Flash Gordon wrote:janeymac08 wrote:ronk wrote:
They were mostly insulated from the financials because of the extent of the IRFU bailout.
Their recruitment quantities don't tally with a broke province and never really hit the exodus we had.
Lucky Leinster who have never had to even think of selling naming rights because it rents its stadium. It would be interesting to see how Leinster would manage if it had to redevelop its own stadium.
Strike that, we know. Leinster made a complete mess of the attempt to redevelop that white elephant of a stand in Donnybrook while the players were up to their oxters in muck. Nice of the Royal Dublin Society and the IRFU to bail Leinster out with usage of the RDS and Lansdowne Road stadium. It would be interesting to see how Leinster would cope if it had to come up with 30m or 40m to provide a stadium for games.
Not sure about Donnybrook being a white elephant, we only built one stand and the stadium is well used for schools games and concerts. That being said, the Leinster Branch realised early that the pitch and stadium weren't fit for purpose and course corrected.
With regards to the RDS, I know very few businesses in the area that I work that own their buildings. You do the smart thing economically. You certainly don't build a factory or office or a stadium you have no chance of paying back. We pay rent for the RDS and the naming rights have already been pitched out to various companies and there is absolutely no issue selling those - you will have noticed Donnybrook is now Energia Park. We manage to maintain a financial position which is around break even.
Munster are absolutely entitled to use Lansdowne Road for big games if they so chose and are willing to pay the cost to the IRFU, it's only 2 1/2 hours down the road which is a short enough journey for anyone anyone who is brave and faithful. However, Munster's problem is that they built the hype into the business plan. The reality is that most fans of all provinces are not ligindry and the wouldn't actually die for the club. Many go along to have a pint, entertain the kids or watch a big game.
Blocking the naming rights for TP was just plain stupid. I was working for a major sponsor at that time and we just couldn't believe the money they were leaving on the table.....And more fool the IRFU for allowing that to happen. Munster need to address their economic model - get more commercial and fix the academy so they don't have to spend so much on imports. You can blame Leinster all you like, as I said, I take no pleasure in Munster's financial woes but the reality is that the soul of the club has fundamentally changed because the players on the park are increasingly not from Munster and the financial model is a car crash.
As far as I can recall, the Leinster Branch lost a lot of money on trying to redevelop Donnybrook. It was crazy putting in that stand when the pitch was unusable. How many years did it take for that to sink in? The place isn't big enough to hold the school's final.
With regard to owning your own stadium - its all very well to do so if there are stadia to rent (which wasn't the case in Limerick). What do you think Munster should have done? Let Thomond Park fall down and come up to the Aviva for Munster's home games? Do an Edinburgh on it?
Leinster are entitlted to use the Aviva? Anyone saying Leinster isn't. Its just very handy for Leinster that there is this stadium part owned by the IRFU a kilometre down the road from the RDS that they can hire. You think Munster supporters should be driving up and down from Cork/Limerick to games in the Aviva?
Munster have a Commercial Board, most of them who know a hell of a lot more about commerce than the entire Leinster fan base put together. (See list of who they below). I'm not blaming Leinster (most of the narrative here is why isn't Munster more like Leinster) though it comes across like jealousy of Munster for reasons I can't fathom bearing in mind how successful Leinster have been this year.
You haven't a clue what the financial model is (for example, do you know that Munster have a Patron's Scheme whereby wealthy individuals guarantee to provide up to 30K a year for 3 years?, or that it organises a dinner in London every year where some of the proceeds of last year's dinner are paying for a new All Weather pitch in Musgrave Park this year?
MUNSTER RUGBY COMMERCIAL BOARD MEMBERS:
Niall FitzGerald: Chairman, Leverhulme Trust (retired chairman of Unilever UK).
https://www.irishtimes.com/business/fri ... -1.2137093
Patrick Coveney: CEO, Greencore
David Cronin: CEO, UL Foundation
Leslie Buckley: Chairman, Independent News and Media.
Tony Keohane: Chairman, Ervia and Repak
Ken Murphy: Executive Vice President & Chief Commercial Officer, Walgreens Boots Alliance
Dee Forbes: Director General, RTE
Gilbert Little: Director, Ammeon Ltd
Keith Wood: Director, W2 Consulting
Killian Hurley: CEO, Mount Anvil
Gerry O'Shea: President, Munster Rugby
Garrett Fitzgerald: CEO, Munster Rugby
Gerry O'Loughlin: Independent Chairman, Management Committee, Munster Rugby
John Hartery: Professional Game Board Representative
Tom Kinirons: Independent Chair, Finance Committee, Munster Rugby
Enda Lynch: Commercial and Marketing Manager, Munster Rugby
Doug Howlett: Corporate Ambassador, Munster Rugby