Meanwhile still at the top of the ladder and struggling to get people interested enough to attend games.
RL heartland
Gold Coast Titans sit top of the NRL ladder but are struggling to pull a crowd
Travis Meyn
Gold Coast Bulletin
April 19, 2014 12:00AM
THE Titans plan to battle their dwindling crowds with an aggressive membership drive after the club’s new board of directors met for the first time this week.
Chairman Rebecca Frizelle, director Paul Donovan and club co-owners Darryl Kelly and Michael Searle had a four-hour meeting on Thursday covering a range of topics but arresting the club’s plummeting crowd figures was one of the main focuses.
The Titans’ home crowds have been on a steady decrease since they recorded an average of 21,618 fans per game in 2008 at the Robina stadium.
Their home crowds bottomed out at 14,028 last year and after three games this season (Tigers, Cowboys, Broncos) they are averaging 14,007 despite being on top of the ladder.
Last Friday’s local derby against Brisbane drew just 20,542 fans, a disappointing figure given the enormity of the clash.
The Titans have the second worst membership base (8,123) in the NRL and Frizelle said it was an area they could improve in to increase crowds.
The Titans have struggled to pull a big home crowd all year.
“If the team is performing well throughout the season then we’ll start to see those crowd numbers increase,’’ she said.
“Membership is a major focus. It’s the foundation of the club and it’s one area I will personally be really focused on driving.
“We’ve seen a significant increase this year in membership but we’ve still got a way to go.”
The Titans have implemented a ‘kids go free’ membership plan which has seen a spike in sales and they have set a lofty target of snaring 10,000 members this year.
“We need to be targeting families,” Frizelle said.
“I’m a member now. I signed my family up. I had no idea it was as reasonable as it is for great seats at the footy.
“It’s critical that we understand that to be a member we have to support our club long term.
“You have to stand up and start supporting them.”
The board will meet once a month to discuss the direction and progress of the club.
Frizelle, a leading figure of James Frizelle’s Automotive Group, said she was impressed by the current state of the club.
“I was super impressed with the level of professionalism of the board papers that were presented by each head of department,” she said.
“We had some really productive conversations on the background and history of the club,’’ she said.
“The most positive thing was looking at the processes that they already had in place.
“We covered a fair bit of historical ground and we won’t do that again moving forward.
“We got a very good overview so when we do have to make decisions we’ll be able to make informed ones.”
http://www.foxsports.com.au/nrl/nrl-pre ... 6889338868
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