To be fair you guys should meet in a pub and talk about this stuff. It`s going over my head! Soon as I heard the word turnover I did a tipple tail!!!! My kids was amused though!!

Balls to the finances come on you reds!

Thankyou Alisdair Darling.

TBF I wasn't suggesting any club would rely on a final appearance, just a reminder that, even if you lose, it's a big moneyspinner, not so much for the prize money but in terms of merchandise, if you get its operation right.

The issue for Rovers, if, as you suspect, you're there or thereabouts in terms of maximum crowds, is that everyone else runs at a loss and have similar indebtedness in their balance sheets. For some, like Warrington, it seems not to matter at all as Moran will bankroll the losses unreservedly. For others like Cas and Saints, they are lossmaking but own their own ground, so have stronger balance sheets. The rest is a ragbag with a range of negative net assets, underwritten by fans on the board. Whilst it's a nice aspiration to have to start recouping the losses of recent years, there isn't a role model club on 8,500 gates that turns in a profit, unfortunately.

I think your crowds are pretty much near their peak. A bigger capacity for big games such as the derby and Leeds would of course raise the average, but in general I don't think there's a massive increase to come...as you say crowds were at about this level at the height of your success.

there would probably be more money to be made on the corporate side with more boxes and restaurants etc.

merchandise and sponsorship seem to be the areas where rovers could improve financially.

Informative and interesting post, ta. I wonder then if the cap could be cut further - though we are already losing players to Union. Maybe we could trade cap between clubs - redistributive, but allowing those in profit to benefit and offer top players top wages. I think its probably a terrible idea but I'm too tired to work out why.

An interesting idea, but I suspect a bit complex for the RFL.

I'd say pretty much everyone who wants to watch rovers was watching them last season. it was your best year in over 20 years so I doubt there are too many more fans to come out of the woodwork

you think????
seriously though think in a couple of years youll be there in profit, fc was in a worse situation money wise and are beleived to be debt free and thats been acheived by uncle cath and rule. so as long as results are right on the pitch i can see dosh coming in at craven park

Good thread this (serious...not being sarcastic). This is very much my field, so my compliments to all those who contributed.

And capital expenditure and capital investment are the same thing. But all that really means is (usually substantial) expenditure that (usually) when you kick it it hurts your foot, the benefits of which can be spread over a number of years.

But as for the point I quoted above...wrong I'm afraid. Bradford have been posting profits since the present administration remedied (with much pain) the living-beyond-means of the Caisley years. And they have no debt either. Contrary in both cases to a lot of the waknerage posted by the ill-informed or maliciously-minded (think you guys suffer a bit from that sort of thing too?)

And yes, its a big ask, but Bradford have had no choice but to manage it - we have NO wealthy backers prepared to bankroll the club, and put in directors loans. And no significant bank borrowing facilities. If we don't generate a neutral or positive cash flow every year we'll soon go down with a bad case of dead. And, for accounting reasons I won't bore you with, to break even in cash terms we need to make modest trading profits.

It sounds like your owners are looking to do to you what had to happen with Bradford. You could do worse than look at Bradford's situation as an indicator of what happens if you have to stand entirely on your own feet as a business without a wealthy backer to bankroll.

Very good thread and no trolling.
Cannot really add anything to what has been said, but it seems that the only way Rovers are going to start breaking even or turning a profit is to cut down the wage bill.