AFTER consecutive years of financial losses and a team that’s struggling on the pitch, Western Force chief executive Vern Reid is concerned Perth’s rugby community may be losing patience.
AFTER consecutive years of financial losses and a team that’s struggling on the pitch, Western Force chief executive Vern Reid is concerned Perth’s rugby community may be losing patience.
The Force recorded a loss of $895,000 in 2010, inflated by infrastructure costs at nib Stadium (see page 9), following a loss of $728,842 in 2009.
The news was not all bad off the field, however, with 13,500 members on board last year, and 81 per cent of them re-signing for 2011.
Worldwide, the sport itself has been on the rise since the last World Cup.
Research commissioned by MasterCard Worldwide found global participation had increased by 19 per cent since the Rugby World Cup in 2007.
That burgeoning participation rate can only be good for a sport already well entrenched in corporate circles.
And, in turn, that can only help the Force’s chances of securing sponsorship.
“We have a head-start on that, off the back of the fact that a lot of senior company people have experienced the game from a very early age one way or another,” Mr Reid said.
“Our corporate offering works as well because our matches are usually in the evenings on Friday or Saturday nights, so you can be involved in the Super Rugby competition without really needing to corporately give up a day.
“It is a shorter period of time (than other sports), which sometimes works in our favour.”
With continued support from sponsors and die-hard supporters, Mr Reid said the Force would focus on getting ‘casual’ fans through the gate at nib Stadium.
He said market research suggested there were about 420,000 people interested in rugby union in the Perth metropolitan area.
“We know that there is a strong rugby community in Perth that we are able to tap into,” Mr Reid told WA Business News.
“What we need to do is to find reasons to get them to come to the game.
“Our ability to attract a walk-up crowd is ultimately important to our financial viability from season to season.”
That ability to attract the casual fan is difficult, according to Mr Reid, when Super Rugby games are televised live, every weekend, on Fox Sports.
“Our competition is our own match live to air,” he said.
“You know at home that the plasma works, you know your lounge is comfortable and your fridge is full of beer.
“We need to create a reason for people to go to the game, because they can get it at the same time as people that make the effort.”
The best way to attract fans, then, is simple, Mr Reid said – put a winning product out on the pitch.
“People want to see the best players,” he said.
“In any code, if you’ve got a representation of the national team in your regional team, then by definition, people are interested in that.
“And equally they are interested to see other teams with prominent members of the All Blacks and the Springboks as well.
“Its really just fishing where the fish are, and the more successful we can be on the field, then the more likely we will be to attract more people from that 420,000.’’
