Agree it doesn't look good at the moment but things are going right at Wigan RL.
New Coach & Asst.
New Strength & Cond.
An experienced half back,
A commitment to bring through our U-age players.
I have an optimistic view that we will have a sponsor for next year.
I don't know anymore than anyone else, I'm just optimistic for the future.
Management is about making things happen.
Things are happening at Wigan RL because we have people in charge who can make them happen!

Totally correct. But there are those on here that will say its criticising for the sake of it and its all the recessions fault.

It seems to me a very strange situation to be in, and one that Quins were also in, yet they had a main sponsor last season.

can anyone come up with a figure regarding how much the club benefits directly financialy?

and then compare that to how much extra income we will make by not having a sponsor on the shirt?

last year was a fiasco...many didnt buy because it was well into season , and many didnt buy because they didnt want to walk round with mecca bingo on the shirt.

we need to be careful selecting a sponsor.
how many would want RENTOKILL or TAMPAX on the shirt ???

Correct. In fact, I was told to get a grip when I criticised the fact we had no sponser and I don't understand the fact we're in a recession, apparently.

We need a sponsor who is on the rise and could market us with their product/services like a mobile phone company and charge them minimal for them to sponsor us just advertise us with their products and give them a boat load of tickets and memerobilia to advertise as prizes and that.

Tampax would be suited sponsoring Union teams as their all stuck up c***s.

I have typical figures to hand but they are worthless unless weighed against the actual mark up from shirt and ticket sales. It is also somewhat of a gamble with far more variables dictating it's sucess other than whether the shirt has a sponsor on or not.

I am also not talking about how we want a brand to look, but more to do with the effort/methods going into finding a sponsor compared to other clubs.

The sponsor issue is a concern for sure, it would be great to get a big world wide company but I think we may have to settle for a smaller company just to get some money.

Does anyone know how much these deals are worth?

Oh dear - I can hear the Happy Clapping Brigade mobilisating as I write. How dare you question anything!

Anyone think we might suffering from the major adverse publicity we suffered from the Gareth Hock failed drugs test and ban saga?

We've already been done in recent years for breaching the salary cap, deducted points and been fined and now one of our top players fails a drug test.

Perhaps the problem is that you are no longer in the limelight (as you once were). Getting to finals is what sponsors want and that failure will not help you sell the brand.

Don't know if you have picked up the Saints release but different sponsors for home and away shirts (and a general increase in the number of partners) at this time of year makes that point.

and before you all cry selling it cheap - remember Mecca had an option for yr2 which they obviously didn't take up and any sponsorship is bringing money into the club.

Wigan RL is still a team that all none RL supporters have heard of, we still get massive attendances, we still get bigger shirt sales than most other teams, we still get loads of games on tv every year. Getting a decent sponsor is not just about winning things or getting to finals.

DaveO Mick Hogan has responded on that site by stating
Dear All

Can I just clarify the club's position on signed merchandise. We receive over 1000 requests a year from all sorts of organisations for signed merchandise/sponsorship. It is not possible to support them all even though the vast majority are great causes. We nominate one charity each year (Last season was Wigan & Leigh Hospice which we raised £11,000 for). We also support other national causes, RFL charities and selected events. Our players have made more than 400 appearances in the last year to support various charities, schools, clubs etc.

With this instance the individual did request a signed shirt and the policy was explained to him. The club did offer a family ticket (2 adults, 2 juniors plus bar tickets to meet the players). I personally called with the offer and this was accepted with thanks and put forward to the fundraising event.

I am therefore surprised and disappointed that a public forum has been used to criticise the club in this way, particularly as the full story has not been told.

We will continue to help as many groups as possible and I have every confidence that this club does as much for local charities (in terms of donations, PR, Prizes and player appearances) as any business across the north west.

Regards

Mick Hogan
CEO

I personally think this is fair comment by the club.

And how did you become so well known then - wasn't that by winning things???

Sponsors don't really care about the past - they only care about publicity for their company in the here and now - and that relies on winning stuff especially if it's on the bbc?

Yes but through that success Wigan RL is a name known far and wide now. If good sponsors rely on just winning things, why do teams in super league have good sponsors when they have not won things?

If your theory was true then Leeds, Saints, Warrington, Hudds and Hull FC would be the only teams with sponsors!

Winning things obviously helps, but it is not the only thing a company will look at when sponsoring a club is it? They also look at the list I produced.

Also companies are likely to sponsor teams who are likely to be playing in finals, I think you could say Wigan are one of those teams with 5 semi finals in the last few years. I doubt Warrington and Hudds got their sponsors because they were expected to be playing in the challenge cup final really though.

People really do overated this whole fall from glory thing for Wigan, this is a bad era for us and yet still for the last 3 years we have finished the third best team.

Even a side that made two NRL finals recently is struggling for sponsors...... www.foxsports.com.au/story/0,865 ... public_rss And they get Free to Air exposure!

Even a side that made two NRL finals recently is struggling for sponsors...... www.foxsports.com.au/story/0,865 ... public_rss And they get Free to Air exposure!

Personally don't agree with the fall from glory stuff. However using your example of Saints, Leeds etc it is true that these teams are not struggling to find sponsors. As for Huddersfield it has been widely reported that sponsorship by academic institutions generally isn't worth much.

People do however want to be associated with success - it helps significantly when selling sponsorship.

I wonder if they are?
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well post a figure then and stop beating about the bush.

we need to know exactly how much a sponsor would typically put into a rugby league club before we can debate the merits of having one or not

I was told that Mecca bingo paid in the region of £80K for last year. Wigan wanted more and a compromise was reached regarding the other 'bits & bats' that they would get such as free tickets, player visits etc..

Not too sure how much the other sponsors such as Tote and Co-op paid.

Exactly. A comparison to Australia cannot be made either, simply by looking at how much that sleeve sponsor alone was worth.

Top and bottom of it is, that almost every other team in SL is fully sponsored and ready for the new season. And it looks like, again, that Wigan are not.

Did anyone else get their Wigan warriors Christmas draw tickets today?

Co-op travel appear quite heavily involved.

I wonder if they will step up to be the main sponsor for next season.

Don't!

My dads been on pins all day trying to think of who he's going to sell them to...........he's moithered me to bits



Your right though Co-op does seem to be stepping up their involvment.

thank you.....at last someone prepared to answer the question.

so how many shirts would we have to shift to make £80k profit without a sponsor?
ans....a lot imo.
so we could do with getting a sponsor even if they only put £50K in.

Received them myself also and wondered the same.