How to solve a problem like Harlequins RL – Part I

“Every silver lining has its rain cloud”

An introduction

There was little surprise when Harlequins RL were awarded a license for the next three years of Super League three weeks ago, but whilst the flat cappers of Widnes, Leigh and numerous other northern English towns kicked off their whining that rugby league is a local sport for local people, fans of Quins RL breathed a sigh of relief and braced themselves for the challenge ahead.

As anybody who is familiar with the history of the club knows nothing is ever straight forward when it comes to rugby league in London. Whilst a license secures the future of the club in the medium term the grip on that license is far from secure and by the time the next round of licensing comes in three years time significant improvements will need to have been delivered. Whilst the club is making strong progress in the development of players, the supporter base remains the lowest in the league and it stays debt free only by the generosity of the club’s benefactors making up shortfalls in revenue.

The resignation of affable CEO Paul Brown, who masterminded the license application, on health grounds was the first reality check. Browny has been a popular figure on the London rugby league scene for several years, as a driving force behind the development of the amateur game and was seen by many fans as a breath of fresh air when he took the helm in late 2007. Delivering the license was the major of high of his short reign, but it’s fair to say it was just the start of what he was planning.

But when Chairman Keith Hogg took the stand at the recent fans forum to announce details of next season’s match day packages any fans hoping that the gas on the Heineken would get changed for the first time in eons; or that Greene King IPA would be replaced by a proper cask bitter were to be disappointed if no shocked. What they weren’t prepared for was the genuinely controversial decision to close Lexus stand next season as a cost cutting measure.

Whilst closing the Lexus stand, the premium stand which hosts most season ticket holders, may help the club close down operating losses, it has angered many loyal fans. Two seasons ago the club’s strategy was to migrate as many season ticket holders out of the opposite East stand into the Lexus, now those fans will be asked to move back.

There is a rational explanation for the u-turn, opening both the Lexus and the East stand essentially entails opening the full ground, an inefficient practice given the low attendances for most games. Also, dispersing fans across the two stands is not attractive to the television cameras, especially given that the main camera gantry is pointed at the less populated East stand. The East stand also has the advantage of more extensive bar facilities, the Lexus simply not have sufficient bar capacity to host even an average crowd, whilst service in the members bar is already appalling at the best of times.

Restricting fans to the East stand with overflow going into neighbouring sections of the North and South stands may save costs, but it does smack of a lack of ambition, and more worryingly a lack of confidence amongst the management that it can increase attendances to a level where opening the entire ground is economically viable. The East stand is also further away from the pitch and some season ticket holders with disabilities or young children, who prefer to sit lower down in the stand, have legitimate concerns about the quality of their match day experience next season.

But what has really been exposed by the seating changes is the continued weakness of the club’s marketing strategy; if cost savings are to come from operational cuts fans want to know what, if any, of the money saved will be channelled into promotional activities designed to lift attendances? Most fans are under no illusions that the club has only meagre budgets for promotion, but there is a growing frustration that the marketing strategy has stagnated and the lack of innovation in finding cost effective ways to promote attendances is a serious problem which will only get worse.

A criticism that has been levelled in the past is the arms length distance at which the club has kept fan involvement since the re-brand as Harlequins. During the club’s days as London Broncos fans made a major contribution to the promotion and match day operation of the club, but such reliance on volunteers appeared to be shunned in favour of a more professional set-up under former Chairman Ian Lenagan. A fans marketing support group did appear for a time in the early days as Quins, but now appears dormant. In some respects the concept of the fans forum itself was a Paul Brown initiative to try and reconnect the club with the supporter involvement that served it well in the past.

There is also a growing suspicion that the club has trapped itself in a Catch-22 position, with the generosity of investors David Hughes and Ian Lenagan picking up operating losses, a paralysing fear of wasting money on promotions exists, but without these activities it’s hard to see revenue streams improved. In part two I will be discussing the broad strategy deployed by the club this season to develop the supporter base, and some of the proposals that have been raised both by the club and others to take this crucial issue forward.