Rocket gave a good summation of the financial situation last night on The Footy Show when he said:
"I think it's a tough market."
"Sponsors and members is probably the toughest area because there's really only small industry on the Gold Coast, so obviously you need national sponsors."
"Members - Queenslanders by nature ... have a walk up mentality. So I think that's always going to be difficult for them."
"It's about success. If you get success on the field then people will jump on."
It's very difficult to attract national sponsors when you aren't performing on field and are 'irrelevant' in the minds of many. It's also very hard to sell memberships when the team is constantly losing. So I think Rocket is right. On field success will go a long way to fixing those issues due to the climate on the Gold Coast. Luckily for the Suns, the Titans haven't put the foot on their throat and taken full advantage of the opportunity.
The only team that's really comparable in terms of local sponsorship are the Cats. However, Geelong were extremely fortunate to be based in the city where major car manufacturer Ford decided to set up their Australian base back in the 1920s. The two parties have been working together for more than 90 years now so that's a sponsorship that will likely last for a long time. The only major company based on the Gold Coast that might be interested is The Star (Gold Coast) casino but they already sponsor the Queensland Maroons. Having said that, there may be an opportunity when the second casino is built on the Gold Coast. That's probably their best bet for a major local sponsor in the short term but right now they just have to rely on securing national sponsorship.
tl;dr - Win more games and the club will be okay.
"I think it's a tough market."
"Sponsors and members is probably the toughest area because there's really only small industry on the Gold Coast, so obviously you need national sponsors."
"Members - Queenslanders by nature ... have a walk up mentality. So I think that's always going to be difficult for them."
"It's about success. If you get success on the field then people will jump on."
It's very difficult to attract national sponsors when you aren't performing on field and are 'irrelevant' in the minds of many. It's also very hard to sell memberships when the team is constantly losing. So I think Rocket is right. On field success will go a long way to fixing those issues due to the climate on the Gold Coast. Luckily for the Suns, the Titans haven't put the foot on their throat and taken full advantage of the opportunity.
The only team that's really comparable in terms of local sponsorship are the Cats. However, Geelong were extremely fortunate to be based in the city where major car manufacturer Ford decided to set up their Australian base back in the 1920s. The two parties have been working together for more than 90 years now so that's a sponsorship that will likely last for a long time. The only major company based on the Gold Coast that might be interested is The Star (Gold Coast) casino but they already sponsor the Queensland Maroons. Having said that, there may be an opportunity when the second casino is built on the Gold Coast. That's probably their best bet for a major local sponsor in the short term but right now they just have to rely on securing national sponsorship.
tl;dr - Win more games and the club will be okay.
