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2016/17 Membership

Wombat

Well-Known Member
A long time ago, I started work as a Rep for a Giftware company and Scumville was part of my territory.
On my first trip up there I went to a shopping centre at Wallsend. I took a parking spot and a filthy Commodore with a huge bush pig and her two Gronk children decided that it should have been her spot. She went apeshit screaming and calling me a c etc. Her two kids were jumping up on the back seat screaming and giving me the finger.
I was dressed like a business man and didn't have a goatee in those days so looked like a nice young chap and she must have thought I was fair game.
I found her behaviour outrageous and amusing in equal measure and can only assume she hadn't spotted me already waiting.
I went and had a word with her, explaining that I thought she had a weight problem and loose morals and requested her silence. She was quiet for maybe the first time in her life......for about 5 seconds.....and as I walked away they all started up again.
I was hugely amused as I'd never really seen bogans this bad before......Welcome to Newcastle!
 

FFC Mariner

Well-Known Member
Wallsend shopping centre would be close to the arsehole of the universe.
Im wondering where she stole the $200 car from.
 

dibo

Well-Known Member
Interesting piece in 'Outside90': http://outside90.com/breakdown-a-league-membership-prices/

I encourage you to click so they get the benefit of the ad $$$ - it's a good little site.

Anyway, it turns out we've got really good value memberships. Even accounting for the fact that we only get 11 home games (and no, not paying for away derbies isn't really that great a compensation) we're still paying $13.64 a game for the cheapest adult memberships and only $33.18 for the most expensive.

That's a dead set bargain.

Only Newcastle's memberships are more affordable (per game), and it's by all of 30c a game.

Newcastle were really aggressive in the Tinkler days on membership pricing, but probably too much so - they risked devaluing their product. They're now at a point where they've got their membership prices at a fairly 'normal' level. They're over 8,000 members this year, but are likely making more revenue than when they had 10,000 members signed on for 2/3 the price.

Our Yellow GA tickets can be had for $20.40 (plus booking fee), which is also a massive bargain, but the memberships are so cheap that even if you only make 8 games in Gosford you're still ahead.

To bring the other two games home would add another $27 on, but averaged across our memberships might net us $160k. And you'd still only need to make 9 games in Gosford out of 13 to be ahead.

What were we looking to make off the Canberra trips? And what does a matchday in Gosford cost us? Are we really making a net gain?

I'm really wondering if there's a bit of false economy here. I suspect that if we were offering more in Gosford we might have a chance of netting even another 500 members, which might net a further $85k or so to get us up around $240k gain, which starts to make getting paid $100k to play a game in Canberra look like a less brilliant plan.
 

Timmah

Well-Known Member
I had this discussion with somebody on the MM Facebook group. Put simply, while there are certainly some who might be willing to part with extra $$$ if we bought all games here, there are plenty who won't. Many people who might see a jump in cost and baulk - existing or new.

Of course a good comms strategy around that could help massage that message into something more positive but that's still not going to cover everybody's gripes, hence it being a risk to experiment with that.

And the logic, it seems, is that it's not exposing the product to a new market - which NS or Canberra have, even if it's in small numbers.
 

dibo

Well-Known Member
That's not helpful Wombat.

Timmah, I simply don't see the merit of the "new market". People in NS either support us or SFC already, and people in Canberra aren't particularly interested in borrowing someone else's team for a couple of games a year.
 

Timmah

Well-Known Member
Rubbish Timmah. You sound like a complete stooge!!!!!
Have you got anything outside an insult? I'm merely putting forward an alternative point of view to consider. The people in here are die-hard, rusted on and would probably throw money at the club good after bad for decades to come - that type of fans doesn't represent the whole market. That's the logic I'm referring to here.
Timmah, I simply don't see the merit of the "new market". People in NS either support us or SFC already, and people in Canberra aren't particularly interested in borrowing someone else's team for a couple of games a year.
As I said above to Wombat, I'm just presenting an alternative viewpoint. Personally - I hate the idea of North Sydney or Canberra - but I understand the logic behind it, as shit as it is.

Shaun said himself on the Podcast on Wednesday - he'd love nothing more than for CCM to play all games at Gosford. I think we can all agree on that.
 

Gratis

Well-Known Member
That's not helpful Wombat.

Timmah, I simply don't see the merit of the "new market". People in NS either support us or SFC already, and people in Canberra aren't particularly interested in borrowing someone else's team for a couple of games a year.
I have to agree so with this.
I think of it like as if it were happen the other way around. For example, if a Canberra team existed instead of us, and 12 years into the competition they played two random games on the coast I just don't see 8,000 - 10,000 turning up to the game. I'd be surprised if 4,000 even knew such a game was being played. 1-2 games a year - how many Coasties would signup for a Canberra membership, buy shirts, become rusted on Canberra fans?
My guess - very few.
 

Wombat

Well-Known Member
Have you got anything outside an insult? I'm merely putting forward an alternative point of view to consider. The people in here are die-hard, rusted on and would probably throw money at the club good after bad for decades to come - that type of fans doesn't represent the whole market. That's the logic I'm referring to here.

As I said above to Wombat, I'm just presenting an alternative viewpoint. Personally - I hate the idea of North Sydney or Canberra - but I understand the logic behind it, as shit as it is.

Shaun said himself on the Podcast on Wednesday - he'd love nothing more than for CCM to play all games at Gosford. I think we can all agree on that.


It's good to play Devils advocate sometimes but you post like you agree with it.
It is a stupid and damaging strategy and should be called out for what it is. At least North Sydney made some sense. Canberra just shows up Mike as a dodgy entrepreneur who is not grounded in the real world.
 

nebakke

Well-Known Member
Canberra just shows up Mike as a dodgy entrepreneur who is not grounded in the real world.

While I don't disagree with your view on playing out of Canberra, it's worth noting that Shaun stated on the podcast that that one game last weekend, will cover the projected losses for all of the home games this season... If that's the case, that's hard to argue with I think, especially when they have arguably made up for it by securing membership access to the Jest games... I know it's not the same, but it's a fairly significant sweetener as far as I'm concerned at least.

What worries me a bit though, is that they sound like they understood, but maybe haven't taken to heart, the lack of response from the Canberra audience - but again, I have to admit that trading a couple of games in Canberra for free access to Jest games and a financial break-even, doesn't seem bad to me, as a fan.
 

Tassiemariner

Well-Known Member
Is working for me now for some reason. A quick ctrl c/v below


Struggling Mariners find innovative ways to stay afloat in A-League

From their inflatable sauce bottles — barbecue, mustard or tomato, take your pick — to their dwindling crowds, lack of recent success and grim financial situation, it can be argued that the Central Coast Mariners are one of the most maligned clubs in the A-League.

At a time when the A-League is preparing for much-needed expansion, it says much about the general feeling that there are those who don’t see the Mariners as part of the future of the national competition and would rather see them booted out to make way for other franchises.

Central Coast’s 360,000 population base is not regarded as big enough to sustain an A-League club. The insistence of Football Federation Australia chief executive David Gallop that they have to “fish where the fish are” in relation to the next expansion areas adds fuel to the fire.

On and off the field, the past 18 months have only served to heighten the calls as this proud, family-orientated club has struggled to even stay in the wake, let alone compete on a level playing field, of the likes of Melbourne Victory, Melbourne City, Sydney FC and Western Sydney.

Yet it was only a little over three years ago that the Mariners celebrated their only A-League championship success, under Graham Arnold.

Since then, it has been a downhill ride of poor results, diminishing crowds and cost-cutting measures as owner Mike Charlesworth has desperately tried to stem the tide. It reached its lowest ebb last season when the Mariners finished with the wooden spoon for the first time in their history.

Amid all of this, the club has had to try to find what it says are innovative solutions, leading to deals to play some games away from their picturesque stadium in Gosford in an attempt to galvanise support from outside the coast.

But the experiments of games at North Sydney and Canberra, while earning the club money, have fallen flat and alienated the hardcore Mariners fans while doing little to improve the Mariners brand.

To the credit of Charlesworth, an Englishman who spends most of his time back home, there have been some advances. The $100 million Centre of Excellence at Tuggerah, opened by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull in March, is spectacular. It houses the superb Mariners training centre and academy, as well as a swimming centre, 10 all-weather synthetic pitches and a six-storey office block.

There are plans to incorporate a licensed premises run by the club and designed to be part of a financial flow for the club.

Yet the doubts remain.

Mariners chief executive Shaun Mielekamp, however, remains bullish about the future of the club.

“Anyone who says we will be dead in a few years has not been to our CoE,” Mielekamp told The Weekend Australian.

“They don’t understand our vision. I wouldn’t have come to this club (he had been at the Wanderers for several years) if I didn’t believe in our long-term future.” Mielekamp has produced a five-year strategy for the club that he believes will underpin its future success.

The strategy includes:

• 12,000 members and $1.2m revenue;

• Four major partners exceeding $3m in corporate revenue;

• Spending the full salary cap and having a marquee player every three years;

• Qualifying for the Asian Champions League and winning the A-League Premiers Plate;

• Attaining 14,000 average home attendances;

• The largest academy and pathway nursery to the A-League.

“In five years’ time, I expect we will be one of the most community-minded, innovative and entertaining sports brands in Australia,” Mielekamp said.

“It is not an easy road, no one ever said it would be. It’s not going to be a traditional pathway for us to get there.

“We have to innovate and think of new ideas to achieve those goals.”

As for continuing to take games to other areas, Mielekamp said the club’s only commitment now was for another game in Canberra in February.

“We are 100 per cent committed to 11 games at Gosford as a minimum. We have had 14 games at Gosford and the difference between 11 and 14 is a case-by-case scenario,” he said.

“We’d love to find the right opportunity to grow the club — Dubbo is a region we would like to try — and are not afraid to have a go at it, but none of it is to be to the detriment of what happens here on the Central Coast.”

Financially, Mielekamp says the club is still doing it tough and are not spending the full $2.55m salary cap.

“We are still very tight and have to be extremely prudent. The long term looks great but there is a short-term reality,” he said.

“We still have to work very hard and diligently to make sure we are resourceful and make sure the tools we have today provide for more tools for tomorrow.

“We can’t be reckless and, no doubt, without the commitment of our owner we would struggle to be in existence right now.”
 

Timmah

Well-Known Member
Label me a kool-aid drinker but it's patently obvious the people running the club day-to-day want the club to remain on the Central Coast...
 

Forum Phoenix

Well-Known Member
Pass the koolaide.

The podcast/Sean said everything we need to know on the moving games issue. We're in excellent hands and I think as Sean believes that in 5 years we will make the doubters eat humble pie.

That's another shit article to add to the long list.

Personally I find it abhorrent that the worth of one of the most successful foundation clubs is repeatedly and viciously attacked bevause it won its first spoon and especially in light of the fact, and it is a very salient fact, that in our crowds we have exceeded per capita well beyond every other club. It may not matter as a metric for TV viewerships, FOX and hack journalists - but it surely does to identify a clubs success in engaging its community and finding a support base. We have been great contributors to the league for over a decade, and the fact it is the smallest regional club that cops this disgusts me.

We have over achieved. That a club from such a small catchment has managed to keep its doors open for over a decade should be a cause for great celebration. Not derision because we finally copped the spoon.

I think the long term success of the Mariners serves as the model and inspiration to ever achieving a truly representative and exciting national league. Tonight it's Sydney vs Sydney, followed by Sydney vs Sydney, then we have tomorrows triple header of Melbourne vs Melbourne, Melbourne vs Melbourne and to close us out... Melbourne vs Melbourne. Give me a break.

I'm extremely proud of our club. Been some big mistakes, but many great decisions and achievements also. And because it seems pertinent... I'm grateful to MC. The COE and our youth development contribution is light years ahead of anyone else's.

The booting clubs mentality... is regressive negative thinking. Nothing good will come of it. Any quality journo should be calling it out for what it is – like at least Cockerill and a handful of others have done in the past.
 
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