I watched Boots N All last night and had a thought,

If I were an investor with £1m interested in buying Bradford Bulls, why would I invest now?

I don't say this to be harsh, but SLE and the RFL are weak and I could wait until the club goes under and then offer to restart them with £1m in the black, knowing full well that the club won't get relegated or punished harshly.

If I buy the club now, I buy a mess, if I wait for the RFL to fold like a pack of cards I get a bargain.

This is what I think will happen, in my ideal world everyone will win out of this in the long run. We get a well run Bradford club again and the RFL's incompetencies are exposed.

Good luck Bradford fans, I went through this in the winter and wouldn't wish it on anyone, it's not a nice situation.

The Rugby League family lives.

I would add that as well as exposing the RFL's incompetencies some lessons can be learnt at club level from the mis-management of the Bulls BOD. Fans of other SL clubs that might be put in a similar situation will also learn not to put their hard earnt into a black hole.

Agreed.

What about the creditors? do they win?

No, they'll get screwed over as always.

The Bulls BOD did n't give a flying F to these people, it's not just the Inland Rev (or us taxpayers) it's smaller companies that this may just kill off.

I was wondering about "any other debts" if the BoD weren't bothering to pay HMRC, god knows how Fred Bloggs Plumbing Ltd was going to get his money for fixing the leaky showers!!
This has been largely unreported, but when it was us (and something AG largely rectified after taking the club over) the extent of these only came out after the club had been taken over.

Yeah, curse on the incompentent RFL for making the Bulls lose £100k a month and sell dirt cheap season tickets - how dare they!

If the RFL are incompetent because the Bulls are in trouble, does that mean they are competent because Wigan are doing OK?

No there just incompetent, (actually corrupt) for being complicit in all this and for making SL into a cost sapping fight for survival.
Add negligent to that list too.

Care to elaborate?

No, rarely do.

What i'm saying is the way I think a businessman would look at the situation.

Why put x amount of money into something that can be written off when the club folds, then restart it with this money and no wage bill/contracts to bother with.

Gladly, why in a time of economic recession are clubs encouraged to spend money they don't have on things they don't need? I'll give you anyone in a stadium that doesn't fit SL criteria for that, surely the RL matters more.
To encourage sensible management from member clubs, why cover up problems that exist in SL clubs with made up stories and made up License reports when many can see they are untrue, and hide loans given to clubs that are struggling i'll give you the Bulls, the Crusaders, london and us!! How does this help clubs run successfully?
Clubs living beyond their means, I'll give you any club failing to generate its own income and relying on a benefactor.
Somewhere amongst that lot is ever club in SL, or it certainly doesn't leave enough for a league full of well run businesses that SL aimed to achieve!!

Amongst your paranoid ramblings I am struggling to decipher your plans for RL success & expansion. If the simple crietria is generating more income than you spend then we will be back to a part time game within months, with all our best athletes playing yawnion.

Well, supporting a club that has recently built one of these "forced" stadia - the only way my club could be even remotely viable is in a new stadium which could deliver more income streams for the club than our decrepit old one.

We've also mammothly increased our crowds as a result.

Interesting that you would suggest we didn't "need" our new stadium - our financial statements whilst at KR and chairman would probably disagree.

Which of the clubs in "old" stadia are breaking even? Perhaps the RFL are right to force clubs towards new stadia that can help drive more sustainable clubs?

The RFLs plan for success and expansion has worked where exactly? three clubs going bankrupt in the last two years? The Crusaders debacle? Londons still ongoing problems??
How can you view this as success?

The sooner this game realises it is a small time sport and returns to a semi pro status the better. We lasted for 100 years as such, so why change it? If some one wants to play Union that's fine by me, i'm happy to watch the ones staying behind a playing RL. As long as i can watch my local team on a Sunday afternnon i'm not really bothjered what happens in the rest of the country.

You are looking at it from a purely selfish POV, most clubs can't afford to!!

Could you please point out how the RFL are responsible for any of those clubs going bump? I mean in detail, not some long-winded version of "they just ARE I tell you".

Not sure this would work. If youngesters at grass roots level know that they can earn more money playing kick and clap rather than league then we will lose interest in league from an early age. Money has changed most sports as well as Rugby which has helped our game and other sports. I personally don't see a way back to semi pro game. There are probably more clubs doing ok financially than aren't at the moment it's up to the clubs to run themselves responsibly.

The problem with new stadia is that unless you actually build it as a club (Saints) then you do not get the revenue streams, like food/drink etc. (Salford).

I agree with both side of teh argument to an extent although (an cas fans rarely do) i have to side with our Wakefield colleague.

On one side having a new stadia does open up a massive amount of opportunity for commercial success - corporate entertaining for example is massivly higher in new stadia compared to old ones. This obviously helps to make clubs more revenue and supposedly for viable businesses.

on the other hand new stadia cost a lot to run and maintain - and if Salford is anything to go by hardly a receipe for sucess. failure to get the desired level of income from teh stadia results in it being a hinderance to success as apposed a catalyst.

However before you even get to the new stadia clubs are being forced to spend huge amounts of money on designs - legal fees and the such. Which in the current climate clubs simply can not afford - simply beacuse the RFL want new stadia to appear on TV - which makes teh marketability of the game as a whole go up and inturn sponshorship revenue - Well sort of assuming you dont sell it for free!!

Have some people forgotten that stadium quality is only ONE of the things that clubs are assessed on again?

Give over - Stadium quality was one of probably two criteria to be reviewed by the RFL.

The other one being were you on the predetermined list written by the RFL months prior to the applications being handed in.

Wahey - not often you see conspiracy theory bullcrap spouted about this topic.

Oh, wait a moment...

Nope, a total failure to respond to my point. I have never, anywhere, said the RFL's plans have been a success. I was intersted in how you are suggesting RL should operate to be financially sustainable & still attract the crowds & youngsters necessary for it continue.

Let's take a look at this first, RL well SL anyway is a business if you cannot generate enough income to balance the books you're in trouble, that TT is basic economics.
If you rely on sponsorship or a benefactor then equally the ground is still shaky, if you can generate your own as FTV seemed to be claiming Saints do and I believe Leeds do then you're ok.
Some people believe build a new ground is the answer, I don't necessarily think it is, certainly not in all cases.
Losing players to union will always happen sadly, we cannot chase debt via a salary cap to keep pace with a higher one in union and nor should we, that way lies danger.
If clubs can be run efficiently they should generate income, if they invest in a good quality youth set up that (in the end) will pay dividends.
Living beyond your means, and chasing unnecessary targets are the recipe for disaster, as we have seen lately.
Look at the effort your club is going to fit in with this ideology, I'm sure it's not that long since your CO was bragging to the world about a GH and a £50 million pound Weldon Road bonanza, now (according to fully!!) you're happy with £5 million and a half build GH, if it ever happens.
What the bloody hell is wrong with Weldon Road, it's a great ground and one I enjoy visiting, the answer is nothing, it just looks bad on SKY.
Sadly so does the Stoop with no bigger in it, but I'm not the RFL.