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Kmcalpin
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On a different note, I haven't been convinced about the impact of social media for generating overseas interest in the club (or any other club our size).

This morning, I was talking to someone in Colorado. He's Mexican and big football fan. He told me he follows Dundee because of their 2 Mexican players and watched the highlights of our recent 3 -2 win there.

If you can start finding those kinds of connections then there might be an opportunity to engage fans outside of Scotland.

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44 minutes ago, Yabba's Turd said:

Didn't we try that with the Japanese guy?

 

Not sure we were fully committed to that idea - SK certainly wasn't.

The reason the Wrexham story became so popular over here was of course because of the documentary. It resonated with a lot of Americans because prior to that their exposure to the game was limited to watching EPL matches. The focus on the fans and the town with its working class roots and social struggles over decades was much more relevant to your average blue collar American than David Beckham buying Miami FC and paying Messi a billion dollars (or whatever).

The key is finding that hook. The Mexican players was just a random example because it happened ot me this morning. But there must be plenty of other connections there to be found.

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11 minutes ago, weeyin said:

The reason the Wrexham story became so popular over here was of course because of the documentary. It resonated with a lot of Americans because prior to that their exposure to the game was limited to watching EPL matches. The focus on the fans and the town with its working class roots and social struggles over decades was much more relevant to your average blue collar American than David Beckham buying Miami FC and paying Messi a billion dollars (or whatever).

Wasn't that also down to the guys who actually bought the club though? Sure, people in the US know who Beckham is, but they know Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney more I'd think.

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3 hours ago, David said:

Wasn't that also down to the guys who actually bought the club though? Sure, people in the US know who Beckham is, but they know Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney more I'd think.

I think the Hollywood names caught more attention in the UK. 

In the US the documentary really seemed to strike a chord. Of course the Hollywood connection didn't hurt, but that kind of thing is a little more common with US sports teams. 

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Just now, weeyin said:

I think the Hollywood names caught more attention in the UK. 

In the US the documentary really seemed to strike a chord. Of course the Hollywood connection didn't hurt, but that kind of thing is a little more common with US sports teams. 

I guess it's all about opinions. I don't think the documentary series really made that much of a dent. There's tons of that kind of thing over here already covering NFL especially. And a lot of MLS teams are doing regular episodes of that kind of thing on YouTube. 

I've been in two US states in the past two months, covering four or five different cities and I've yet to see anything more than Messi and Miami shirts in any places that sell "soccer" shirts. Never even seen a Wrexham shirt in the flesh.

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In their case it wasn't about selling shirts. It was about getting eyes on the TV screens. 

The two owners made a tidy sum selling the rights to FX and it brought in good viewing figures. 

It also meant every Wrexham FA Cup tie was broadcast live.

So it made the investors and the club a few extra quid, which was the reason they invested. 

They were never going to compete with Messi, or even try.

(I've seen as many Messi shirts as Wrexham shirts around here right enough - none). 

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2 hours ago, steelboy said:

https://www.motherwellfc.co.uk/2024/04/30/david-lindsay-named-finance-director/

Back to the Well Society being a minority on the club executive board.

For the past few months, and whilst negotiations with potential investors were taking place, the Society held a 2:1 majority on the Executove Board yet wasn't actively involved in discussions? Presumably then, Jim McMahon was ploughing a lone furrow.

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2 hours ago, Kmcalpin said:

For the past few months, and whilst negotiations with potential investors were taking place, the Society held a 2:1 majority on the Executove Board yet wasn't actively involved in discussions? Presumably then, Jim McMahon was ploughing a lone furrow.

Think there’s a world of difference in the opinion and reality 

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4 minutes ago, StAndrew7 said:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/cd1qzn95ez5o

 

Double post but there's St Johnstone's deal gone through. Interesting to hear their terms/valuation.

According to Wiki, the 16 acres that McDiarmid Park sits on was worth £400K in 1986. What's it worth now? Will it be sold from under them once/if it all goes wrong?

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1 minute ago, wellfan said:

According to Wiki, the 16 acres that McDiarmid Park sits on was worth £400K in 1986. What's it worth now? Will it be sold from under them once/if it all goes wrong?

Nae idea. The guy named is/was involved in Cambridge United purchasing their stadium back, based on what some StJ fans are saying on P&B.

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19 minutes ago, wellfan said:

According to Wiki, the 16 acres that McDiarmid Park sits on was worth £400K in 1986. What's it worth now? Will it be sold from under them once/if it all goes wrong?

It's apparently worth £20 million. There will be a side deal with the Browns to develop it. 

I'll be surprised if they don't end up with something like the wee temporary stadium Edinburgh Rugby play at. 

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18 minutes ago, wellfan said:

According to Wiki, the 16 acres that McDiarmid Park sits on was worth £400K in 1986. What's it worth now? Will it be sold from under them once/if it all goes wrong?

I would think It all depends on what conditions Mr McDiarmid the farmer who gifted the land to St Johnstone put on the transfer at the time. Maybe there are restrictions preventing it from being used for other purposes etc, so effectively rendering it unsaleable.

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24 minutes ago, Spiderpig said:

I would think It all depends on what conditions Mr McDiarmid the farmer who gifted the land to St Johnstone put on the transfer at the time. Maybe there are restrictions preventing it from being used for other purposes etc, so effectively rendering it unsaleable.

Besides a crematorium and a Tesco Extra already being built on that land, another portion of the land is also allocated for development in the Local Development Plan, which suggests there may not be restrictions on the site, but who knows?! See allocation H71 in LDP: https://www.pkc.gov.uk/media/45477/Perth-West/pdf/Perth_West.pdf?m=157926405488. Given the likely value of the land beneath and immediately surrounding the stadium, I'd be very concerned if I were a St Johnstone fan. 

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  • 3 weeks later...
1 hour ago, Kmcalpin said:

Everything has gone very quiet hasn't it. Possibly down to the non disclosure agreement. 

Any further word of the Well Society proposal?

Erik Barmack has been posting tweets of himself and his family following the games from the US on MFC TV, so I assume he's still interested, but the NDA prevents either party from reporting anything further.

On the Well Society proposal, I can only assume they're either still trying to pull a rabbit out of a hat or are busy focussing on the Live the Dream event.

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Just curious forgive me I am out the loop ilon this other than it pretty clear we need an investment to progress  but what can the Well Society offer now that it couldn't offer the club years ago?

It's a bit strange to me that soon as someone takes an bit of interest in us then suddenly a master plan is unearthed.

 

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Other things being equal, which they aren't, I"d prefer the Society to devise its own investment plan. However, its going to have to come up with the goods. That's the bottom line. 

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55 minutes ago, Spit_It_Out said:

Just curious forgive me I am out the loop ilon this other than it pretty clear we need an investment to progress  but what can the Well Society offer now that it couldn't offer the club years ago?

It's a bit strange to me that soon as someone takes an bit of interest in us then suddenly a master plan is unearthed.

 

Yep, this is it for me as well. I’m sure I wrote somewhere here that it seems the external interest has given the WS a kick up the arse, but that it’s concerning that it’s taken them until now (when under threat) to attempt to devise an improved funding/membership strategy to benefit them and the club. 

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27 minutes ago, wellfan said:

Yep, this is it for me as well. I’m sure I wrote somewhere here that it seems the external interest has given the WS a kick up the arse, but that it’s concerning that it’s taken them until now (when under threat) to attempt to devise an improved funding/membership strategy to benefit them and the club. 

I wouldn't say that's entirely fair on the WS. The new board was elected in October and have been working on their vision since then; before any sort of investment video was released etc. The potential for investment will no doubt have given them that kick to get things moving more quickly, I agree, but that doesn't mean they weren't already working on revamping the WS from where it was.

As @Kmcalpin says, the WS board needs to come up with the goods (sooner rather than later, in my view) given where we are. I'm not a member, so can't comment on if any significant/members only communications that have gone out, but it's been awful quiet considering it's been over 6 months since the elections took place. That doesn't mean there's not a flood of announcements/information to come in the close season, though. There's probably been a fair bit of involvement on the WS end in the negotiations/discussions with EB which could have impacted on progress, given the board are all volunteers with a finite amount of time available.

It's been six weeks since the statement from the club on exclusivity being agreed with Barmack and Co. and other than the BBC's interview and Gavin McCafferty's article in the days following, things have (correctly) been kept under wraps. There was the odd social media post of him being at the games and meeting with the WS board representatives, but that's it.

I wouldn't be surprised if we start to hear more after Sunday's game; it would make sense to get the season over and start to announce things from there.

Also, just a final point; there's no reason that the two visions; EB's and the WS' can't work together, if WS/fans retain majority ownership of the club. EB's ideas for promotion of the club etc. could be a fantastic asset to growing the WS membership, beyond our traditional support/markets.

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31 minutes ago, wellfan said:

Yep, this is it for me as well. I’m sure I wrote somewhere here that it seems the external interest has given the WS a kick up the arse, but that it’s concerning that it’s taken them until now (when under threat) to attempt to devise an improved funding/membership strategy to benefit them and the club. 

Having an “improved” WS And an appropriate external investor would be great. 

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