Quote Originally Posted by turbojetfireV8 View Post
For the first five minutes whoever buys us can throw all the money they like at us, but by the sixth minute I wanna see a plethora of sponsorship deals with local and national (even international, I'm not fussy) businesses, third party agreements coming from every direction, blanket advertising announcing the all new fighter Jets have arrived and they're ready for combat, promotion to make the Knights hierarchy cry, and that's just for starters. The Jets need to rebuild the brand properly within the community by showing they mean business on and off the park, they've made a tentative start but we need to take it fifteen levels higher.

I do want to know what any prospective buyer envisages the club will be in 5, 10, 25 years time - A-League and ACL champions? A proper academy producing top level juniors? That should be the minimum. And do they have the investment power long term to make it a reality? Martin ticks a few boxes, but he really needs to be able to show where he's gonna connect with local business etc before I get too excited. I'm also a little apprehensive about being owned by someone who will have virtually no profile here, unless he starts a consortium with local investors will it just look like we've been sold off to a faceless corporation? I'd like to see an owner who actually comes to games as regularly as possible and shows some passion for the team, that would give the semblance at least that the owner is a supporter of the product he is endorsing, more like a Lowy-style ownership where you know the owner is prepared to win at all costs.
Jesus you aren't asking for much. But there it is again, 'he really needs to be able to show where he's gonna connect with local business etc'.

Why? If he gets national or even international sponsors on board, why is this even a priority? And what makes you think local businesses wouldn't jump at the chance to try and connect with a cashed-up Chinese business man?

As for your dreamed up white knight, name some wealthy Newcastle business people who are interested in the Jets, have a high profile, and who are respected enough for the almighty local businesses to deem good enough to get on board. I'm sure this Chinese guy has a million percent better chance of attracting sponsors from further afield than the Hunter Valley then whatever novocastrian it is you're conjuring up in your imagination.

Seriously, do you think any owner is going to be around in 25 years? For any a-league club? Or for most clubs around the world, even highly successful ones?

Also, can you explain to me what 'rebuilding the brand' means without using useless jargon? When the team wins, people attend. When people attend, they get to know the players. When the players become better-known, their face gets plastered around town. End of. If you're talking about school visits, hospital visits, training camps yada yada yada, aren't they already doing that? Do we have any tangible proof that increasing these visits and spending more time out in the community actually leads to an increase in membership or 'better connection' with the community, or is it just another myth we can whinge about when we aren't winning games.