It is only by asking questions that you find answers , unfortunatley pride sometimes stops people from questioning what they are doing , most sports businesses are run by people who have been successful in business , however that does not prepare them for running a business designed to lose money to be a ' success '

One way to keep costs down is to use volunteers as much as possible during match days.. Obviously there has to be employed staff to deliver corporate entertainment and administer the club/facilities.



It appears to me that the 'pay the wages at all costs' scenario, has potentialy cost the club. Thats not to say that that is a bad thing, but perhaps the wages offered, players, directors or otherwise, should have been capped..



They must have been nervous turning on the floodlights towards the end of last season.....

The thing is though that at the level we and you are at there is a lot more to be gained from increasing revenue than reducing costs , the costs will be very close to being as low as they can be to operate , more income is the real issue here , without adding costs

Merchandising is some thing we should look at.



We only sell stuff out of a converted shipping container when games are on.



At this time of year we should have been looking to blag a disused market stall and selling stuff on a weekend.



As for players and staff, they're costing more than what the club is making at the moment so unless revenue increases you would have to assume jobs will have to go.

the problem with cutting players wages is you get a less quality of player which leads to a lesser quality of product on the field which leads to smaller gates.catch 22 i think.

I have to disagree with those advocating folk at club lose their jobs as a result of the directors mess its high time they took responsibility for this. At the end of the day the cougars product on the pitch is working and the community work is great in addition to this the club has recently been getting new albeit small businesses buying into the product the cougars are selling. Why other folk should suffer for failure at the very top beats me, remember with the new consortium staff and players futures are secure.

I see where your coming from but I'd rather see us get beat by 50 points every week than not watch us at all because we've paid out too much and gone under.



Apart from us there are at least 4 other clubs that have been in a similar predicament in the last year and for all we know that's the tip of the iceberg.



Personally I think the RFL should take the lead and lower the salary cap to a level that makes it very difficult for any team to go under by breaking the bank.

and more importantly 100 % of your target fan base wouldn't know or care



Detatch yourself from being a regular go anywhere anytime fan and put yourself into the position of somebody who has never been to a RL match , or a kid of 7/8/9 , what would bring you back to Cougar Park after one visit ?

Is it ?

There's NO WAY Rachel would have strippers in the bar, though...

I think good vocal - and friendly - crowds would get people coming back, but it's always better for a first time visitor to see a win, which could be a problem...

So, we need to get a half decent attendance, loud but friendly. To do that, we need to reach a target audience, be it families, young adults or whatever, but people who will be paying to get in. Not just flooding schools with free tickets, but getting people to part with the readies.

How about a '2 games for twenty quid' kinda deal for a new supporter, where a season ticket holder can introduce a new fan or summat?

Its an idea , we can take it on board and look at it's merits

This is why I asked about your community work and your ability to get into town centres and supermarkets , I assume you give out free kids tickets with a paying adult , Does it work ? , what is your take up ? , do you give out anything else ? , who do you target when offering free tickets ? the dads ? or the mothers ?