I'm sure many people from these area's of Salford visit The Trafford Centre or travel up and down the M60 frequently. Most Salfordians from these area's will probably see much more of the new stadium than they ever saw of the Willows.

Maybe so and that's what we can hope for but getting them to the stadium on a match day is much tougher than getting people to go shopping

I just think, and I'm sure it will be, that the marketing of the matches gets 100% better and reaches thos areas?

Sorry to deviate but, imagine if there was a fan out there who has spent the last 2 years in a coma, has come round and has decided to log in to the Turkey to see what happened with the stadium... [size=150"73 pages!!!"[/size



Anyway, back on topic. Good points everyone!

Come on KOTS you know I was replying to your comment about 'Out of sight..Out of mind' and not about how to get people to part with their money.

The way i see the location benefitting the club is that people already interested in RL (and who support, say Wigan, Wire and Saints for instance), will see the stadium when passing and be more inclined to go to an away game there, as the facilities look great and its a easy ground to access.

The main draw to the stadium will be winning games any other means of attracting passers by is a bonus.

I heard a story recently about how Matchday hospitality can become extremely competitive between companies in the same field.

For instance a well known firm of local solicitors takes out a bronze Matchday package and then when another firm of solicitors is made aware of this they can’t resist going one step further and signing up for a Silver package. This then escalates with more firms of solicitors taking out packages until it becomes embarrassing for any local firm of solicitors not to be seen there with clients.

Apparently this is kind of thing is rife in Rugby Union. I just thought I’d pass it on in case somebody from the club is reading.

Then we're agreed.

No, no they don't. Did you just make those numbers up??


Bolton were also relegated from the Premiership after moving to the Reebok, despite being in it whilst at Burnden.
Wanderers' average crowd at the Reebok now is only about 10% (2,000 fans) higher now than it was at Burnden Park in the Premiership. If Salford were to have a similar percentage increase we'll only ever need to open one stand.

For Salford to make the move to Barton work will require massive investement in marketing , several million over several years

But at least we've got "several years" before it gets built though, eh?!

Relegated only to return for several consecutive years in the Premier league. How many consecutive years did they have in the top flight at burnden park after the long faded Nat Lofthouse era? The attendances have dropped away but you are quoting the best set of figures to suit your argument. That's similar me saying what were the attendance figures when they first played at the Reebok compared to when they were in the old 3rd division?

Having a new stadium offers more opportunities than just increasing your gates. What about the extra corporate hospitality and sponsorship it's brought them? What about attracting higher profile players to the club? It allowed them to attract players like Anelka, Djorkaeff and Campo etc who wouldn't have been seen dead at burnden park.

Anyone who can't see what the Reebok has done for Bolton Wanderers needs their head examining!

Well we've had several years to build us up to the new several years to go. So the club should have the marketing side of things bob on.

Oh hang on.......................................................

Ahh you see Rugby union = rah rah, upper class ( well they think they are), business connections and is trendy to be seen to go to when your at your next ball and being photographed in Lancashire life.

Football at OT = the "in " place to have your corporate hospitality. You watch the best of what Britain has to offer, Is once again a trendy place to name drop that you go to and have a box there......

Rugby League = who the feck wants to go and watch Salford against wakefield, Quins, Crusaders? need I go on? It's not trendy, It's lower class, it not seen by clients as choice place to wine and dine people.

It would take a HUGE overhaul of RL and it's image for Solicitors firms or other big businesses to want to use Salford and RL for those purposes with maybe Wigan , Saint and Leeds the exception.

Obviously this is all my own opinion and has nothing in the way of solid facts to back it up.

I fully understand what you are saying but maybe some local people's perceptions will change of Salford Reds and RL in a modern stadium with plush corporate facilities. I'm told the function room can dine up to 750 people and will offer the biggest capacity in Greater Manchester. (For a single room) The room can also be divided up into three sections if required. Some local businesses may view it as great networking opportunity at a fraction of the cost of football hospitality.

Thats a good point actually. Should the club ( or maybe they already do?) push the hospitality based of the lower price that they would be able to provide it for. Or would that put potential clients off?

I think the answer to that is to have different price levels.

The cost and amount that corporate sales will make you could actually go down

As has been alouded to , RL is more of a working class ' local boy made good ' sport , will you be in complete control of the stadium and pricing of concessions ?

The way I understand it is the food catering company charge the club x amount per meal and then the club sells packages around that factoring in the ticket prices. The package could also include things like matchball sponsorship and programme advertising etc. The club will also have 10/12 private boxes to sell which they don't currently have at the Willows.

I just had a thought. Will Catering be done by Salford Council as the stadium could be viewed as a council owned venue? I presume that at the willows the club get quite a good profit from the packages it does for it's corporate stuff. Could this profit be reduced if the catering and prices for it are held by someone else?

The more I think about it the more I think that the possibility for the club to make a profit is being eroded somewhat by the Peel/ Council coalition.

I'm quoting the only season in the Prem at Burnden and the current season - how is that 'to suit my argument?!'
What other figures could be any more relevant?! Your comment about the old 3rd Division (we were actually in the old 4th when I started following them) is just nonsense. I wouldn't mind putting money on the fact that we'd get less at the Reebok in League 2 now than we got in Division 4 back at Burnden though!



I fully appreciate what the Reebok has done FOR Bolton (and don't disagree with any of the examples you give) but I've also seen (at close quarters) what the Reebok has done TO Bolton, and it's certainly not all positive. My worry is the Salford will blindly ese the positives and ignore the negatives, and increased attendances are a prime example of that.

. bingo

Nah, the casino that was proposed alongside our stadium isn't going ahead anymore so I suspect there won't be any gaming of any kind, including bingo. Sorry. Shame though as you're right, it could've made us some extra revenue.

That wasn't what I meant , and you know it

The first year in the Prem was a novelty and Bolton were bound to attract more fans, even to burnden. I am sure it brought back lapsed/casual supporters who wanted to see them play bigger teams with world class players.

I also share your concern like many about the club wasting an opportunity and not maximising on the potential the new stadium could offer. I appreciate it's not just a case of build it and overnight we will have thousands of new fans turning up.

It's about the club gaining some momentum now, the strength and efforts of the team on the field, entertaining people, great marketing, positive spin and offering value for money. Unfortunately due to years of disappointments our own hardcore support are probably not selling the club to others either with so much critisism and negativity. I can feel the negative atmosphere at the games and it must put off any potential new supporters who visit the Willows for the first time. I'm guilty of it, I have regularly criticised the team to friends and work mates days after a poor result without realising the negative impact it must have on attracting new support.

Perhaps we should all take a look at ourselves too and ask are we doing all we can to help our club at a crucial period in the clubs history?

All new stadia in all sports have outside caterers, it won't be the council. For 13 matches a year it just wouldn't stack for clubs to buy all the expensive kitchen equipment and employ all the people. Plus the outside caterers are usually responsible for the fit out costs of the hospitality facilities etc which I'd guess will run well into a few hundred grand. The council/peel partnership will make money from the function room(s) for non rugby events at the stadium. This will contribute towards paying off the loan and covering some of the stadium management running costs.

Any shortfall in package profits could be more than made up for with increased numbers and private box rental.