Lyndsey & Whelan out ShaunEdwards consotium in ( Round 2 )

[DaveO]

adrenalinxx posted:

Now this is where I got confused, apparently although the clubs remain separate they are tied together though the business, so to buy Warriors someone would have to buy out Latics as well, unless of course Warriors are no longer part of the business but that would attract some attention and we would know within a few days.

I believe you are right in that both the RL and soccer side are part of a sort of holding company called Wigan Football or something. It is a bit like Leeds Rhinos and Leeds Tykes both being part of Leeds Rugby.

What the implications of this are for a potential sale of either the rugby club or even the soccer club I have no idea.

Dave

[DaveO]

the grinch posted:
ive said this before! every club,player,coach is for sale its just a matter of money. if someone offerd whealan enough money he would sell us. hes a business man and wigan warriors to him is just an investment.

I don't think that is true at all. There are far better things to invest your money in than a rugby club (or a soccer club).

I believe he has more than a simple business interest in both clubs.

That does not mean he won't sell either of them but if he does I am pretty certain it would be because he thought it was in the best interests of the club to do so and not to make a return on his "investment".

We might not always agree with how he runs the club (or how he lets Mo run it) but I think we should accept there is more to his involvement with Wigan RL than simply money and give him a bit of credit for that.

Dave

[Fraggle]

ancientnloyal posted:
Right ok... details.

How much money has Edwards got?

That, to me, is the important issue. Whatever people think about Whelan, he's not short of a bob or two, and we're not likely to end up in a situation like Halifax, Doncaster, London Broncos etc whilst we're still under DW's ownership, which is a relief given our financial situation prior to him taking over the club. Sports clubs rarely make money, so anyone else coming in would need to have plenty of reserves to draw upon and accept that the money is spent for fun rather than for a profit. Do Edwards and his friends have that kind of backing? Unless there are some major business figures then I would suggest not. Professional sport is not something for casual investors, you've either got to have some major product that you want to sell through the publicity that can be generated through the sport (JJB Sports, Glazer family at Man Utd. etc) and run the sports team as a loss but which is balanced out by commercial benefits elsewhere, or you're in the game as an amusement for something to enjoy with your millions of pounds (Abramovich, Whelan).

I'm not convinced that a Shaun Edwards' consortium would really have the depth of funding that's required, and whilst it would be a big thing to have a club hero back, it might be a risk in the long-term. The other thread about the collapse of yet another St Helens' title sponsor shows how easily these things can fall apart, and we don't want to have to go through the financial mess of that late 1990's again.

[ancientnloyal]

But can Wigan sustain theirself? we know there is a salary cap and wigan fans through shirt sales alone must bring in £700,000+ advertising hoardings, merchandice etc... would certainly add to our gate receipts and make a profit each year (without buying players).

The salary cap is the change that wont let wigan be dragged back to 1995's finances

[Fraggle]

ancientnloyal posted:
But can Wigan sustain theirself? we know there is a salary cap and wigan fans through shirt sales alone must bring in £700,000+ advertising hoardings, merchandice etc... would certainly add to our gate receipts and make a profit each year (without buying players).

The salary cap is the change that wont let wigan be dragged back to 1995's finances

You could be right, but we get lots of benefit from having our owner also owning the stadium, the merchandise company etc etc. If we didn't have DW then we would have to pay a lot of money for those services.

[butt monkey]

Fraggle posted:
we get lots of benefit from having our owner also owning the stadium, the merchandise company etc etc. If we didn't have DW then we would have to pay a lot of money for those services.

Hmmm? And the club would have the ability to sell shirt rights to the likes of Nike, Adidas etc, merchandising would be tendered to competitive companies etc, instead of DW's subsidiary business's. As for the ground, were is the competition as far as range and price for food and drink. We are ripped off, don't forget that.

[DaveO]

butt monkey posted:

Fraggle posted:
we get lots of benefit from having our owner also owning the stadium, the merchandise company etc etc. If we didn't have DW then we would have to pay a lot of money for those services.

Hmmm? And the club would have the ability to sell shirt rights to the likes of Nike, Adidas etc, merchandising would be tendered to competitive companies etc, instead of DW's subsidiary business's. As for the ground, were is the competition as far as range and price for food and drink. We are ripped off, don't forget that.

Being ripped off for food and drink is likely to happen in any venue these days as you are a captive audience but that is surely the least of our considerations about the club being sold?

I tend to agree with Fraggle about the advantage of having the backing of a rich financier. The idea the club could stand on its own has much greater risks associated with it.

Clubs that do that are IMO all run on a knife edge. It would not take much for the wheels to come off even at a rugby mad place like Wigan.

Ideally you need the club to be efficiently run so someone only needs to be prepared to dip into their pocket to cover a small operating loss every now and again or to fund a transfer like Fielden.

That sort of finance may well be beyond clubs that survive under their own steam.

Isn't that bloke associated with London supposed to be worth a bob or two?

Dave

[Poster]

It would be very interesting to know what the assets of WRLFC are.The stadium is probably part of Whelco,as is Orrell. The players only have value during their contract .I suspect it comes down to very little and thus outside interests would be thin on the ground particularly when you htink how tied to JJB they would be. It would not surprise me to learn thta it was virtual on operating company and if stand alone would be none profit making. :eh: :eh: