Wasps downward spiral... (44 Viewers)

[Grendel]

The objections for Henley were huge no one wanted them there

Dismay from Henley campaigners as Wasps training ground is approved

The interests of a professional sports club have been put before the welfare of a town according to campaigners left furious by Stratford District Council’s…

www.stratford-herald.com

 

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[Gynnsthetonic]

Starting to think he's a Troll

 

[MusicDating]

I get the history aspect and the past, but that works both ways, many on this forum are completely dismissive of what led up to Wasps leaving Adams Park or anything relating to Wasps unless it fits a certain agenda.

It's a fair point, I don't know much about Wasps finances prior to their (latest...) move.

One thing that's always intrigued me is how everyone on DrunkenWasps/OnceAWasp seems to blindly agree with whatever the Wasps hierarchy say. SISU are still widely despised here, albeit tolerated at the moment as we're doing well, but no-one believes a word Tim Fisher says and no-one really believes they're going to build a new ground. However, despite lying to the auditors, taking years to build a much-scaled down training ground in a third choice location and now not fulfilling bond obligations, your owners are still lauded like saviours and astute, rugby-loving businessmen.

Don't you think it's a convenient line to say; 'we had to move to Cov otherwise we'd have been liquidated' when you're going to up sticks (again...)? Also we know from court documents that the previous Wasps owner was talking to CCC about a move to the Ricoh years before you left Wycombe...

 

[CCFC54321]

I will bite. We have a long standing relationship with local schools. Skyblues in the community do a lot of things like summer camps, school visits and so on.


Giving tickets back to the community is different than wasps strategy of giving anyone and everyone a ticket.

The comments under that post is parents who are realy excited and grateful for the tickets.

On the flip side its not a good look when you could go in to a Bank in Northampton and get free tickets to a Rugby match in coventry.


Ouch "My amateur club is affiliated with Wasps and we get 30 free tickets. Even then, only about 3 or 4 get used." comments on this reddit post

Well said, CCFC has a strategy in relation to free tickets, London Wasps strategy was try and get some locals up to the game and hopefully they will come back. They didn't, when the free tickets dried up so did the attendances. Coventry people will come back as it's their club representing them.

I was watching a local game 3-4 years ago and a guy was walking around with more tickets than his hands could handle trying to give away free london wasps tickets. Everyone told him where to go with him muttering under his breath " i can't give these away."

 

[Grendel]

Well said, CCFC has a strategy in relation to free tickets, London Wasps strategy was try and get some locals up to the game and hopefully they will come back. They didn't, when the free tickets dried up so did the attendances. Coventry people will come back as it's their club representing them.

I was watching a local game 3-4 years ago and a guy was walking around with more tickets than his hands could handle trying to give away free london wasps tickets. Everyone told him where to go with him muttering under his breath " i can't give these away."

 

[CCFC54321]

Not much else they can do now since it went through and the facilities have been built. Wasps also tried to buy and kick the football club and it's academy out of the higgs centre but then couldn't afford it

Adds to the nomadic nature I guess that the training ground is miles away from Coventry

I think our friend is now starting to understand why london wasps aren't welcome in Coventry!

 

[Nick]

Talking of free tickets ….. wasn’t really hard to find this online ….. I didn’t really look much further .

Just about every sporting club will give free tickets away in the community it’s not unique to Wasps.

Log In ‹ Broad Heath Primary School — WordPress

www.broadheath.coventry.sch.uk

Is it 7 years ago? Same shit arguments as then.

CCFC tickets have never been as rife as Wasps were, 6 per council employee?

Again, like every other Wasps fan. Totally uneducated about the situation.

 

[Nick]

To be fair, at one point they were rife. Not so much now though.

 

[fernandopartridge]

Good question, as far as I’m aware the freebies have largely stopped, I doubt completely though. As with any sport attendances will go up and down with success and you will always have a core of supporters who will go rain or shine. If 8k is the core support so be it.

8k , half of that at best

 

[Liquid Gold]

Yet again we have someone coming on from Wasps' side who hasn't got the slightest fucking clue about even half of the stuff that has happened and then got shirty when it's been pointed out.

 

[chiefdave]

Interesting read thanks. …… so where does the fault lie ….. with the buyer or seller ? This also goes to perhaps show that local press isn’t always pro wasps !

have the previous users been relocated ? …. Can’t find much complaining since 2019 ….. perhaps they are now happy with other facilities nearby …. That’s a genuine question… I don’t know.

In terms of the fault lying with the buyer or seller might be worth looking into who is a governor at WCG.



Seems to be another deal that was done in secret with no other interested parties getting a chance to have any input. In fact if you look into the Henley Sports Centre Alliance you'll see they tried to make an offer to take the site into community ownership but it fell on deaf ears. So keen are Wasps to engage with the local community they wouldn't even speak with them!

As for relocating users there simply aren't other local facilities to relocate them to which was the primary argument of local residents.

 

[tisza]

Still think most of it comes down to most interested parties over-estimate the broad appeal / potential of Rugby.
Half the geographical country represented by just 2 clubs who can't attract more than 15k between them to watch home games.
Value of the last TV contract dropped and now CVC get 27% of that.Without the CVC money clubs would have gone bust.
They had to impose a huge drop in salary cap to keep clubs alive.
Most Premiership clubs only sell 60-70% of their home game tickets.

 

[Dubai-Dodger]

and then got shirty when it's been pointed out.

Im not the slightest bit shirty ..... far from it in fact ......as much as you like to think I am

 

[chiefdave]

One thing that's always intrigued me is how everyone on DrunkenWasps/OnceAWasp seems to blindly agree with whatever the Wasps hierarchy say. SISU are still widely despised here, albeit tolerated at the moment as we're doing well, but no-one believes a word Tim Fisher says and no-one really believes they're going to build a new ground. However, despite lying to the auditors, taking years to build a much-scaled down training ground in a third choice location and now not fulfilling bond obligations, your owners are still lauded like saviours and astute, rugby-loving businessmen.

Very true. They came here on a promise of becoming the richest and most successful club in Europe, surely at this point even the biggest Wasps cheerleader has to be asking questions. They've failed to deliver on all their promises. The finances are a mess, the team performs poorly and despite a promise they were well on the way to having a sold out ground every week they're playing in front of the sort of crowds we'd have expected on a freezing cold Tuesday night for the 1st round of the checkatrade.

Yet again we have someone coming on from Wasps' side who hasn't got the slightest fucking clue about even half of the stuff that has happened and then got shirty when it's been pointed out.

Odd isn't it. We see a lot of Wasps fans belittle Coventry fans as clueless yet they don't know the basic history. Obviously the whole Ricoh saga is long and complicated but that's all the more reason to not wade in and ignore what you're being told.

 

[Liquid Gold]

Im not the slightest bit shirty ..... far from it in fact ......as much as you like to think I am

your ellipsis are just getting longer and more random for no reason.

 

[Grendel]

Talking of free tickets ….. wasn’t really hard to find this online ….. I didn’t really look much further .

Just about every sporting club will give free tickets away in the community it’s not unique to Wasps.

Log In ‹ Broad Heath Primary School — WordPress

www.broadheath.coventry.sch.uk

The amount is though - in 2012 wasps match revenue was around 8 million on gates below 8,000 - it rose to 12 million in 2016 but average attendance more than doubled but the revenue rise is 50%

The accounts at Wycombe show over 4,000 season tickets - I cannot see a stated season ticket number at the Ricoh which is

Vaughan admitted it was an out of hand strategy that was not cost effective.

The last pre Covid accounts show a fall in gates (I assume some games were cancelled but the average attendance is 11,000) and revenue down to Wycombe levels

The drop since tells the story and attendances are back to Wycombe on a reduced price model so revenue now will be even less than 2013

It’s a clusterfuck

 

[Nick]

Im not the slightest bit shirty ..... far from it in fact ......as much as you like to think I am

As with all of the Wasps fans, you have this Rugby fan whiff towards football fans. You give the "Know it all" but when you get into a conversation you seem to know absolutely fuck all about what has happened.

It's the same every single time.

 

[Grendel]

As with all of the Wasps fans, you have this Rugby fan whiff towards football fans. You give the "Know it all" but when you get into a conversation you seem to know absolutely fuck all about what has happened.

It's the same every single time.

The Kent wasp guy who is derided on the forum is an FD and he knows his stuff

DrunkenWasps.com - Wasps

DrunkenWasps.com discussion board : Unofficial Wasps news and views

m.rugbynetwork.net

 

[Dubai-Dodger]

CCFC tickets have never been as rife as Wasps were, 6 per council employee?

So we move from people saying that CCFC never give away freebies ....... to now they dont give away as many 'so thats ok' ...... in reality freebies are a great idea to some extent, every free ticket might result in income for the CBS (beer, burgers etc) .... isnt that a good thing ?

Again, like every other Wasps fan. Totally uneducated about the situation.

I'm happy to be educated and I have been by some reasonable posters, others seem to be incapable of stringing a few words together without dishing out abuse simply because I don't share an opinion, but it takes all sorts to make a world !

 

[Dubai-Dodger]

As with all of the Wasps fans, you have this Rugby fan whiff towards football fans. You give the "Know it all" but when you get into a conversation you seem to know absolutely fuck all about what has happened.

It's the same every single time.

I think you are far too paranoid ........ not long now and i'll be banned

 

[chiefdave]

So we move from people saying that CCFC never give away freebies ....... to now they dont give away as many 'so thats ok' ...... in reality freebies are a great idea to some extent, every free ticket might result in income for the CBS (beer, burgers etc) .... isnt that a good thing ?

There's a big difference between a school kid getting a ticket once a season to tickets being handed out like confetti to anyone that wants them.

The income argument only works to an extent. When there are so many free tickets you completely devalue the product. The people that do pay start to wonder why they bother when there are so many freebies and the ones who are getting in free aren't being converted into paying attendees.

Free tickets needs to be part of a strategy. Not just a scattergun fire them at everyone so the ground isn't embarrassingly empty.

 

[Deleted member 5849]

When some of my 80yo blue rinse volunteers were heading to the Ricoh to watch a Wasps game for free, you realised they weren't putting much research into who might become a fan on the back of a free ticket!

 

[Grendel]

So we move from people saying that CCFC never give away freebies ....... to now they dont give away as many 'so thats ok' ...... in reality freebies are a great idea to some extent, every free ticket might result in income for the CBS (beer, burgers etc) .... isnt that a good thing ?



I'm happy to be educated and I have been by some reasonable posters, others seem to be incapable of stringing a few words together without dishing out abuse simply because I don't share an opinion, but it takes all sorts to make a world !

Come off it. The strategy was to swamp the ground with free offers - accounts don’t lie and you can see the average per head from it that the free tickets We’re consistently over 50% of the total.

The supporters on the forums (none seem to be from Coventry other than Steve and Al (Al bring a convert from CRFC))even swallowed the drivel statement from Vaughan other of course than Kentwasp who knows the business is sliding downwards.

I don’t expect you to believe me but I know a director of rugby in a club in Coventry RFC league. Why he is a director of rugby I have zero idea. He’s a colourful character and I last saw him 3 years ago. I asked about Wasps and his pretty much exact words were “a bunch of dodgy cunts. No one knows where those fuckers get the money from, everyone thinks they are wankers and we will all have a party when the dodgy bastards go bust” - I concluded they weren’t very popular in the wider community

 

[Grendel]

I think you are far too paranoid ........ not long now and i'll be banned

Which of course is what you want so you can go back and say you were

 

[skybluetony176]

The buzz (no pun intended) has definitely gone around Wasps. I only know one person who’s ever been from Rugby and they only went because their wife is a teacher and got free tickets through the school. Even in Rugby the split is between Tigers, Saints and indeed Coventry’s own Rugby club. I personally know a couple of season ticket holders for The Butts who are Rugby born and bred who have been following Coventry for decades. I think hindsight has shown Wasps got the model wrong and were clearly thinking with no premier league club in Coventry and Warwickshire and indeed Birmingham they could mop up. I think there’s traditional support in Coventry and Warwickshire for already established teams (2 of which are already in the premier league) and I don’t think Birmingham has any appetite for Rugby full stop. I fully expect the crowds to continue to dwindle, especially as they’ve fluffed European competitions, struggling to hold onto key players, the mighty sky blues doing well, tigers and saints both improving.

In short even if they can get the financials sorted there isn’t a long term future for Wasps and if think that’s evident, probably why they’re struggling to get the financials sorted.

Shame.

 

[Nick]

So we move from people saying that CCFC never give away freebies ....... to now they dont give away as many 'so thats ok' ...... in reality freebies are a great idea to some extent, every free ticket might result in income for the CBS (beer, burgers etc) .... isnt that a good thing ?



I'm happy to be educated and I have been by some reasonable posters, others seem to be incapable of stringing a few words together without dishing out abuse simply because I don't share an opinion, but it takes all sorts to make a world !

Have a read through at the differences in the free tickets. It is the same thing that was pointed out about 7 years ago as a pathetic idea that wouldn't work and look what happened.

Wasps were throwing them at everybody and anybody to the point it was a running joke locally.

Ironically again you go for the intelligence argument, whilst showing you know nothing about the situation. The fact you think there are 8k core fans at Wasps says it all.

 

[Nick]

Which of course is what you want so you can go back and say you were

Oh 100%, like some sort of Martyr who drinks his mates piss and eats their sick.

 

[Nick]

I think you are far too paranoid ........ not long now and i'll be banned

Yeah, it's exactly the same as was said years ago. I was right then too.

You just need to go on about freedom of speech for a full house and act a victim.

 

[CCFC54321]

Have a read through at the differences in the free tickets. It is the same thing that was pointed out about 7 years ago as a pathetic idea that wouldn't work and look what happened.

Wasps were throwing them at everybody and anybody to the point it was a running joke locally.

Ironically again you go for the intelligence argument, whilst showing you know nothing about the situation. The fact you think there are 8k core fans at Wasps says it all.

If you stood watching a football match at the memorial park on a Sunday morning and they were playing that afternoon often a guy would be walking around offering free tickets for London wasps. That’s a fact.

 

[MacReady]

Im not the slightest bit shirty ..... far from it in fact ......as much as you like to think I am

Nonsense. You most definitely are shirty. Accusing people of ‘spouting off’ repeatedly. I don’t understand why you come onto a forum knowing full well the relationship between CCFC and Wasps is shite l. It’ll never change. In a lot of our eyes you don’t belong here, you have no history here and bring nothing to the table for the community. I would never drop into another forum knowing how bad the relationships… but then you must enjoy stirring the wasps nest.

See what I did there.

 

[Gynnsthetonic]

Still think most of it comes down to most interested parties over-estimate the broad appeal / potential of Rugby.
Half the geographical country represented by just 2 clubs who can't attract more than 15k between them to watch home games.
Value of the last TV contract dropped and now CVC get 27% of that.Without the CVC money clubs would have gone bust.
They had to impose a huge drop in salary cap to keep clubs alive.
Most Premiership clubs only sell 60-70% of their home game tickets.

The representation is awful, Newcastle not really a rugby city being bankrolled, nothing in Yorkshire now, think Leeds Headingly the last big club but that was decades ago, Sale representing the whole of the North West, 4 Midlands clubs, 3 in the South West and the remaining in greater London, Birmingham and the West Midlands nothing, The east of England nothing and all along the south of England nothing, its not the popular sport its perceived to be apart from the six nations and the world cup every 4 years

 

[Nick]

Yeah but Coventry was the City of Rugby.

 

[Dubai-Dodger]

I would never drop into another forum knowing how bad the relationships… but then you must enjoy stirring the wasps nest.

See what I did there.

That's your choice ... plenty of SBT members have dropped into Wasps forums either to talk rationally or to stir things up ....... I fully understand that many here are skeptical of anyone coming here to talk ...... it certainly wasn't to stir anything other than try to have an adult conversation with some of you, like any forum on any topic some people are incapable of an adult conversation when they are behind a keyboard , that's life !

 

[Liquid Gold]

That's your choice ... plenty of SBT members have dropped into Wasps forums either to talk rationally or to stir things up ....... I fully understand that many here are skeptical of anyone coming here to talk ...... it certainly wasn't to stir anything other than try to have an adult conversation with some of you, like any forum on any topic some people are incapable of an adult conversation when they are behind a keyboard , that's life !

"Football ...... supporters ........... are ....... beneath ................ me .............. , that's life ....................."

 

[Dubai-Dodger]

The representation is awful, Newcastle not really a rugby city being bankrolled, nothing in Yorkshire now, think Leeds Headingly the last big club but that was decades ago, Sale representing the whole of the North West, 4 Midlands clubs, 3 in the South West and the remaining in greater London, Birmingham and the West Midlands nothing, The east of England nothing and all along the south of England nothing, its not the popular sport its perceived to be apart from the six nations and the world cup every 4 years

You could say that about any sport that isnt as popular as football ..... the reality is its popular amongst the people who are interested, its just happens to be less ...... is that a bad thing ?