Floodlights cost

Discuss all things Wigan Warriors. Comments and opinions on all aspects of the club's performance are welcome.
kitt green warriors
Posts: 253
Joined: Sun Sep 23, 2007 8:09 pm

Floodlights cost

Post by kitt green warriors »

I've just read this over on the Latics forum and must say I didn't realise it was so bad in the UK, is this for real?


It's time we had a proper discussion about the cost of living crisis and specifically how this will affect the club going forward. I'm not 100% sure on all the numbers but I'd warrant a guess that the DW Stadium energy bills will rise by at least a quarter of a million. It will actually be worse for us than other clubs because we unfortunately rent the stadium out to a sports club who play the majority of their home games in the evenings, meaning further use of floodlights compared to other football clubs. As the landlord, the regular ground bills such as energy, heating etc are our responsibility to pay.

So, what can we do to solve this and cut costs as appropriate? Mansfield have become the first club to move a Saturday 3pm game forward to a 1pm kickoff (their game vs Walsall on October 15th). They've done this initially as a trial run to see whether it affects their average home attendance. No doubt that every other club in the EFL will have an eye on the same thing. Personally I think it would be a no brainer to move forward Saturday 3pm kick-off times. I can't see it affecting crowds on our end personally and would save a shed load of cash on floodlight use.

Secondly, will the vast increase in energy bills be reflected in the amount of rent that the "Wigan Club" pays Latics considering their constant use of the floodlights? Or will it once again be Latics who bend over and get fu**ed as the Rugby club walks all over us and the owners yet again? Could it even become the case that Latics make a financial loss from their rental agreement due to the extra cost in energy prices? Because 20% of gate revenue or however much they were paying won't be enough to turn the DW lights on for a year.

Apologies for the essay, but this is a very important topic that we need to take into account considering that we are supposed to be working towards becoming self-sustainable under the current owner.
I always knew that I liked this place, you don't have to look to far to find a friendly face, I feel alive when I'm walking on this street, I feel the heart of this city pounding underneath my feet, yeah if the world keeps spinning round and round this is were it all goes down,down,down, THAT'S WHY I LOVE THIS TOWN!.
Bon Jovi "Lost Highway" 2007
josie andrews
Posts: 35575
Joined: Sun Jun 10, 2007 10:17 pm
Location: Wigan
Contact:

Re: Floodlights cost

Post by josie andrews »

Think both clubs need to look at using some sort of sustainable energy!

They could put solar panels on the roofs* of both the DW & Robin Park plus some type of wind energy, (because walking round the DW from the south stand and sitting in the east is like being in a wind tunnel at times) they could perhaps have a couple wind turbines built on unused ground near or next to the stadiums?

I’m not an expert on these things but surely both clubs could come up with something. The Latics will use far more energy than the Warriors as they play the majority of their games during the winter months where we will only use the energy source for the latter stages of the winter.

Hope this makes some sense? 🤔🤔

*Just shows how old I am when I wanted to use the original & old fashioned plural word rooves!
Anyone can support a team when it is winning, that takes no courage.
But to stand behind a team, to defend a team when it is down and really needs you,
that takes a lot of courage. #18thMan
the pieman
Posts: 1310
Joined: Sun May 22, 2005 5:34 pm

Re: Floodlights cost

Post by the pieman »

we rent out stadium out to a club who play most of the games in the evening during summer, so very rarely use the floodlights - edited for accuracy

again just a bitter Latics fan looking to blame Wigan RL for anything they can

and as Josie says, there is plenty they could do about it. Solar panels, Wind Turbine, Ground Water / heat source pumps. There are lots of different technologies available to reduce the Utility bills. Granted, they all require investment, but any good business would look at the Return on that investment over a period of years, how quickly it pays back, and then if they were lucky enough to generate enough from solar, sell it back to the grid.

i used to chair our Green team where i work, and looked at things like this almost 15 years ago but had a similar issue, in that we were tenants, so any proposed changes to the infrastructure of our warehouse would need landlord consent, and thus didnt get very far in some aspects. They wouldnt let us put solar on the roof or wind turbines in the service yard
Charriots Offiah
Posts: 4128
Joined: Fri Sep 18, 2020 1:14 pm

Re: Floodlights cost

Post by Charriots Offiah »

Why not use tidal power created by the Douggie and canal :lol:
josie andrews
Posts: 35575
Joined: Sun Jun 10, 2007 10:17 pm
Location: Wigan
Contact:

Re: Floodlights cost

Post by josie andrews »

Charriots Offiah wrote: Sun Oct 30, 2022 11:54 am Why not use tidal power created by the Douggie and canal :lol:
Not much tidal power there! 😂
Anyone can support a team when it is winning, that takes no courage.
But to stand behind a team, to defend a team when it is down and really needs you,
that takes a lot of courage. #18thMan
southportcdm
Posts: 1150
Joined: Sun Dec 22, 2013 5:05 pm

Re: Floodlights cost

Post by southportcdm »

I wouldn't mind some Saturday afternoon games but it won't be the fans or the club that gets to decide, it'll be Sky.
Wintergreen
Posts: 1611
Joined: Wed May 20, 2015 2:13 pm

Re: Floodlights cost

Post by Wintergreen »

All they need to do is put a pipe into the Sky commentary team box.

The amount of hot air spoken in there will power the stadium for weeks.
Ipinwigan
Posts: 260
Joined: Sat May 08, 2021 4:28 pm

Re: Floodlights cost

Post by Ipinwigan »

Well Latics will be even worse off next season when the are back in Division 1
fozzieskem
Posts: 6494
Joined: Sat May 14, 2016 10:54 am

Re: Floodlights cost

Post by fozzieskem »

Wintergreen wrote: Sun Oct 30, 2022 1:57 pm All they need to do is put a pipe into the Sky commentary team box.

The amount of hot air spoken in there will power the stadium for weeks.
That’s ridiculous thing to so,they’d create so much hot air you’d have Greta Thrunberg round complaining :lol:
Charriots Offiah
Posts: 4128
Joined: Fri Sep 18, 2020 1:14 pm

Re: Floodlights cost

Post by Charriots Offiah »

fozzieskem wrote: Sun Oct 30, 2022 4:35 pm
Wintergreen wrote: Sun Oct 30, 2022 1:57 pm All they need to do is put a pipe into the Sky commentary team box.

The amount of hot air spoken in there will power the stadium for weeks.
That’s ridiculous thing to so,they’d create so much hot air you’d have Greta Thrunberg round complaining :lol:
That’s no way to talk about the world’s leading scientist on climate change, you should be ashamed of yourself.
Post Reply