they are small fries. Losing money will certainly hurt them.

 

[KevB]

100%, but what a significant drop in attendance and viewership would do is put the pressure on the NRL to do something.

Wests ashfield members are also frustrated where their money is being spent.

Those two places are where the money comes from. Can't beleive these guys get to spend it with impunity.

NSW L&G need to grow a pair. If they deem this debenture structure is legal under current laws, then rewrite the bloody laws. If they mess around with the ex premier again, he may lean into his old Labor colleagues.

Do you understand that NSW Liquor & Gaming is controlled by government legislation. You can't just rewrite the laws because you don't like them. New or amended legislation would have to be passed by NSW Parliament. I think they have more important matters than debenture holders at HBG.

You do realise that the ex-premier was a Liberal parliamentarian and probably does not have too many old Labor colleagues.