The NRL 2012 season kicks off in a few weeks, and as usual, I’ll be attending my fair share of games. Living close to Shark Park, although I don’t follow the Cronulla Sharks, I take the opportunity to watch a bit of live action, so I’m a regular on the hill.
The 2012 season could well be a good one for the Sharks. Flanagan looks to be a more than capable first grade coach, and the team has recruited fairly well – with Todd Carney’s signing the cream on top. However, while I am expecting better results from the Sharks on the field, their off field problems continue, particularly in the office. I genuinely want the Sharks to do well, so I’m taking this opportunity now to get a few things off my chest, and offer a few suggestions on things the Sharks can improve on, to both improve the experience for fans and possibly shore up the shaky financial foundations the club is built on.
1. Cronulla Sharks Membership Renewals
I have been a season ticket holder at the Sharks for the last 3 years, and on average, probably attend about 8 to 9 home games a year. We are now approaching mid-February, and there is only 3 weeks until the 2012 season kicks off. I have yet to receive a phone call, email, letter, telegram, carrier pigeon or smoke signal from the club asking me to renew my Cronulla Sharks membership. That is absolutely appalling. Membership as a business unit within the Sharks needs to be looked at closely, that is a horrible way to run a business. In any subscription based business, the first rule has to be to make sure existing members sign back up. I’d like to think that my case is a one off, however I am aware of another member who has also received no communication from the club.
2. 2012 Cronulla Sharks Membership Prices
As above, I haven’t been approached by the club to renew my Cronulla Sharks Membership, however luckily for the Sharkies, and with the season getting close, I decided to take a pro-active approach, and looked into renewing my membership. Generally, I’m a fan of a hill, standing up, tinnie in hand, watching the action. So I have always gone the general admission option. From memory, last year’s ticket was $180, and included admission to the 11 home games, as well as the membership pack. This year the GA ticket is $240. Ridiculous. Admittedly, this year there are 12 home games, instead of 11, however that is still a large increase for only 1 extra game.
As a comparison, a Roosters membership, in an undercover seat on the half way line, is $325, compared to $240 to stand on a hill on the goal line.
I have contacting Damian Irvine to check what the gate price will be in 2012, and he has confirmed it will be $25. Now, big home crowds are not a specialty of Cronulla’s, and with a lot of families struggling for disposable income, pushing up membership prices and gate prices seems to be an ill-advised move. I believe there are other methods Cronulla can use to increase revenue.
3. Revenue
As everyone is aware, Cronulla is sweating on its redevelopment plans to ensure the long term viability of the club. In the short-term however I believe there are a few options that Cronulla can use to maximise their revenue.
Instead of pushing up gate prices and memberships, which risks alienating families and reducing crowd numbers, the Sharks need to improve their game day experience, make it more attractive for people to come to the game, and easier to spend more money while they are there. Gate prices only make up a small component of the revenue you should receive off each attendee.
I was at several games last year where they either sold out of food, or the queue was that long that people just didn’t bother. It makes it difficult to sell an over-priced bowl of wedges when you don’t have any. Also difficult to spend money when you’re standing in a queue. What makes it even more annoying for the fan is if you’re standing in that queue while missing a quarter of the game. Even if they aren’t expecting that big a crowd, the beautiful thing about frozen food is that there are these things called freezers that can store it.
I also think there will be a greater inclination to pay for over-priced food and drinks if you aren’t also getting stung at the gate. It isn’t as noticeable a cost, and people have to eat and drink anyway. Put the price of membership up, and people will notice. Improve services at the ground and make it easier for people to spend money, and they chew through 10 or 20 bucks without even noticing it. Get the punters in the door foremost, and then up-sell them. Track your KPI’s not by how much each ticket price is, but how much revenue each person contributes.
4. Game Day Entertainment
Admittedly, I am writing this a few weeks after returning from a trip to the US, which included several US sporting events, so my expectations are probably skewed, however I think we can learn a lot from the US. I plan on writing something on this in more detail soon, so here I’ll just point out a few things that get my goat. First up, the ground announcer shits me to tears, the speakers are horrible, and you need a bigger score board. Engage the crowd more, give away a few $2 dollar t-shirts, maybe move on from the shark attack music out of Jaws…but my biggest gripe, stop being so nice to the away teams. I’m sick of the ground announcer asking for the away team supporters to cheer. They shouldn’t be acknowledged. Turn Shark Park back in to the fortress it once was. And if the words Glenn Wheeler ever creep in to your head again, give yourself an uppercut.
That about sums it up for my 2012 rant about the Sharks – feel free to add anything I may have missed, or if you have any suggestions, chuck them in there.
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