What was said at the London Broncos Fans Forum?
What was said at the London Broncos Fans Forum?
On Monday 21st October London Broncos held a fans forum at the By The Horns pub at Plough Lane as the clubs current challenges were discussed.
On the panel were Chief Executive Jason Loubser and Director of Rugby & Performance Mike Eccles.
Q: When we came to the Cherry Red, I believe it was a five year deal but after two years both parties could take a step back. Where are we at this time with staying here?
A (Jason Loubser): It was a ten year deal with a break clause coming after three and this is year three. We’ve been in constant communication with Wimbledon, they very much want us to stay and we very much want to stay. I met their MD last week and we are making plans to be here next season.
Q: Is there a point where we have to go to the RFL and say we haven’t got sufficient funds - is there a deadline?
A: (Jason Loubser): They’ve not given us a definite deadline. We had to submit the fixtures request, which we did last week. So other than that we are just following the normal procedure, what we would do every year. After the (championship) Grand Final on Saturday and the gradings announcement on Wednesday we will then get told but they haven’t given us a deadline.
Q: Lots of people have asked about Brewdog. Obviously they are a massive company and kudos to the team for getting them signed up - what is the situation with them for next season?
A: (Jason Loubser): It was a one year deal but we are obviously keen for them to carry on. A lot of work went on to make sure that we could sell Brewdog here at the venue, so we have reached out to them. We have finished our ‘investor prospectus’ which will go out to all parties this week.
Q: Are there any interested parties in investing?
A: (Jason Loubser) A lot of parties have said they will wait until Wednesday and see where we are at so Wednesday is a big day for us.
Q: You’ve mentioned needing £350k but what measures have you got in place to reach that number?
A: (Jason Loubser) So memberships; we are very grateful for the crowdfunder that has been set up, we have a few other things in the pipeline which we are soon to release and then obviously targeting sponsorship. We need shirt sponsorship signed off in the next 10 days so we can have shirts ready to sell to you all before Christmas. All manufacturers take six weeks so we need to get on with that.
Q: First and foremost, thank you for putting this on. What is the plan to tap into the sympathy which is out there for the club?
A: (Jason Loubser) We feel that engagement with supporters is something that we haven’t been good at so we are hoping that this is the first of many. We are planning another event before Christmas because we otherwise only see you guys 12 times a year which is not enough so we need to do more from our end. Jake (Watson, Head of Media) has hopefully shown you an improvement with the club's media this year, which has definitely been a step up from where it has been and we want to build on that next year. It’s a key factor in IMG grading and they value it highly so we need to keep improving on that front.
Q: And is there anything that we as fans can do to have a more hands on role? I’m sure there is a lot of expertise and knowledge in this room which could really help.
A: (Jason Loubser) We have certainly spoken about that. Gameday for us is a big one and could certainly be used with volunteers for that. I’m happy to hang around afterwards and speak with anyone who thinks they can help us and I am more than happy to engage with fans who want to support us.
Q: The club has tended to operate at a £1 million loss each season so how do you now look to cut your cloth accordingly?
A: (Jason Loubser) We had a meeting about this today which went on for a few hours. Be more active in the community, last year we engaged with 10,000 local kids and the aim was always to get to 20,000 by the end of the year. Merton are trying to become the Borough of sport so they are trying to assist and they are doing a lot with AFC Wimbledon already. We know we can’t keep going to the same people all the time and we need to widen the net and grow the supporter base.
Q: How many players have you got signed up for next season?
A (Mike Eccles): We’ve got three players. The three that have been announced, Marcus Stock, Lewis Bienek and Harry Stevens. We’ve had upwards of 9 or 10 offers go out. It’s all intertwined, you guys want to see a team put together and you guys have probably bought your season tickets already. We want to build some excitement for next season but the reality has been that we have been trying to work out what we can afford. We have to generate cash but we also need to cut what we are spending. What we spend on the team next season will be the lowest we have ever had, it’s as simple as that. I think what is really important to mention here is that when David Hughes stepped back we have one of three ways which we could have gone; first, just use the little bit of money that we have to wrap the club up, the next one was to drop down and play at Rossyln Park but the moment we do that and the moment we step back I genuinely think as a club we are done, we think we are about 2.5 points away from Super League but the moment we step back from Wimbledon we are done, for me. The IMG three year aggregate has absolutely killed us, but this year it could actually work for us. If you think last year we effectively finished 12th, and the season before 13th, the year before we finished 11th in the Championship so if we can consolidate next year with the money we have got we will stay relatively similar to where we are but the moment we step away from here it is a long way back. Currently trying to sell to investors and to say we have this fantastic home (AFC Wimbledon) we have a fantastic core of fans, averaging 3,500 last season. We believe we can do this, we think we will have to ‘bat massive overs’ like we did last year and like we did the year before to get promoted but we think we can do it.
I’ve got a spreadsheet of 36 players I'm interested in and for every player I can’t get a new player will be added to the spreadsheet.
Q: Are you running a reserve team next season?
A: (Mike Eccles) As things stand right now, that is looking likely following discussions with staff and players but that's not been confirmed. We are waiting for Wednesday and potential investors because at the moment we don’t know where we will be in a week's time in terms of investment opportunities. There could be a scenario where players from that team step up and become the first team next season, something similar to 4 years ago when Oli Leyland and others got an opportunity and he went on to become an established Super League player so within any negative we will look for something positive.
Q: How much help do you actually get from the RFL?
A: (Mike Eccles) Minimal, really. I think they are in a position where they have restructured now in terms of who is controlling the game , IMG and RL Commercial are key players in that. Myself and Jason went to meet with Tony Sutton and Rhodri Jones and to be honest they didn’t give us much other than maybe a bit of sympathy. What they did say was that if they had a war chest then they would love to have us in the competition but they just don’t have the money in the game at the minute to support us and we’ve continued to argue about the catchment thing but they are having none of it. The one thing I will give them, they are being very professional and they are sticking to their guns with IMG. They have done their research and they say that academies aren't important for commercially successful clubs which we argued against. Wigan, St Helens and Leeds have the best academies and are the biggest clubs.
A: (Jason Loubser) We’ve tried everything to try and get them to change their minds on it (catchment score) but they’re not having it. I actually believe the half way line, one half is Wandsworth and the other half is in Merton but they weren’t having that either. I believe Merton’s population is 220,000 and to get to the level up we need 250,000 but the problem is if they change ours it will affect someone else. I think everyone in the game thinks we get top score for catchment because we are London, I don’t think people actually realise we don’t. I think catchment has caused more issues (than its solved) for the criteria.
Q: The £175 season ticket seemed a bit conservative when perhaps some people would have been willing to pay more. Will there be other options made available for fans?
A: (Jason Loubser) Yes, so we decided to go with one flat rate to make it easier to market. We’re pleased to hear you’d like to give us more, there is a way we can do that! For people wanting Gold Lounge tickets, essentially buy the season tickets and there will be a bolt on option for hospitality.
Q: What is in place to bring young players through?
A: (Mike Eccles) If we get investment the first thing I want to put in place is the academy and scholarship as we need to produce our own players. The loan system doesn't work for us. It’s all well and good for Leeds, they can send their reserve players to Leeds but where do we send ours? We don’t even have Skolars and we couldn’t do it last year because it was a double drop and so it wasn’t adequate for the players to be ready for Super League so we need to be self-sufficient in terms of player development. Right here right now we don’t have a lot to offer, particularly if we have to drop the reserves for a year but it is something we are all working on to put back together as soon as we can.
Q: Can I ask about merchandise, because for the last two years one of the common complaints from supporters is the lack of options - at the moment there are just two items available in the shop.
A: (Jake Watson) We said in the press release last week that we recognise the offerings haven’t been good enough and we are working hard to rectify that. We get to keep all the profits made from merchandise so it is something we have identified as something we can generate revenue from. We have re-stoked those two items but we recognise that isn’t anywhere near enough so next week there will be hats, beanies, vests and shorts to be added with mugs to come after that, just to get started. Then the focus will be on getting next season's shirt ready and out before Christmas as that is what we want you all buying and what will help us out the most with money.
Q: Are investors put off by the IMG grading?
A: (Jason Loubser) Although there are elements about it that we clearly don’t like, investors do like it as they can see where they can get to. Everyone I’ve spoken to I’ve said two maybe three years based on what we think our grade will be. We think we will be around 14th or 15th with the new gradings but I don’t know how other clubs have done. At the moment when you get to 15 IMG points you’re in Super League so what happens when, for instance, 16 teams get 15 points I don’t know what they will do because knowing some Super League owners like I do they will have to lose money. There has been talk around the game of 14 teams which gets rid of these awful loop fixtures but the push back will be that they currently only have to split the pot by 12.
