To say the Wests Tigers have underperformed over the past two decades would be an understatement. Shane Richardson has a plan to change its fortunes.
Already a subscriber?Long after the crowds are gone, and Leichhardt Oval has emptied, the rubbish that has accumulated is funnelled out of the ground through the VIP area.
The performance of the club last season, when the Wests Tigers sank to the bottom of the ladder for a second year in a row, was the final straw. Wests Tigers also have the lowest amount of membership and corporate revenue of the nine Sydney-based clubs.Shane Richardson has been here before. The Queenslander ran South Sydney from 2004 to 2015, transforming the Rabbitohs, backed by Russell Crowe, James Packer and now Mike Cannon-Brookes – from a bottom-of-the-barrel club to premiership winners.He comes with a no-frills – and sometimes divisive – attitude.
The club has had seven coaches since sacking premier-winning coach Tim Sheens, with its former star player Benji Marshall taking over last year. To achieve this, he wants to a build sophisticated database of everyone from members to anyone who has attended a match or bought Wests Tigers merchandise. “It’s about making a real difference in the community. That way memberships are growing … regardless of team performance,” he says. “It is troops on the ground. It’s literally every kid that shakes a hand, looks at a player, and gets inspired to be better in life.”
“The business side – that was a challenge,” Mr Richardson says. “We weren’t telling the truth about where our membership was, our corporate was the lowest level of anybody in Sydney.According to the Tigers’ strategic plan, released to members this month, Richardson plans to grow membership revenue from $1.3 million in 2023 to $2.2 million by the end of next year, and sponsorship revenue from $6.6 million to $8.5 million.
Brydens Lawyers, run by the club’s former chairman, Lee Hagipantelis, is the $1 million-a-year jersey sponsor. The deal ends this season, but Brydens has last right of refusal.Getty“We’ve got two sponsors interested in coming on … we’ve gone to the marketplace and upgraded all of our sponsorship to the level that it should be,” Richardson says. “You can’t just accept that if you’ve gone terrible, then business is terrible.
In the 1970s, long before State of Origin, Leichhardt was hosting showdowns between NSW and Queensland. Leichhardt Oval’s changing rooms for the top players. Richardson says the stadium is not up to standard.“If you look at the great clubs, they have great stadiums. We are playing at broken down Leichhardt ... we need to play bigger stadiums to grow our crowds and our corporate side,” he says.
“Richo brings an unparalleled track record of building footy clubs and managing stakeholders like player agents, coaching staff, and the roster,” Gallop says.
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