Soccer tycoon Clive Palmer attacks the Australian game on the GC

[Freomaniac]

Freomaniac, what can we actually learn from the collapse of GCU?

I believe it shows a few things about the Gold Coast market. Firstly, success doesn't necessarily result in the team being accepted by the community. GCU finished 3rd in their first season and could only pull a crowd of 4,109 to the first finals match. The following season they finished 4th and only managed a lousy crowd of 3,281 to their first round finals match against the Victory, the biggest team in the A-League.

So what does the Gold Coast want in a sports team? If success doesn't cut it then what will? Do the GC fans appreciate history? Doubtful. The Titans have been around for 7 years (the most of any Gold Coast sports team) and are at their lowest numbers ever in terms of attendances.

The one thing that is an absolute must in this market is community engagement. The Titans were very good at this when they first started up and plenty of people accepted the team as their own as a result but in recent years have put less effort in this area and their attendances have suffered accordingly. The Suns have made this one of their highest priorities and it is starting to pay dividends.

Short term thinking has really been the reason most teams have failed to crack the Gold Coast market. The Gold Coast Suns are the first team I have seen that have bucked this trend and have a plan for what they want to achieve in the next decade. This team has been set up to last and that is why it will. In ten years time the Suns will be the pride of the city and the Titans will be lucky to even still exist. Big call but I'm willing to make it based on what I know/have seen.

I only have one word... Its called patience.

Go look at all VFL/AFL clubs. They were all given a chance to develop the club both on and off field. Go look at the other Queensland side in Brisbane. They were crap for 5 seasons. Then during that 1993-1997 period they developed a side to make finals. Gabba only held 22,000 back in the mid 1990s. When the 2001-2004 era rolled up, Gabbas Capacity increased to 37,500 and the lions were selling out their home games.

There was one thing I like about them over GWS and Brisbane: They have the courage to recruit guys from the local Queensland clubs. So far it has been good. The suns have at least done well when it comes to community engagement

As for the Titans, they too struggled in their 1st 3 seasons. Then in their 4th season in 2010, they made finals and were getting 15-20,000 people at home games.

 

[Matchu]

I only have one word... Its called patience.

Go look at all VFL/AFL clubs. They were all given a chance to develop the club both on and off field. Go look at the other Queensland side in Brisbane. They were crap for 5 seasons. Then during that 1993-1997 period they developed a side to make finals. Gabba only held 22,000 back in the mid 1990s. When the 2001-2004 era rolled up, Gabbas Capacity increased to 37,500 and the lions were selling out their home games.

There was one thing I like about them over GWS and Brisbane: They have the courage to recruit guys from the local Queensland clubs. So far it has been good. The suns have at least done well when it comes to community engagement

As for the Titans, they too struggled in their 1st 3 seasons. Then in their 4th season in 2010, they made finals and were getting 15-20,000 people at home games.

I don't think you can look to other areas and compare them to the Gold Coast because it is so different to traditional major cities of Australia. The problems the Bears faced from 1987-1992 had a lot to do with Christopher Skase and the team actually being based on the Gold Coast. They moved to the Gabba permanently in 1993 and that's when things began to turn around for them.

I'm not so sure you can say the Titans actually struggled in their first three seasons. In their first two seasons they averaged over 21,000 fans per home game and in their third season they finished 3rd on the ladder. Hardly a team that was struggling in terms of attendances or on field results. The problem is, they were doing quite well on the field by finishing 3rd in both 2009 and 2010 but their crowds were dropping. This doesn't exactly show progression.

 

[RodneyMaynard]

Hey Rodney, How is the Wanderers fairing against the gws giants?

I wonder who will have a bigger home derby this season? GWS or WSW?

The one thing that is an absolute must in this market is community engagement. The Titans were very good at this when they first started up and plenty of people accepted the team as their own as a result but in recent years have put less effort in this area and their attendances have suffered accordingly. The Suns have made this one of their highest priorities and it is starting to pay dividends.

A lot of the credit for this can go to having a community-focused CEO. IIRC Auld was also heavily involved in charity work when he was at Essendon too. At a time when Searle was refusing to pay tradies for work done on the Centre of Excelence, Auld was ensuring one of the key KPIs for the club was the number of hours of community work they did, having the players all serve as life guards, establishing the annual white christmas event, etc etc. Searle always talks about the Titans being a community-focused club, but Travis Auld and the Suns actualy walk the walk so to speak.