SHOWING SPIRIT OF Strong Cowboys culture winning over new fans
NORTH Queensland Cowboys CEO Greg Tonner says the club’s performance on and off the field this year has been a marketer’s dream.
As the team prepares for its second grand final in three years, other NRL clubs are looking on and want to copy what the Cowboys have done.
Even New South Wales stalwart Phil Gould has been full of praise for what he called the Cowboys “culture”.
“There’s a lot of comments online from people saying: we want our club to be like the Cowboys,” Mr Tonner said.
“This year we moved into fourth in membership with more than 22,000. We want to be the top one,” he said.
Mr Tonner said governments and business generally looked to the way the club’s players performed and behaved on the field and also membership numbers.
“What we are hoping is that the finals for us will mean more people taking out memberships and that more people come to games,” he said.
What flowed from that was more willingness on the part of governments and the business sector to be involved in sponsorships and in the club’s community projects.
In one project, the Cowboys charity arm manages NRL Cowboys House in Townsville, a joint initiative with the State and Federal governments and the NRL to provide supported accommodation for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander secondary school students from remote areas.
“The club is working with partners to inspire children to go to school and have great dreams,” Mr Tonner said.
“It flows through because we have that success and the community gets behind it.
“Governments and the big corporates then find it very appealing to be involved. They see it as having great value and influence.”
Mr Tonner said the club was community owned and non- profit. But he agreed its brand was highly valuable.
“I think our brand has elements of resiliency, looking after mates, never give up ( attitude), playing the game with honour and trying to score tries,” he said. “That’s such a blessing for us. People are attracted to that.”
Mr Tonner believed there was also the great appeal of the bush, reflected in the Cowboys, among city people.
He said economic studies put the value of media coverage on the Cowboys in 2015 at $ 50 million, building to $ 79 million during 2016. “This increased media coverage is very beneficial for the club and for North Queensland and this city,” Tonner said. “I don’t think a lot of people fully understand or appreciate that.”
As for the worth of the club to North Queensland, Tonner said studies in 2015 indicated the value of direct and indirect jobs and wages was valued at just under $ 100 million.
He is keen to see that value increase further tomorrow.
Editorial: page 42