Does everyone who got a mailing get offered the same deals or do they aim the more expensive packages at the more upmarket supporters? How do they know?

I would guess it would be judged on where your season ticket is. If it's terracing, they'll aim the lower end. If it's the posh seats in the middle of the family stand, or a seat in the corporate bit, then they'll aim the higher end.

we`re in the terracing and we had a letter with all 3 offers on, not gonna take a 10yr package up tho cos the worlds end is nigh.

Ok I read it wrong apparently, as it's £1000, not £500 as I thought I'd read.

Good offer, but I can't afford a grand. Might have scraped £500 but no chance of £1000.

I would have without doubt of taken a 5 year option. The 10 year option is pretty wallet busting but good value if you have some cash tucked away that you definitely might not need in the near future.

Really good stuff from the club IMO.

It gives the club assurances of effectively guaranteed future income (assuming that the money is invested or accounted for over the duration of the membership) and also a clear target market to sell future opportunities to.

Only thing I can't why anyone would go for red over amber (the 2 packages that I've been sent)? The red asks for £5k for 25 years - £200 per season, and the amber asks for £1k for 10 years - £100 per season. There are some bits and pieces benefits with the red in terms of the free shirt vs a discounted one, but not £100 per seasons worth.

Anyhoo, as I said at the beginning - really good stuff from the club.

I got offered red or amber

Now I'm really curious about what was in the black package

DEATH!

anyone else thinking this offer might be a way for bulls to rapidly get a significant sum of money available to fund a longer term capital project?. If the full allocation is taken up for the read and amber memberships then club has a million pounds available immediately to fund something without having to go to bank. In return they lose some income but spread over next 10 yrs from 500 fans (+ 25yrs from 100 fans), although they only lose the main season ticket revenue really and I'd imagine people who have a ticket paid for in advance like this will be more inclined to spend more on merchandise and gameday stuff.

Maybe a way of raising a significant sum as our contribution to some ground improvements ? Only other thing I can think of wher we may need a large sum of capital would be the image rights thing but I cant see our liability being anything like this big as we never really took advantage of the loopholes apart from for harris.

Not really right there, since Harris' image rights were paid by "independent third party" Publico, not the club. Different issue - The salary cap auditor seemingly determined that those image rights should nevertheless fall within the cap, retrospectively, hence breach.

Don't fool yourself that Bulls did not pay part of relevant players' packages in the form of image rights. They did. All clubs did. And remember we are going back quite aways here. And the annual accounts note the contingent liability for the exposure. If Leeds Rugby lose the test case (and if they DO, then it is a total scandal and proves the establishment is out to wreck RL IMO) then clubs appear top be facing very big numbers indeed. Indeed, the forming consensus seems to be it could be an extinction-level event across the game.

I do not know of a specific reason why the club is looking to generate cash ahead of recognising it as income in the accounts. It COULD be for a specific purpose like you suggest. But I could equally say I don't need to, since its bloomin' obvious anyway. You only have to look at the last published accounts, for 2009, and then think about what likely happened in 2010, to see that a nice one-off cash injection would restore the treasury position to sonething much more sensible. And take the pressure off the bank account at a stroke, so the club can concentrate more on doing proactive stuff for the future. Its a step I would have looked to take had I been Bulls' CFO.

But I speculate, since I have no specific information. I applaud the initiatives though.

Grief, your always a cheery soul aren't you adey!

I have been offered red or amber but not black. I am intrigued too.

My wife has not been offered one. She is most upset. But then if she gets offered one in a later mailing I will feel less honoured. It's a tricky one...

I am feeling less honoured. There were 50 black deals on offer. One went to my father-in-law who has never been to an RL match in his life. Although my mother-in-law who has hardly missed a Bulls/Northern match in the last 40 yrs hasn't had any offer. The only way we can work this out is that the address is obviously in the database and my father-in-law was the company director for the company which he created to handle a small amount of private income when he was winding down to retirement.

Again, a friend of the family who is still working and again is a company director - he got one. Strangely he never goes to odsal but hasn't missed a Catalans/bulls match in france yet - due to the presence of a holiday home nearby which we borrow.

Thirdly, the guy whose mail we occasionally get - he got one (which I gave back to him) and again he owns his own company.

Logically - company ownership would seem to be a prerequisite for getting a black offer.

From memory - the black offer was £15k over 3yrs and basically the way to describe it is Director level access to the bulls a la Tordoff /Bennett etc without actually being a director. You also get a custom made suit, access to tickets for any grand finals we may get to etc.

My brother-in-law , who is mainly a footie fan, got his first season ticket from us for Xmas. He got a Red/Amber deal offer yesterday.

I would be quite interested in buying one of the deals but unfortunately, it is by invitation only.

No mate, just trying to deal in the facts as best as I can divine them. As a founder member of the Positive Tendency, you could hardly accuse me of chronic negativity?

Trying to ignore the elephant -or in his case elephants - in the room won't make the elephants go away thouigh. But, regarding the in-house elephant, the club is doing is level and determined best to shoo the barsteward out - and making a pretty good fist of it IMO. As for the game-wide one, well on this occasion I suggest we all have a big interest in Leeds' success?

dont worry adey, the cheery soul comment was tongue in cheek



suspect your probably correct about club wanting to get bank balance looking more positive by a large cash injection. Wasn't suggesting harris image rights thing was our only exposure as im certain we did utilise the tax loopholes, although I wouldnt imagine our exposure is at same sort of level as some clubs who more obviously seemed to assemble more expensive squads than cap allowed.

More expensive squads than the cap allowed?? Wire you saying that? It can't be true, can it? Maybe we should invest in one of those Singapore parachutes...............

I got the Black package invitation.

Thing is, even if I did have the money, the inclination to spend it and the nerve to do it in unilateral defiance of my wife, I think I would be haunted by the memory of a certain Mr Richmond doing a similar thing at Bradford City shortly before they went to the wall. I believe that those 25 year season ticket holders have not had their full packages honoured and most are very bitter about it.

So, because I'm tight, skint and chicken, I'll stick to renewing annually.

I think the rule of caveat emptor will always apply to long term deals of this kind, though I don't feel, even slightly, that the cynical attitudes behind other similar schemes can be attributed to the current Bulls board.

There are some pertinent questions though, such as, it transferable in the case of say incapacity or even death, would there be any 'sell back' scheme in the event of serious financial problems for the member, and where in the pecking order would members of the schemes stand if the club were to go belly up (sorry, but in any company this is possible and the question has to be asked).

In truth, I don't think it's really suitable for a 'poor pensioner' such as myself, so I'll have to decline, but obviously I hope it is a success and after due consideration, it is taken up by those to whom it is more appropriate.

Very true. And I know at least 2 people who bought those, and now no longer attend Valley Parade due to the way they were shafted and the deal was not honoured. And in all honesty, I don't blame them one bit. If you paid for a service which you didn't receive, especially when it's an expensive one, it doesn't matter how much you love a club, you would be pretty well miffed about it.

I don't think many people would renege on the deal, and from what I know about the current Bulls board, I certainly don't think they would. But it only takes one to do it (as the people at City did) and it immediately puts a lot of people off doing it.

Shame really as it's a cracking deal and if people had the money that they could spare, it would be well worth it. I just can't see enough people having that sort of disposable income lying around to do it, considering almost every normal person in the country being skint at the moment.

Black ain't for me - I'm an ordinary bloke not one of the elite.

But if the club was to invite me into one of the other deals, I would give it very serious consideration.

Think they picked the wrong color to offer me.

10 years is just too long for me, who knows what the future holds?

Real shame they didn't put in a 5 year deal for us paupers!

I wonder what the fine print would say if we had to move to another ground for a year or two if work was done at Odsal?

I got the red and amber offer this morning, and I'd love to take the club up on it but I just don't have that kind of disposable income to hand. I have to justify the season ticket cost each year against time/money spend with and on the family (this year was pretty easy mind

)

Top stuff from the club coming up with these offers and I hope they get a decent takeup but my reading of the Bulls average support is that we're not generally inclined to have or giveaway this sort of cash easily ([size=65*sweeping generlisation alert*, yorkshire folk being tight?[/size)....maybe I'm wrong?

Best bit is my dad hasn't had the "personal" invitation despite having a retirement nest egg burning a hole in his pocket and having supported the club since he was a lad... much to my amusement

(he'd be too tight to buy one anyway btw!)