Quote Originally Posted by halo se7en View Post
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.
The local interest is definitely there from businesses as a local consortium did put forth a bid but were well short of the $$$ required by FFA.
Don't for a second underestimate that there are businesses in the Hunter who want to be involved with the Jets. Just look at businesses like Inspirations Paint, Greater Building Soc, Varley Eng etc who have all come on board since FFA took over and with the right owner involved I bet there would be dozens more willing to be involved!