It's time we had a proper discussion about the cost of living crisis and specifically how this will affect the club going forward. I'm not 100% sure on all the numbers but I'd warrant a guess that the DW Stadium energy bills will rise by at least a quarter of a million. It will actually be worse for us than other clubs because we unfortunately rent the stadium out to a sports club who play the majority of their home games in the evenings, meaning further use of floodlights compared to other football clubs. As the landlord, the regular ground bills such as energy, heating etc are our responsibility to pay.
So, what can we do to solve this and cut costs as appropriate? Mansfield have become the first club to move a Saturday 3pm game forward to a 1pm kickoff (their game vs Walsall on October 15th). They've done this initially as a trial run to see whether it affects their average home attendance. No doubt that every other club in the EFL will have an eye on the same thing. Personally I think it would be a no brainer to move forward Saturday 3pm kick-off times. I can't see it affecting crowds on our end personally and would save a shed load of cash on floodlight use.
Secondly, will the vast increase in energy bills be reflected in the amount of rent that the "Wigan Club" pays Latics considering their constant use of the floodlights? Or will it once again be Latics who bend over and get fu**ed as the Rugby club walks all over us and the owners yet again? Could it even become the case that Latics make a financial loss from their rental agreement due to the extra cost in energy prices? Because 20% of gate revenue or however much they were paying won't be enough to turn the DW lights on for a year.
Apologies for the essay, but this is a very important topic that we need to take into account considering that we are supposed to be working towards becoming self-sustainable under the current owner.
So, what can we do to solve this and cut costs as appropriate? Mansfield have become the first club to move a Saturday 3pm game forward to a 1pm kickoff (their game vs Walsall on October 15th). They've done this initially as a trial run to see whether it affects their average home attendance. No doubt that every other club in the EFL will have an eye on the same thing. Personally I think it would be a no brainer to move forward Saturday 3pm kick-off times. I can't see it affecting crowds on our end personally and would save a shed load of cash on floodlight use.
Secondly, will the vast increase in energy bills be reflected in the amount of rent that the "Wigan Club" pays Latics considering their constant use of the floodlights? Or will it once again be Latics who bend over and get fu**ed as the Rugby club walks all over us and the owners yet again? Could it even become the case that Latics make a financial loss from their rental agreement due to the extra cost in energy prices? Because 20% of gate revenue or however much they were paying won't be enough to turn the DW lights on for a year.
Apologies for the essay, but this is a very important topic that we need to take into account considering that we are supposed to be working towards becoming self-sustainable under the current owner.
