Getting us back to the ricoh needs just one phone call from sisu to ccc saying we'll return on a short-term rental (and god help acl if they then tried to backtrack from the last offer) and then negotiations start on working out a long-term solution. The only reason for opposing that solution boils down to sisu don't want a rental deal of any sort, even short-term (which surely means they're putting their own interests ahead of what would be good for the team and fans, doesn't it?), and then things like sisu don't trust acl/ccc, that boat has sailed, a new stadium will be built etc, all of which contradict any suggestion of a return to the ricoh at all.
Is the reality now that the only way we will get back to the ricoh is by saying to sisu 'ok, you can have the ricoh on whatever basis you want'? Can anyone provide any evidence that sisu will return to the ricoh on any other basis?
No one knows the detail of any rent agreement on offer do they? We're you aware that the £400,000 offer was only for 3 years before returning to prior extortionate levels?
No one knows the detail of any rent agreement on offer do they? We're you aware that the £400,000 offer was only for 3 years before returning to prior extortionate levels?
No one knows the detail of any rent agreement on offer do they? We're you aware that the £400,000 offer was only for 3 years before returning to prior extortionate levels?
For CCFC to return to Ricoh the offer would have to have 2 key terms.
Sensible rent value
Access to revenue streams.
The lease/ownership part can be done later.
Perhaps if ACL actually said properly what the rent would be and what revenue streams the club could access, so it is clear to everyone then provided its a good deal SISU would have no grounds to reject it.
The problem with some of the last few deals is that certain caveats were not known by us as fans, or through third parties etc, as this week told us.
Just put the deal on the table - make it fair and clear and transparent. Then SISU will have to justify why they won't accept it.
For CCFC to return to Ricoh the offer would have to have 2 key terms.
Sensible rent value
Access to revenue streams.
The lease/ownership part can be done later.
Perhaps if ACL actually said properly what the rent would be and what revenue streams the club could access, so it is clear to everyone then provided its a good deal SISU would have no grounds to reject it.
The problem with some of the last few deals is that certain caveats were not known by us as fans, or through third parties etc, as this week told us.
Just put the deal on the table - make it fair and clear and transparent. Then SISU will have to justify why they won't accept it.
I've given you a like as i agree 100% with what you said but i would add that the proces could also work the other way. Otium/sisu could put an offer on the table and then ACL would have to give a reason not to accept it.
Yes I agree that SISU could do the same. Clearly a sticking point would be what revenue streams, but maybe both need to state what they want/are prepared to give.
I've given you a like as i agree 100% with what you said but i would add that the proces could also work the other way. Otium/sisu could put an offer on the table and then ACL would have to give a reason not to accept it.
Yes I agree that SISU could do the same. Clearly a sticking point would be what revenue streams, but maybe both need to state what they want/are prepared to give.
For CCFC to return to Ricoh the offer would have to have 2 key terms.
Sensible rent value
Access to revenue streams.
The lease/ownership part can be done later.
Perhaps if ACL actually said properly what the rent would be and what revenue streams the club could access, so it is clear to everyone then provided its a good deal SISU would have no grounds to reject it.
The problem with some of the last few deals is that certain caveats were not known by us as fans, or through third parties etc, as this week told us.
Just put the deal on the table - make it fair and clear and transparent. Then SISU will have to justify why they won't accept it.
Even if Sisu did get car park f&b & advertising revenue at matches. That's not really what they want. They want everything non football related as well. Why else would they have been always banging on about bringing AEG in ?
Or do AEG just specialise in football matches ?
That's a longer term aim which they can look at once they get the club back to the Ricoh on a deal that suits all parties.
This point alone makes a sham of their argument that they would happily take a rental agreement !!
Everything else aside, there really is no reason for either side to turn down a short term rental deal while it's all sorted.
First one to offer it publicly wins IMO. I don't particularly care if it's slightly better or slightly worse than Northampton, though I see no reason for either side to turn down a deal that's anywhere from free to about £200k/year in the short term. Revenues and long term rentals/ownership can be sorted then.
Even if Sisu did get car park f&b & advertising revenue at matches. That's not really what they want. They want everything non football related as well. Why else would they have been always banging on about bringing AEG in ?
Or do AEG just specialise in football matches ?
We just need to wait until SISU loose the JR appeal later in the year. All their cards will have been played and we can move on. If they remain here they will need to build some major bridges. Still not sure if I will be hanging in there but I'm not alone.
Everything else aside, there really is no reason for either side to turn down a short term rental deal while it's all sorted.
First one to offer it publicly wins IMO. I don't particularly care if it's slightly better or slightly worse than Northampton, though I see no reason for either side to turn down a deal that's anywhere from free to about £200k/year in the short term. Revenues and long term rentals/ownership can be sorted then.
What appeal?
What would be ideal is if a deal is a) offered direct to the other party so no excuses and b) the detail is published in entirity, without comment, in the Telegraph. That way we get away from the silly games of offers that aren't offers, and values which aren't values.
Exactly what I want. Don't care which side it comes from. First one wins imaginary shmmeee points.
I think reading the SBT Q&A you've hit the nail on the head. Neither side seem to care about rent too much compared to access to revenue.
I also think we have to be able to answer the question: What if ACL cannot give access to the revenue streams because they're tied up in a third party?
I worry that that will be what drives us out of the Ricoh permanently. If we had access to realistic financials on the new stadium we could make a proper cost benefit analysis compared to what ACL are willing/able to give (i.e. is it worth getting a lower percentage of a bigger pie at the Ricoh?).
ACL have said they're willing to sell some revenue rights, but IIRC some of it is tied up in a joint venture with Compass, which would obviously come with a cost attached. Do we know what the club are asking for specifically? I think F&B, car parking, hospitality and some cut of other revenue on matchdays from the casino and any other facilities near by is fair.
This may be one of those "simple, obvious and wrong" solutions, but could Compass/ACL agree to not cater CCFC events (as at the moment they don't) and CCFC be able to bring in a third party for matchday F&B where they could take 100% of the revenue without affecting the Compass deal?
As small side note: If I were ACL I'd now be worried about giving too much revenue away knowing there is a predator waiting for me to go under, which is a real shame. It's why I think it's important to get the detail, it's all very well saying "we want revenues" but we can't back them in good faith if we don't know what revenues are being asked for.
The Club still has the right to gain access to the revenues at the Ricoh. This comes with ownership of shares in ACL. This was agreed from the start. When they sold their shares to the Higgs Charity they got the money they needed to avoid administration and start the next season along with the right to buy back their shares. Nobody has told them they couldn’t buy back those shares: they have chosen not to.*
Back in 2008 and 2009 I had two meetings with Onye Igwe when he told me that the Charity had to sell their shares to the Club and he would tell me how much they would pay. He also told me of the Club’s exciting plans to expand the supporter base in Nigeria and China. It was an odd way to approach the matter but I said nothing but waited for him to come back with a price. He was, I suspect, ignoring the option which gave the Club the right to buy for a fixed sum. I heard nothing more and then he was removed. Ken Dulieu then appeared and I met him in London for him also to say that the Club was going to buy the shares. Nothing happened and he disappeared.
Tim Fisher talks about the need to increase the revenues of the Club. He suggests that the Club has a right to them. He is correct. They have a right to buy them back. Only the Club has an Option to buy them.*
The Charity paid the Club for those shares. The Charity must hope to make a return, either through an increase in value or through an income, from those shares. There has, of course, been no income at all from those shares yet. Tim Fisher now wants some of that income simply to be given to the Club because it needs it. It is clear that the Club needs more income and ACL had offered to give up some income: the food and beverage revenues everyone refers to.
I fear that just as that offer is now withdrawn the possibility of the Club now buying back into ACL has receded.
To make the businesses at the Ricoh work efficiently they have to work together in harmony and with trust. That began to happen under Ray Ranson and the Club was able to make savings and increase its income. Perhaps if his influence had been strong enough to stop the Club being distracted by ideas of business expansion in Nigeria and China and he had kept the owners concentrated on buying back into ACL we would not all be locked into this destructive spiral.
What would be ideal is if a deal is a) offered direct to the other party so no excuses and b) the detail is published in entirity, without comment, in the Telegraph. That way we get away from the silly games of offers that aren't offers, and values which aren't values.
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