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There is a crisis with the team. Both on and off the field. On the field can wait till later on to deal with off the field things are moving too fast and in the wrong direction.
Attendance was down this season we can't hide that fact. The World Bowl was supposed to increase the overall attendance for the Claymores. The target? 20,000. Not bad you might think.... But we fell short. However our opening game did have the highest Attendance ever for a Claymores regular season home game 16,000 with no away fans. Things were looking up.
Then the worst thing that could happen to the attendance occurred.... the Claymores lost.. not even by a close score. Thousands of fans at that moment would decide there was no point it supporting the team at the games this season. Those who were still undecided were convinced the next week when Rhein Fire wiped out the Claymores for the second week in a row.
But reguardless of those results the Claymores office could be accused of rest on it laurels and expecting the fans to just rush back. I can't tell you the number of times I received letters asking, reminding demanding almost to purchase my tickets. But I'm converted to the game I haven't missed a single home game (save for the 1st season Amsterdam game and I gave the ticket to a friend) in terms of tickets... What about the un converted? The fair weather fans?
Where was the advertising? Where was the appearances at Football matches? What about parading the Claymores during the 5 Nations championship handing out flyers to the 63,000 who fill Murrayfield? Not adverts in programs but flyers? What about selling the backfield party as a great music event in the press? Where was the build up this year?
Sure the Claymores had adverts in the newspapers. But it might have helped if the Adverts were the correct ones? Why weren't the fans asked to help drum up support? What incentives were offered to fans to attend home games? Don't even get me started over the Scotrail deal.
It seems the whole of the world league is programed at office level to think gimmick.... think PR think awareness.
Well in a spot survey of people on the street I asked if they had a) heard of the Claymores b) ever thought of going to the claymores c) ever go to sports events. The sample was 23 people 18 of which seemed to be between 5-35 years old.
Out of 23
So what did this spot survey prove? Well very little other than plenty of people have HEARD of the Claymores... it was just getting them interested that was the problem. So there is a message to the WLAF now... NO MORE GIMMICKS.
This applies not only to the prepublicity but the game as well... I'll get on to the line dancing in a minute.
Anyway back to the front office. I'm the first to admit that they have a hard time keeping interest during the very long off-season. But perhaps something could be done about that? Why not recruit the cream of Scotland's amatuer players to play exhibition matches all over the country? Imagine playing a quick exhibition match before a Soccer Game? Or a Rugby game. How about an official Claymores magazine? Published monthly with info about how the Claymores are doing in the States? Perhaps a regular radio slot during the NFL season with WLAF updates?
But most off all.... the BBC MUST be forced to finally give in and admit that the WLAF exists and that there is a fan base and a real sport. However to solve that? They have to stop seeing the league as a Mickey Mouse outfit - So cut out the Gimmicks?
You see the gimmicks are everywhere in the WLAF. How many times and I mean HOW many times has a UK based show about the World League had an item about what the players eat? Every SINGLE one of them... You know I don't care what the players eat as long as they play on the field. Why not talk about what they did in college? What they do in their spare time in the likes of the charity field? That's what makes them interesting. That makes them stand out, we ALL know they eat alot. Time and again the PR department fails to see that just because the players are on TV that it's a good thing. It's all about awareness you see, how many people are aware of the team does NOT mean they will all come along to a game!
You have to convince people to come along. That means advertising it right. Offering incentives for fans to drag others along.
And I can tell you this for nothing. Line Dancers and Scouts and Guides at half time (which aren't even advertised outside the matches) will never bring in more fans. Sure you'll get the gimmick level of the actual line dancers + guides and scouts etc and just maybe one or two will come back the next week. But for the average person in the street they don't care.
And that average person on the street.... that's your target and you know what they might just be friends with a confirmed fan so why not give the fans a hand?