Wolves Rumours 8707

 

Use our rumours form to send us wolves transfer rumours.


(single word yields best result)

19 Oct 2021 12:52:23
Media reporting that a US investment firm have acquired a minority share in Fosun Sports to help Wolves crack the American market.
From the Shropshire Star: "Chicago-based PEAK6 Investments will inject fresh funds, as well as offer expertise and give Wolves a presence in the US, as the club attempts to expand their reach across the pond".

Agree0 Disagree0

19 Oct 2021 15:14:21
This was all part of the plan to build our brand across the globe and increase our revenue streams.

19 Oct 2021 21:57:55
Sounds good!

20 Oct 2021 08:22:50
Will they invest in the next generation of fans who are on “the waiting list” and are going to be lost by the Club forever, we’re being left behind in the stadium stakes, shouldn’t Fosun be “building the brand” in Wolverhampton and surrounding areas before targeting the rest of the World.

20 Oct 2021 08:57:37
Good and fair point Oxley but sadly the reality is that to compete we need an international revenue base.
Gate money is becoming an ever diminishing part of the revenue pie for the "big clubs" despite the huge stadiums and v high ticket prices they can charge and I don't see how we can compete any other way? .
Consequently whilst I agree a bigger stadium would be great the priority should be 1. Team 2. Team 3. Team 4 International brand (which actually costs v little if 1,2 and 3 are in place) and 5 Stadium (which has a long and high risk payback for the investment made - as older Wolves fans will recall all too well! )
If money is short push 4 and 5 back and have another 4 Team! |!

20 Oct 2021 13:26:02
Part of the attraction of watching the champions league and World Cup on tv is to see the magnificent stadiums. How can we attract all these new overseas fans if we have a small uninspiring stadium?
If the stadium doesn’t matter why don’t the England international games get played around the country at stadiums such as Burnley, Birmingham etc.

20 Oct 2021 13:46:12
Tbf E mate would you want to go to Burnley? :P
But on a serious note the stadium does need upgrading something like 12,000 on waiting list for tickets so increasing the capacity by 15,000 would go a very long way, it should have been done when matches were played with no fans imo.

20 Oct 2021 13:54:57
E from W.
We can attract new overseas fans by having a cracking good and successful team. The stadium will follow only when we are fully established at a higher level. England games need to be played in large stadiums for obvious reasons.

20 Oct 2021 15:55:16
The stadium project will have no bearing on our ability to spend unless it is paid for by incoming revenue. Fosun can and will build the stadium once all of the options are explored such as do they knock down or enhance current stands. If for instance they knocked down an entire stand, this would reduce income which in turn affects our ability to spend. If we do what Liverpool are doing with the Anfield Rd stand, this would mean the existing stand stays open whilst initial work is completed and then only closed for the bare minimum time until completion. This option would not affect our income as much as the stand will be open for longer. Obviously in that scenario, option 2 would be the best way to go. The only issue is the land surrounding Molineux. I know a colleague who has sat in on the strategic meetings re the Stadium and the club want to remove the dual carriageway, subway and buy out the Asda. This would give them a vast amount of land but at the moment there are a lot of hurdles in the way. A number of options are being looked at.

20 Oct 2021 17:14:35
Just a thought I wonder if it may be possible to play at the commonwealth games stadium in Perry Barr for one season after 2022, meaning that intensive work could be completed at Molineux without impacting the revenue stream.

20 Oct 2021 19:27:53
DT What is the benefit of attracting these overseas fans who couldn’t point to Molineux on a map when we are locking out the local next generation who want to attend the games? How Will the club make money from these new overseas fans?
The top European teams play in the top stadiums.

20 Oct 2021 22:40:30
E there are two issues here.
Firstly overseas fans generate revenues via sponsorship deals, overseas TV deals, merchandising etc which, despite the top teams playing as you state in big stadiums, generate far more revenue for the big teams than the gate money does. This would be the same for Wolves. Sad but true the game is now all about Sponsorhip, TV and Merchandising not gate money!
Real fans don't count as much as TV fans!
Secondly the stadium is only full, (and has a waiting list for tickets), because the team is doing well. It wasn't long ago that the stadium wasn't full!
So building a white elephant stand/ stadium instead of investing in the team - and Fosun aren't a charity and will only invest money they can get a return on and an empty Stand/ stadium doeSn't give a return - would be plain daft.
Once the team is strengthened to the extent we are etablished- which we aren't yet - in the top end of the Prem a new stand/ stadium can be built which will give us greater revenues increasing the virtuous circle.
Finally TV fans/ sponsors don't give a monkeys about the stadium - just the team/ results.
This may all seem cold and hard for real fans to accept but it is business and that is what Fosun is a business.

21 Oct 2021 00:44:29
Are these new overseas fans already fans of other clubs that we intend to convert to Wolves fans by our attractive playing style and gold shirts or are they fans that are not currently attached to any other club?
Do they intend to ever visit Molineux?
If so where will they sit?
What merchandise will they purchase to make our team better and sustain players wages of £100,000 per week?
Why would they attach themselves to Wolves when top European clubs stadiums look fantastic on tv and our stadium tv view is dominated by away fans along the top of the screen?

21 Oct 2021 03:01:50
I would assume that most fans in America/ China/ India/ Malaya etc etc or any other major non European/ south American market we may look to exploit don't "support" a team in the way you and I do but will watch/ follow any team that wins - like in fact millions of people in the UK - the average Man U fan lives in Bournemouth and like these "new" fans will never visit the stadium of the team they follow.
if we get followers in new markets sponsors from those markets will want to associate themselves with us paying us money - check out the accounts of Man u etc - this is where they make the money. In 2020 over 50% of united's £500+m of revenue came from commercial activities - sponsorship/ merchandising etc.
In the year to May 2019 - the year we came 7th and weren't affected by C.V. our gate Receipts were just over £11m out of turnover for Wolves of £172m so even doubling the stadium is irrelevant financially.
The big clubs make hundreds of millions from overseas activities sponsorship, tv rights etc if we want to compete sadly it is the only way.
In answer to your last q - because the team wins it has absolutely nothing to do with the stadium.
How else do you define the big teams or how do you think they became big teams - the big 6 in England win all the trophies.
Its actually v simple - win matches money rolls in lose matches you have an empty stadium and no money
So to win matches you have to invest in the team and that requires revenue streams and as shown above they don't come from stadiums but commercial activities sponsorship/ merchandising so in this instance I can't complain at all about what Fosun are attempting to do ie develop commercial activities in the US markets.

21 Oct 2021 09:34:52
Good thread, I think Jas recently quoted Fosun as worth about 180 billion, they are a commercial company and I its probably a reasonable assumption that they have some experience of marketing and brand growth. We all want to see success and all know its not guaranteed however if it does suddenly happen out of the blue the club needs a slick marketing function that can respond quickly and cash in as quickly as possible. So whilst I would love to see a 50k capacity back asap no complaints from me about the marketing ambitions of the club. Realising thise ambitions may not happen quickly though.

22 Oct 2021 09:57:37
Arddunby - I have criticised lots of aspects of Fosun's reign - whilst acknowledging that relative to previous regimes of the last 50 years its has been amazingly succesful!
As I am v v greedy and like "Oliver" I want more before it is too late for me!
The transfer dealing of the last two years - and I know people have defendeed Shi and the club strongly against my view - have been v poor (no point rehashing as we all know the facts) and to date our exploitation of the brand in overseas markets and in the UK has been v modest ( the accounts prove this - sorry dull I know! ) .
However the recent steps show that we, as a club, are addressing the key issue of revenue streams and with Lage getting the team to play good stuff (some of the time) and win (some of the time - although oddly rarely it seems doing both at the same time! ) I am pretty excited and happy that we are moving in the right direction - albeit slower than I greedily want!

22 Oct 2021 11:06:32
Future I think we are probably in a longer transition period. than some of us realised. I recognise the ambition of the club and totally agree with your analysis about gate receipts not being a large part of revenue stream. I'm not a business analyst but if I was I would hazard a guess that investing in a new stadium compared to marketing would produce a significantly lower rate of return in both the short and long term. The more I think about it the more I realise what a difficult job Fosun have undertaken. Most of the other clubs that were taken over in the Prem era were established Prem clubs with existing 40K+ capacity and in the early days no need to worry about FFP either So the kitchen sink could be thrown at team rebuilding. Just for the record I believe we are watching the most consistently successful side since 71 to 74, yes that could change as with any club and I do not want to go back to continual championship struggles or worse.

22 Oct 2021 11:48:50
Arddunby - polish up your CV. There is a job as a business analyst waiting for you in the "City" as you are spot on with everything you say.
Also remember in 71-74 football was a lot simpler as no one had any money and it was all about talent development/ scouting, tactics etc.
Hence Ipswich for example could be a European super power on the back of Bobby Robson and Derby and Forest bestrode the game as a consequence of the genius that was Brian Clough.
Now the CEO/ owner is the most important person at the club as the game is simply about money and global money at that.
Hence Chelsea are European Champions and the big 6 exist and have won virtually all of the domestic trophies for many many years now.
In Fosun we have a pretty good owner but as you say it is going to be v v hard as the big 6 aren't going to let us take their ball away without a fight ( and a dirty one at that! ) .
I also struggle to see Newcastle sweeping to the top any time soon despite the owners ambitions as the big 6 will ensure every barrier that can be put in their path will be.
Leicester, WH and one or two others including hopefully us are pushing at the door but it isn't going to be easy and I accept patience - not something io have in abundance is going to be needed. [I guess that is why I am so intolerant of the obvious mistakes made by the club in the last 2 years - we were/ are close to becoming a member of the big "7" (or 6 or 8? ) but we have v v few chances to cross the divide and mistakes that put us back a couple of years and several places in the league are thus v hard to stomach! ].

22 Oct 2021 19:58:59
Great thread gents good to read. I've always thought and obviously this is just a personal view that the building of the John Ireland stand was a totally wasted opportunity. For me once the clock and the stand went it was a chance to go and build an out of town stadium with space around it so it would be easier to cope with crowds and keeping visiting crowds out of the town centre. I guess even then it wouldn't get support from everyone but maybe people would see the logic. I think even now it would make sense and easier to manage crowds and think of the multi use it could have with easier motorway accessif built in the right place. Not needing so many reasons for not having events and generating funds for the club? As I said only my opinion back then we had massive crowds crammed in. Obviously you can't do that anymore.

22 Oct 2021 21:15:28
Ken - also apologises to you for not replying re Derek Parkin.
Surely if Terry Cooper - one of the best 3 English LBS in my life time ( Cole and Sansom being the other 2) had not played at the same time he would have got a bucket load of caps. V solid player in a team that was - even including Nuno's team - our most succesful side since the 50s!

22 Oct 2021 22:00:04
future you are right in that respect Derek just arrived at the right time for us but not for England. Great shame. Likewise for quite a few players back then. Kenny Hibbit for a start though I think he played for the Football League in a representative game against Italy I think or maybe that's in my imagination!

23 Oct 2021 13:16:38
The old Division 1 was full of English International calibre players back in the 70's, John Richards being another who missed out. How we failed to qualify for the later stages of international tournaments from 1972 to 1980 is baffling to me.

24 Oct 2021 11:00:08
Arddunby and Ken - it was a strange period. The "greats" according to the fans - Bowles, Marsh, Hudson, Currie, Mckenzie, Worthington, Osgood etc etc were not really recognised by England but Peter Storey, Brian Greenhof, Mike Pejic, Bob Latchford, Trevor Cherry and countless other solid uninspiring journeymen were often choosen.
Sadly not unlike many Wolves fans today the various England managers of the 70's weren't too keen on erratic skill and preferred stable solidity - Brian Greenhof and Peter Storey probably got more caps than Hudson and Currie!
ps Ken I had purple velvet flairs in the late 60s and lots of flower power shirts and big big ties!
Maybe the 60s and 70s weren't all that great after all!

24 Oct 2021 20:18:25
Future you're correct and you've failed to mention the greatest manager of the period who was regularly overlooked.

24 Oct 2021 20:40:09
future and I thought we had great taste and pride in what we wore, or maybe not!





 

 

 
Log In or Register to post

User
Pass
Remember me

Forgot Pass  
 
Change Consent