I’m too old and arthritic for a bouncy castle, but why can’t we have a social club (maybe managed by VIQI) to further boost club funds and improve fans involvement ?
Nobody uses social clubs much anymore, they're closing down left, right and centre.A hundred customers once per fortnight between February and August isn't going to keep it afloat.
@sinbad but that’s the point you use it all the time in the day as office at night putting old games on or premier sports even the monthly meetings remember them? You have a place to make money sell merchandise get fans together it might not make millions but it’s also collateral for the future as at the moment we have nothing and are heading towards oblivion
It's probably not the Widnes Vikings bit that is going to make someone money out of owning the stadium, it's everything else they could do with it.
It's an insane statement to say an investor wouldn't make money out of the ground, of course they would. Whether that would be via the Vikings is another matter. But at least that revenue would be going to the club, not the Council.
But that's another reason why the Council wouldn't sell it/would want a fortune for it. They have us over a barrel. And that's not going to pull an investor in.
The only investor we will ever get is some dodgy business man wanting planning permission in the town. Don't fall for this owning your own ground reaps dividends. Take Barrow as an example a few hundred people buying a pie and a pint won't rake in much money after insurance fees and stewarding costs where as Widnes just pay a set rent all in, add to that the upkeep etc it gets one thinking.
On the playing front fans need to take a look at just who we have beaten and who has trashed us, imo we have been in a false position and until the coaching improves a play off place will not be easy.
If you own your ground, you can make money from it seven days a week.
A few club owned SL grounds yet no clubs makes a profit says differently.
I think grounds provide the potential to make money but they don’t necessarily guarantee it. It takes a dedicated, professional business with a proper plan including, marketing, commercial acumen and all sorts of other things to make it work. If (by some miracle) the current management of the club were able to purchase the ground it would just be a millstone around their neck in terms of necessary running costs. Put simply they wouldn’t have the skill set and they wouldn’t be able to take advantage of the potential.
The only investor we will ever get is some dodgy business man wanting planning permission in the town. Don't fall for this owning your own ground reaps dividends. Take Barrow as an example a few hundred people buying a pie and a pint won't rake in much money after insurance fees and stewarding costs where as Widnes just pay a set rent all in, add to that the upkeep etc it gets one thinking.
On the playing front fans need to take a look at just who we have beaten and who has trashed us, imo we have been in a false position and until the coaching improves a play off place will not be easy.
If you own your ground, you can make money from it seven days a week.
A few club owned SL grounds yet no clubs makes a profit says differently.
Sports clubs aren't designed to make a profit. More turnover means they'll spend more on players or other employees. Just like if Widnes owned the stadium and started generating more revenue you'd want them to spend it on a prop.
St Helens employ 600 people and are a key employer in their local community.
Castleford got their turnover beyond £6m, they couldn't do that just renting a ground and playing home games every other week.
Barrow's turnover will this year be up somewhere like £2.5m, which has enabled them to sign the likes of Sammut, Miloudi etc. They are now a bigger club than Widnes in terms of their employees, activity and community work.
Compare that to a League 1 club playing nine home games a year, renting a ground. It's absolute chalk and cheese.
It's no coincidence that multiple clubs simply haven't recovered from taking the short term fix of selling their ground, to cover up the fact they were mismanaged to get to that point.
Hull KR and Wakefield I'm sure will soon start to see the benefits of gaining ownership back of their grounds.
Salford are in a right mess because they don't have a ground and now can't pay the going rate to rent one. If they were to get relegated, they'd likely go the same way as Oldham, Swinton etc.
The only investor we will ever get is some dodgy business man wanting planning permission in the town. Don't fall for this owning your own ground reaps dividends. Take Barrow as an example a few hundred people buying a pie and a pint won't rake in much money after insurance fees and stewarding costs where as Widnes just pay a set rent all in, add to that the upkeep etc it gets one thinking.
On the playing front fans need to take a look at just who we have beaten and who has trashed us, imo we have been in a false position and until the coaching improves a play off place will not be easy.
If you own your ground, you can make money from it seven days a week.
A few club owned SL grounds yet no clubs makes a profit says differently.
Sports clubs aren't designed to make a profit. More turnover means they'll spend more on players or other employees. Just like if Widnes owned the stadium and started generating more revenue you'd want them to spend it on a prop.
St Helens employ 600 people and are a key employer in their local community.
Castleford got their turnover beyond £6m, they couldn't do that just renting a ground and playing home games every other week.
Barrow's turnover will this year be up somewhere like £2.5m, which has enabled them to sign the likes of Sammut, Miloudi etc. They are now a bigger club than Widnes in terms of their employees, activity and community work.
Compare that to a League 1 club playing nine home games a year, renting a ground. It's absolute chalk and cheese.
It's no coincidence that multiple clubs simply haven't recovered from taking the short term fix of selling their ground, to cover up the fact they were mismanaged to get to that point.
Hull KR and Wakefield I'm sure will soon start to see the benefits of gaining ownership back of their grounds.
Salford are in a right mess because they don't have a ground and now can't pay the going rate to rent one. If they were to get relegated, they'd likely go the same way as Oldham, Swinton etc.
The club buying back and owning the ground is one thing, but that's highly unlikely to happen.
The council selling the ground to an "investor" is a potential disaster waiting to happen.
@the-cardinal I'm not suggesting Widnes buy the ground, as clearly that's not at all feasible. Just making the point that clubs that have their own grounds have got a far better chance of being successful.
@biggp
Last update (September) said that they were paying £42k in December then £120k over the course of this season.
Does seem to me that there is less emphasis on VIQI from the club compared to maybe 18 months ago. For instance, can't find a link or a recent reference (may just be me) to VIQI on the club website.