Coventry Wasps?

First topic message reminder :

apologies if already covered elsewhere, but a number of stories appearing indicating that the owners behind Wasps (who officially dropped the "London" from their name at the start of the season) are tabling a serious bid to take control of the Ricoh stadium in Coventry. Apparently local councillors (as mentioned in the "sub-walled" Times) are against the idea, but Wasps management are confident of getting Council approval. As part of the relocation plans, they intend to keep a training base in West London.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/rugbyunion/premiership/11137539/Wasps-close-in-on-30m-deal-to-take-over-Ricoh-Arena-and-move-to-Coventry.html

They are up to nearly 23,000 now, with nearly a week and a half to go.

http://www.wasps.co.uk/news/article/2014/12/10/wasps-pass-22-700-tickets-for-first-ricoh-game-as-record-approaches

Harlequins will struggle the most in the end, we can't really do any more with our stadium but will not move from there, so we're pretty tied in at the 14,000 mark

yappysnap wrote:Harlequins will struggle the most in the end, we can't really do any more with our stadium but will not move from there, so we're pretty tied in at the 14,000 mark

Does it sell out most games? I've been there a few times and it looked like it fro those games, but not sure if that's a common occurrence.

Being the closest premiership team to majority of the South Coast you'd think they could fill a bigger stadium, but like you say, it's whether it's possible for them to expand.

I reckon Quins will be alright. I don't think rugby in England will ever get to a point where a club who can pull in around 14,000 a week will be uncompetitive. To be honest if Newcastle could regularly pull anything like that, I'd be ecstatic. Even half would be an improvement!

I think Quins have had 4 home games so far (three around 13000, one around 13600), so not bad certainly.

Looks liek the design of the new stand is such that the coul wrap roundf the ground in a similar style - making the 3 other stands all a bit bigger and fill in the corners.

According to this, Quins looking to expand to 16,800 in next couple of years and 20k in total.

http://www.thisislocallondon.co.uk/news/11411412.Quins_aiming_for_20_000_in_expansion_plans/

They've passed the 27,000 mark now according to the Wasps' site. That is pretty impressive, would be great to think that they could keep something like that up.

I don't really know the area but from what I can see they've got a massive catchment area to aim at. As far I can see they have the whole West Midlands region (rather than simply the county of the same name), apart from Worcestershire to aim at. That is a population of 5 million+ people.

Like I said, I don't know what existing rugby allegiances there are in that part of the country (Moseley and Coventry RFC accepted), but if Wasps can tap into that market the results could be impressive.

Waiting for them to rebrand them selfs as Englands One True Region and call their catchment area Waspralia.

As far as the Stoop is concerned I think there is still room to expand. They developed the South stand and I believe there was some criteria about mirroring the North stand to the South, but only if they sell out the Stoop more than 5 times in a season - something about that being the min requirement that management need to consider further expansion.
Later phases could involve rebuilding the old LV Stand (cant remember what its called now) pushing it further back or adding tiers. Or linking stands in the corners.

Ultimately though, with location next to HQ there is always going to be a maximum limit to the level of expansion.

Good on Wasps though - I think they had to make the move, sounds like good business sense and should see them shoot from one of the worst to one of the best funded teams in the Prem.
I cant see them getting 27K through the gates on a regular basis though!

Coleman wrote:Waiting for them to rebrand them selfs as Englands One True Region and call their catchment area Waspralia.

Only Clubs in this league & no spray tan allowed.

BigTrevsbigmac wrote:

Coleman wrote:Waiting for them to rebrand them selfs as Englands One True Region and call their catchment area Waspralia.

Only Clubs in this league & no spray tan allowed.

You sure?

Nearly 15,000 expected for today's game. Hoping for a win to keep us in the top 6.

ALLEZ!!

Better than that Hound we leap up to 4th ahead of Tiggers by a mere 112 PD.

Was this your first game at Coventry? What was it like,crowd seemed good size by reports, good atmosphere in big stadium? etc etc

bedfordwelsh wrote:Was this your first game at Coventry?  What was it like,crowd seemed good size by reports, good atmosphere in big stadium? etc etc

think is was the second game

1st game was v Irish. Wasps have scored 89 points over the first two games. The players seem to like the Ricoh.

The crowd halved didn't it Hound?

LondonTiger wrote:PS On a similar note have Saints gained the planning permission they need from their council?

If you're referring to the North Stand redevelopment, then according to this link it sounds like it was approved back in January and is going ahead next summer.[/quote]

LondonTiger wrote:TY pledge. I seem to remember the council officially refused plans - and Saints threatened to up sticks to MK

Well, truth be told the answer is yes and no.  
Pardon if I don't recall the numbers 100% accurately, Saints originally wanted to raise the ground capacity from 13,500 to 17,500.  Saints own some adjacent land and wanted to sell some in order to raise the cash to quickly pay for the addition.  They were going to sell to a large store chain (can't recall which, might have been ASDA).  The town objected based upon the negative impact on downtown of another big store and the additional traffic on an already busy thoroughfare.  The Gardens is on a busy street which struggles with traffic from time to time.  

So Saints were forced to scale back the redevelopment of the Sturtridge Pavilion into the new Barwell Stand to only +2000 seats, which they can finance without the worry about the big store.  This was then approved by the town and work starts this summer.  Unfortunately, the ground capacity will only grow from 13,500 to 15,500.

Sgt_Pooly wrote:The crowd halved didn't it Hound?

From just over 28,000 to just over 15,000 yesterday. There were a lot of very good deals for tickets for the first game.

Considering we were down to 2,500 STHs at Wycombe, the club will be delighted at attracting 6 times that many to a game.

bedfordwelsh wrote:Was this your first game at Coventry?  What was it like,crowd seemed good size by reports, good atmosphere in big stadium? etc etc

I've been to both games and the atmosphere has been pretty good. 15,000 was a decent crowd yesterday. Was expecting it to drop without the 10,000+ free tickets from the previous game but thought it might have been lower. Better that Coventry have been getting. Not sure what percentage of the fans comes from the London area.

Must say I've been very impressed with the running of the club and getting involved in the local area. Next up Leinster in three weeks time which won't actually be Wasps' first European game at the Ricoh.

There is big interest from people I have talked to locally about the Leicester game in May at the Ricoh. Could possibly get a full house for that. It will be interesting to see how the attendances hold up over the next few weeks.

sportform wrote:

bedfordwelsh wrote:Was this your first game at Coventry?  What was it like,crowd seemed good size by reports, good atmosphere in big stadium? etc etc

I've been to both games and the atmosphere has been pretty good. 15,000 was a decent crowd yesterday. Was expecting it to drop without the 10,000+ free tickets from the previous game but thought it might have been lower. Better that Coventry have been getting. Not sure what percentage of the fans comes from the London area.

Must say I've been very impressed with the running of the club and getting involved in the local area. Next up Leinster in three weeks time which won't actually be Wasps' first European game at the Ricoh.

There is big interest from people I have talked to locally about the Leicester game in May at the Ricoh. Could possibly get a full house for that. It will be interesting to see how the attendances hold up over the next few weeks.

The 12,000 free tickets for school children and local rugby clubs is the total for three matches, the first 2 Premiership and first LV, with the same allocation of 4,000 for each.

http://www.coventrytelegraph.net/news/coventry-news/wasps-rfc-give-away-thousands-8103895

Just been looking at the Wasps' attendances in Coventry at the Ricoh Arena since their move there compared to their games at Adams Park.

In four games this season at Adams Park, Wasps' average attendance was 6,295. In the four games at the Ricoh Arena that have increased to 18,442. Even ignoring the first game there the average attendance is more than double than what it was before at 15,171.

It is also interesting to note that 73% of tickets have been sold in the Coventry/ Birmingham area.

So to this date from a Business view the move was justified....however lets see how long it continues. Then we can judge how successful it has been.

I cant helping thinking all those fans going to watch Wasps....why not support Coventry or Birmingham. A big support like that would have given the finances to challenge for the prem itself...let alone having to move Wasps in.

sportform wrote:Just been looking at the Wasps' attendances in Coventry at the Ricoh Arena since their move there compared to their games at Adams Park.

In four games this season at Adams Park, Wasps' average attendance was 6,295. In the four games at the Ricoh Arena that have increased to 18,442. Even ignoring the first game there the average attendance is more than double than what it was before at 15,171.

It is also interesting to note that 73% of tickets have been sold in the Coventry/ Birmingham area.

You say sold, as noted a fair few have been given away or done on ridiculous deals.

That said there certainly is an appetite for Premiership rugby in that region which wasnt present for whatever reason at their old home. It does look like a smart move to date, if one thats disheatening for their long term supporters.
Looking ahead to the likely possible franchising of club rugby in England its also a smart move to nail themselves down with a distinct region away from the crowded London-South.


Whats the impact of all this been on the wider club, womens team etc?

My understanding is that the Acton base is still there for the womens team and the amature teams. And the pro team still uses the gym facilities I think (not sure on that though).
Not sure how long that will last though after Wasps finish building their new training facility out towards Coventry! That Acton land will be premium price for developers and the amature/womens sides could be homeless.

Yeah thats my concern.They may replicate "up north" but Id assume for most of the players the commute would be an end for them. Obviously they pick up a load of local "talent" to fill the gap but its a shame for the wider structure.

'Joe Launchbury: Wasps eye April return for England prop' BBC oh dear

propdavid_london wrote:My understanding is that the Acton base is still there for the womens team and the amature teams.  And the pro team still uses the gym facilities I think (not sure on that though).
Not sure how long that will last though after Wasps finish building  their new training facility out towards Coventry!  That Acton land will be premium price for developers and the amature/womens sides could be homeless.

A lot will depend on the land caveats around the training ground and how the local council feel about losing sports facilities - a lot of clubs play on land that was gifted to them by some local worthy and have conditions along the lines of "this land is given to x club to be used for sporting purposes and if that ceases the land reverts to my ownership".

When I worked many years ago for British Gas just after privatisation, one of the things the new company did was try and sell off the non-commercial assets such as social clubs, sports facilities and playing fields, in particular they had their eye on the Acton sports ground which was huge and right on the A40 into London and would have been worth a fortune as development land, however they were stopped in their tracks when it was found out that the land was given to the London Gas Light and Coke Company for use by its employees for recreation by IIRC the Duke of Westminster but would revert to his ownership on any change of use.

I think it's now used by QPR as their training ground.