Stolen this off a topic on Total RL, but there's a guy on there claiming that someone called Mike Danson (owner of the new statesman) has bought a stake in Wigan.

Seems legit as [urlhttps://opencorporates.com/companies/gb/00174692[/url shows him as one of the overall beneficiaries.

The guys got a net worth of £650m



Wonder if we can make the most out of Hastings free marquee slot (if he leaves).

£650?
I reckon I can get a couple of guys together to raise that much

Don't know what you mean

Ahhh well, that's a different matter!

I'll need to get Rogues involved now !

Don’t let some of the people on here find out there’s a left wing coup of the boardroom.

Like a submarine door that mon

shhhhhhhhhhhush

Bring it on! With a bit of luck our shirt sponsor will be the New Statesman.

Joking aside if IL has sold a stake of the club to another wealthy backer this is a good thing. I have never felt comfortable with the club being run/owned by one man. It's no different to it being owned/run by Dave Whelan. Get's run over by a bus and then where are we?

What on earth has IL done to you DaveO.......

Why are you even asking? I have merely expressed the opinion I don't like the club being owned by one man whether that was DW or IL for the obvious reason it's never a good thing to put all your eggs in one basket and if we have a new additional investor/owner this is good news. What is the problem with this?

Ha Ha then Woosh . Ok mate

Regards EW

Well................................................... It seems that almost since day one of his tenure, you have taken any and every opportunity to have a little snide dig at IL.. To even compare his stewardship with that of DW is an insult. While of course it's good to have extra investment, you have always found ways to look at IL in a negative light... You should have a chat with the Hardaker obsessive, compare notes.

https://www.totalrl.com/wigan-attract-big-investor/

https://www.totalrl.com/wigan-attract-big-investor/

I’d be interested to see how much he’s taken. It’s obvious he’s not overtaken IL as majority share holder but you’d have thought he’d have a substantial share in the club.

More than 25%, less than 50%.

Sizeable chunk then. Very interesting indeed

Maybe Mr Lenagan taking us on the road previously has drummed up the interest from Mike Danson. Once again IFL proving he does things correctly and in the best interests of our club. Your all running out of things to throw at him now?

He had deep pockets allegedly but not anymore.

He only signs championship players but not anymore.

Lets appreciate what we have, maybe this is the start of the club being taken over slowly and surely and this way we will see the new investors hand before we go all in?

The Skolars pre season games may have played a big part IMO. After attending one for the first time this year, I’d imagine there would be a few people there wealthy enough to buy a stake in a rugby league team. I didn’t see many eyes water at the £7 bottles of larger in the bar, whereas I nearly fainted

I must say one of the things that i liked when i read about Mike Danson is that he was born in Wigan and isn't one of these outsider's who just buy into clubs who aren't actually from the area,a case in point being these investors who buy football clubs who aren't even from this country.I also read somewhere that he owns one of Michael Jackson's old properties i think it's in New York,hopefully we will be an even more attractive prospect to potential future players now we have 2 very rich benefactors

He can be like Roman Abromovich but instead of offering a week on his yacht, he can offer players a week in his MJ mansion in New York. It’ll still be a tough sell to get players to choose that over Eamon McManus and his villa in Parr though.

Very good I'm really hoping that we can bring some really quality overseas players from the NRL,top of the list for me would be the second row captain of Cronulla,he's an ideal replacement for o'loughlin plus he has a really good kicking game with his left foot

.... did Mike Danson abolish the salary cap and convince the Aussies to change their position on only selecting NRL players for the national side? Until then we aren't signing a current aussie international

I do really wonder about the expectations of some of our fans.
If IL buys the stadium then he will need to provide jobs for many people. One of the major concerns must be the state of the pitch.
One of the 1st things the administrators did was to make the head groundsman redundant and from what I hear the pitch is being looked after by apprentice groundsman and that only consists of mowing it at this time.
How much work and the cost of re-employing the staff to get things back in shape is anyone's guess. Then of course there are the other positions, ticketing staff, front office and catering staff etc etc.

All of this has to be done at a time of NO income.

What I will say, is that if IL does buy the stadium then all those fans who used the excuse not to attend because it wasn't ours have to good grace to get off their backsides and get down there again (once fans are allowed).

Somehow I don't think it'll happen as they will find another "reason" to not attend.

Rant over.

Why not all we have to do is clear a marquee spot and then we can pay them what we want,that's the whole idea behind the marquee spots so rich benefactors can pay players what they like out of their own pockets

Not that I expect a response, but...

What are your expectations should IL buy the stadium? I'll happily list mine & some assumptions that I have;

1 - Mike Danson hasn't invested in us to make money - no one invests in sports clubs, nevermind RL to see a return.

2 - Whoever takes over the ownership of the stadium will have to change some things as it can't continue 'as is'.

3 - IL is a very smart man and will have short and long-term plans. The short term will prioritise the things you listed like re-employing staff and making sure it's COVID secure.

If assuming point one is correct, then Damson is a fan and, as a fan, he'll want to see us do well. That means at the very least a continuation of us being in for big name players when they come available (Burgess, Hastings, Bowen, Hoffman, Tomkins, Bateman etc). Now current Aus internationals have never been an option for us, but that doesn't mean we can't bid for other big name players if they become available. Could Danson's millions, coupled with the marquee spot make us more of a power player tho?

With option 2, I agree with your earlier point about different ways to generate more revenue (Business Manager, meeting room use etc). You can't however just dismiss the genuine thoughts of a large proportion of our fan base who think the atmosphere at the DW is pretty weak. I can't see why it's one or the other btw - why can't they invest a little in safe standing (follow the Celtic model) and also try to maximise the use of the stadium? IL wants to increase our gate numbers and the only way to do that is to make it a must see/go to event, of which the atmosphere plays a huge (but not exclusive) part.

Over the years on here I've seen many posters lecture others about self-fulfilling prophecies and how if we keep talking about negative things they will eventually ruin us. This for once is a positive thread and has people sharing ideas on how things can be improved and has a genuine positive outlook for the club - new investment and a chance to own a stadium. Sadly many people can't practice what they preach and have instead have to dismiss the thoughts of others whilst proclaiming their own way as the only viable solution.