The end of the road

[BaysideMariner]

Speaking to my wife today.
She was being so supportive but after last year but I will not be renewing my platinum seats.
The club does not deserve my money. I paid for three seats but my kids hated the experience that has been presented and I lay this at the foot of the club. Too many times over the last few years I have found myself justifying the (results, actions ) or effort of the team to my kids.
Trying to get some company so I don't sit by myself during the game. I counted only 3 times that they attended as a family with me. At times I have been happy they didn't attend so I didn't have to explain the result.
I wonder after I have tried to negotiate over the last week how many parents are in the same position?
I will attend games when I chose and I will pay at each game. If the club can then make me see effort, then I will reconsider the season after, but they have lost my children forever. Well done!! I tried. You didnt .
They won't come back. My kids have been very open about it. Surely if the club cannot regain the generation of kids they have lost then they would do something better to entice the next generation.
I am Mariners mad. I have three framed signed jerseys on the wall which I have paid a lot of money for.
Screw this season up at your own risk.
No threats but just a fan that tried to justify a membership with great seats to his kids and got burnt by facts and results of the last few seasons.

 

[Forum Phoenix]

I went through something similar a couple years back. Only retained one of my family members but have replaced with 3 friends.

Time heals all wounds they say, and I think they may all come back if on the back of a killer season the club can sweep the coast back into Mariners mania one day. But no amount of rhetoric will do it.

The rest of us still have a laugh and enjoy ourselves win or lose.

 

[marinermick]

My boys love going. They are pretty social and enjoy pregame wherever we go, pregame member's function, flirting with the Lee Academy Dancers and seeing their mates. They will go regardless of result.

 

[turbo]

Time heals all wounds they say, and I think they may all come back if on the back of a killer season the club can sweep the coast back into Mariners mania one day. But no amount of rhetoric will do it.

This. Kids can be fickle and brutally honest, they don't care about which club has more money, which one has been hit by injuries or signed a dud player. The club needs to perform to bring back the casual fans and kids there's no way around it. Some people won't get on the bandwagon outside an amazing season but before we worry about that we've got to earn some respect back for the club.

 

[BrisRecky]

Mrs Recky and moi have missed maybe 3 home games in the era of spoon, so we’re clearly insane (doing the same thing time and again expecting a different result) and while I can’t and have no right to speak for anyone else , we can’t just go f**k you to the colors, we’ll be back ...cause like I said

 

[Wombat]

Kids need to follow a successful team.
I got my son a season ticket and he only came to one game last season. Directly after we had won a game he decided to check us out. He brought his girlfriend and two mates and expected to see another win. We played poorly and he never watched another game.
Interestingly he told me he wanted me to get him a season ticket this year.

 

[midfielder]

Its obvious and has been for years and expressed by many on this site, that the lack of investment in the squad while reducing costs, has reduced revenue as well.

Just consider every 1, 000 extra fans @ $ 25.00 per game is $ 25, 000, over 13 games is $ 325, 000. Another 2, 000 fans is $ 650, 000.

I guess the question is would an additional $ 500, 000 spent increase crowds.

 

[turbo]

I guess the question is would an additional $ 500, 000 spent increase crowds.

It's a valid question but only a few people like Shaun would know how much of a casual ticket sale ends up in the clubs pocket and what costs scale with expected crowds etc.. does an extra 2k people equal 600k or is it more like 3 or 400k? I think 500k if spent well would definitely help our results and have a flow on effect. If you chuck it on overpaying a few average players and a few extra squaddies not so much. I'm hopeful that the club seems to be seeing the light on that one now and is determined to spend well rather than overspend, if we get that right it makes it a lot easier to make a case for being given more funds to work with in future seasons.

 

[priorpeter]

So we’ve now got 3 separate threads about memberships/renewals... cool.

I’ll renew, because what the f**k else am I gonna do with my weekends/it’s been a legitimately good excuse to get just drunk enough to not have to remember. Even if I wasn’t to renew, I probably wouldn’t be grandstanding about how I’m taking a stand against the club. I’d slink off quietly until Staj inevitably WINS US THE LEAGUE FARKEN

 

[Antlion]

Crowds and interest have other avenues of impact - especially once the clubs take over running of the league and have a greater cut/control of revenue streams.

Now the club will see more of profits, as well as ticket sales/memberships consider losses in merchandising, TV ratings etc. That will all start really counting now.

I hope it provides motivation to invest more heavily as the potential revenue due to increased interest from the public will actually come back to the club now

 

[midfielder]

Crowds and interest have other avenues of impact - especially once the clubs take over running of the league and have a greater cut/control of revenue streams.

Now the club will see more of profits, as well as ticket sales/memberships consider losses in merchandising, TV ratings etc. That will all start really counting now.

I hope it provides motivation to invest more heavily as the potential revenue due to increased interest from the public will actually come back to the club now

Just on that this is Tong Sage's reaction to the transfer of Hal running.

 

[marinermick]

Crowds and interest have other avenues of impact - especially once the clubs take over running of the league and have a greater cut/control of revenue streams.

Now the club will see more of profits, as well as ticket sales/memberships consider losses in merchandising, TV ratings etc. That will all start really counting now.

I hope it provides motivation to invest more heavily as the potential revenue due to increased interest from the public will actually come back to the club now

The problem is that the wealthier club will invest even more themselves. There will certainly be no salary cap and they are talking about seven foreign spots.

 

[BaysideMariner]

So we’ve now got 3 separate threads about memberships/renewals... cool.

I’ll renew, because what the f**k else am I gonna do with my weekends/it’s been a legitimately good excuse to get just drunk enough to not have to remember. Even if I wasn’t to renew, I probably wouldn’t be grandstanding about how I’m taking a stand against the club. I’d slink off quietly until Staj inevitably WINS US THE LEAGUE FARKEN

My point wasn't to grandstand. I apologize. I will still attend but just on a game by game basis.
I was just talking about the next generation potentially being lost.

 

[Coastalraider]

My point wasn't to grandstand. I apologize. I will still attend but just on a game by game basis.
I was just talking about the next generation potentially being lost.

Yeah I agree with your point. I find it hard to get to games now, for a number of reasons, but most of them are based around performance to be totally honest. A game will take about 4 hours out of a day, and while my wife actually took me to my first game, and started our love of the Mariners, she wont even come right now. So thats time away from my family.

I took my son to a game last year so he could see the cannon - which he didn't get to see because we didn't score - now he is not so keen.

Die hards will go no matter what, and I applaud that. But diehards unfortunately dont fill stands, and when a game competes with other things for entertainment like trips to the beach, bowling, family events etc, it starts slipping down the list when you are almost guaranteed to leave disappointed.

 

[priorpeter]

My point wasn't to grandstand. I apologize. I will still attend but just on a game by game basis.
I was just talking about the next generation potentially being lost.

Ha, sorry mate didn’t mean it to come across as a potshot/as confrontational as it may have seemed now that I read it back. I get where you’re coming from and fully acknowledge the amount of people who’ve left over the last couple of years - I’ve seen it at the coal face, watching bay 16 go from 70-85% full of passionate, screaming fans a mere few years ago, to.... well, a few rows of us who swing between mocking apathy and outrage. It will no doubt take time to rebuild the trust of those who’ve left, those who I still catch up with who say “you still go to games? Interstate!? Man you’re crazy, what’s the point?”
It’s not gonna be easy to re-engage with them by any stretch of the imagination. At the end of the day, it’s a results driven business; success (and thus, positivity) breeds numbers, and numbers breed FOMO which breed more numbers. I truly fear that another season like the last couple will be the death knell for our club. Conversely (and I know I’m stating the obvious here), a successful season will go a long, long way to rebuilding the trust of those disenfranchised fans and obviously drive interest for those juniors who may not have been interested over the past couple of years.

TL;DR - we simply have to get it right this year.

 

[offtheball]

As a teacher who goes to lots of different primary schools it’s alarming the number of 11 and 12 year olds who follow Sydney or Newcastle.

 

[turbo]

As a teacher who goes to lots of different primary schools it’s alarming the number of 11 and 12 year olds who follow Sydney or Newcastle.

Sydney makes sense, it’s an easy bandwagon to get on and they’ve been dominant almost as long as we’ve been rubbish. Newcastle is more of a worry but I think that would be more a result of their 17-18 efforts which wasn’t hard to get behind.

 

[Capn Gus Bloodbeard]

Sydney makes sense, it’s an easy bandwagon to get on and they’ve been dominant almost as long as we’ve been rubbish. Newcastle is more of a worry but I think that would be more a result of their 17-18 efforts which wasn’t hard to get behind.

true. All you'd get from supporting us is 'they're so shit!' - kids don't want to cop that; we don't exactly carry much credibility these days. Not surprising really.

 

[SuperHans]

Speaking to my wife today.
She was being so supportive but after last year but I will not be renewing my platinum seats.
The club does not deserve my money. I paid for three seats but my kids hated the experience that has been presented and I lay this at the foot of the club. Too many times over the last few years I have found myself justifying the (results, actions ) or effort of the team to my kids.
Trying to get some company so I don't sit by myself during the game. I counted only 3 times that they attended as a family with me. At times I have been happy they didn't attend so I didn't have to explain the result.
I wonder after I have tried to negotiate over the last week how many parents are in the same position?
I will attend games when I chose and I will pay at each game. If the club can then make me see effort, then I will reconsider the season after, but they have lost my children forever. Well done!! I tried. You didnt .
They won't come back. My kids have been very open about it. Surely if the club cannot regain the generation of kids they have lost then they would do something better to entice the next generation.
I am Mariners mad. I have three framed signed jerseys on the wall which I have paid a lot of money for.
Screw this season up at your own risk.
No threats but just a fan that tried to justify a membership with great seats to his kids and got burnt by facts and results of the last few seasons.

I agree completely. I have gone from 4 to 2 platinum seats this year and will probably not rejoin next year if Charlesworth sticks to form this year. I couldnt give away Bring a Friend tickets late last year. I have started following the Wollongong Wolves, but no longer mention at those games that I am a Mariners fan because of the laughter and pity in response. Yep, its got to that Charlesworth, I am ashamed to tell others I am a fan, I cant give away tickets to our games and football fans elsewhere think the Mariners club is a joke and fans to be pitied. You have had severalw years to get your shit together, but haven't managed to. Don't you think its time to try a different hobby?