Recalling how we seemed to rely on cup final money one one time and what poo that got us into eventually (along with other factors) I'm not necessarily laughing hard at this, but it does show the vital need for top-notch marketing and commercial arms at a club these days to get fans and their/sponsors money into the place irrespective of on-field success. Thank god we've got excellence in both areas:



[urlhttp://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liverpool-news/regional-news/2010/08/25/st-helens-rugby-league-club-s-losses-spiral-as-it-waits-for-new-stadium-92534-27129723/[/url

Wigan lost over £500K last year.

I thought Wigan's loss was more like £40,000.

My mate has had the accounts through and he said that the loss was £500K +

I thought the same as Ted. Not many clubs make money but smallish manageable losses with crowds on the up, increased income from merchandising etc and no dependance on getting to finals to stay out of the mire is a bit different from increasing losses that are expected to continue for the next few years.

If we're wrong on the figures, then apologies to Stains and

.

An £800,000 loss is not problematic to a club like St Helens. They've probably not benefited financially from the sale of their ground yet, and they have a chairman willing to put his hand in his pocket.

You can't run a sports club if it's not well funded one way or another.

On a loosely related note, an accountant mate of mine had a look at Man United's audited accounts last year, telling me that they made a £40m profit in the last financial year, but in that year, they had sold Cristano Ronaldo for £80m; his inference being that had they not sold him, then the club would have made a huge loss, making them look unattractive on the markets.

It's not missing out on finals that is screwing Saints, it's Knowsley Road.

Try getting decent sponsors in there whilst scrabbling to pay the latest in a long line of bills to make sure you can actually legally allow people into that dump to watch rugby.

p.s. the thing about Wigan losing £500k+ can't be true - xBrettKennyx keeps telling me that the salary cap is holding rich Wigan back.

Man United have bigger problems than that. The Glazers are ruining that club.

Did that include Gleeson's transfer fee?

Quite possibly, in fact it would.

Didn't Ian Lenagan say that if we made a final we would break even?

i'm sure he said it was going to be around 100k loss if we dont make a final.

This year or last?

How can Wigan make a loss with such an (allegedly) favourable lease? Doesn't make much sense

Sorry to intrude on your board.

I am with FearTheVee, how are you making a loss? You have arguably the best fan base, best average attendance, a ground you don't need to pay for, (or do you? I don't really know much about your club and your finances).

Rather worrying for the game that a club like your own isn't making a profit.

was lat year, basically the loss was Gleesons transfer IL said and if we would have made wembley it would have cleared the debt.

I believe (just speculation mind Rogues will know more) that the club was making huge losses under Dave Whelan. I believe we got little/nothing for sponsorship (JJB) and the whole marketing and organisation of the club was a complete shambles. I heard figures such as 1.5 million a year in losses at one point. Sounds extreme to me, but believable when you consider the Stuart Fielden transfer in 2006 and the general state of the club. I believe we paid fortunes in compensation to players/coaching staff that we sacked.

No need to apologise. I'm all for intelligent Saints fans posting on this board. It just doesn't happen very often.

So, welcome!

Your question is a very good one indeed. I don't understand how given the level of ticket revenue that should be coming into the club Wigan can be making a loss in the era of the CC. Unless the rental for the stadium is high, which IL has been reported as saying is not the case, or there are other hidden costs involved in the use of the stadium....

Might be worth a look at the accounts when they're available. From looking at tinternet Companies House haven't received the FY09 accounts yet, they are due by 31 August so they should be there in a few days.

We'll get Woody to scrutinise them and put then into fans speak, rather than accountancy terms.

how did warrington do?

5.8 Million turnover, 30k profit.

Yeh, so people keep saying.

No one's come up with anything convincing yet, though. I mean, there has to be a reason why the Glazers have been able to buy Man U, and the average bloke on the street who evidently knows everything, hasn't.

not bad eh? especially when everyone else seems to be running at a loss.

Go back on our board, brought the thread about our results back.

Now I'm no financial expert but is the loss at Wigan purely for that season or does the loss from the previous season get carried forward? Did we open our accounts in the red?

I know both McManus and IL has said in the past year, in terms of making money, getting to Wembley is worth far, far more than getting to Old Trafford.

That prob how Wire are making a profit.