Sea Eagles Plan Bold U.S. Move

[HoldenV8]

Manly Sea Eagles plan to break into American sporting market
Jon Geddes, Manly Daily
November 30, 2017 11:30pm

THE Manly Sea Eagles have revealed a bold plan to break into the lucrative American sporting market which could include becoming involved with a New York-based team playing in the English Super League.

“We really want to spread our wings in the US,” said club owner Scott Penn.

“And, to be honest, the genesis for me to privatise the (Manly) club was on the back of spending a lot of time over there and seeing privatised clubs in the US.”

Penn started to explore the opportunities for the Sea Eagles during a recent trip to America.

“We are working with Fox Sports in the US to see how we can get involved and understand what they want to do with the game,” Penn said.

He also reached out to a consortium looking to pull together a bid for a New York-based team to go into the UK Super League.

“I have been in dialogue with them and we would like to be involved somehow,” Penn said.

“There is no reason why we couldn’t potentially have some player swaps, looking at some of our players heading into the twilight of their careers it would be a great destination for them.”

Penn said the club was making inroads with their vision but it needed to stack up financially with the right backing.

“I certainly know a lot of people in New York, I’ve got a reasonable business network over there,” Penn said.

https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/n...t/news-story/5d16132b95b5432244e02fc6c355dba9

 

[mave]

This really seems like an extraordinarily elaborate way to see off Lewis Brown.

He only has 1 more year to go Scotty!

 

[Spartan Eagle]

This really seems like an extraordinarily elaborate way to see off Lewis Brown.

He only has 1 more year to go Scotty!

He will be a marquee signing and we will be eligible for a million dollar transfer fee..

 

[castle eagle]

toddy won't allow it....
only teams like the broncos, roosters or dogs would get his blessing to do something like that

 

[Loobs]

Seems like we’re moving everywhere...

 

[HappilyManly]

RUGBY LEAGUE

Sea Eagles look to create a big Storm in Asia

Jon Geddes

The Hong Kong Stadium where the Sea Eagles could play a game.

THE Sea Eagles have held preliminary discussions with the Melbourne Storm about staging a game in Hong Kong.

“Asia is a natural opportunity for us,” said Sea Eagles chairman Scott Penn.

“There is a lot of growth potential in terms of (the fact) they love their sport and they have rectangular fields.”

Penn was in Hong Kong last weekend and after having a look around, saw it could be an ideal venue.

He raised the idea about holding a match up there in a discussion with Storm owner Bart Campbell on Tuesday.

“They have the Hong Kong Sevens, they have a good stadium,” Penn said.

“So that could be a great start for maybe 2019 or 2020 to play one game up there even if it is an exhibition match as a trial,” Penn said.

Penn believes it is crucial for rugby league to expand it’s boundaries.

“It is something that we need, we need to take the game global,” Penn said.

“It is the best game in the world and we are only playing in a few markets.

“The World Cup has been a great spectacle and we need it to be even better in the future.”

It is not the first time that the Sea Eagles have looked to get a footprint into Asia and three years ago they looked set to play a game against the Canberra Raiders in Shanghai.

“And we actually went to the NRL, we had it all mapped out, we had someone underwriting it and it was blocked by the NRL,” Penn said.

The Manly Daily yesterday revealed that Penn has started working on a plan to get the Sea Eagles into in the American market.

That could see Manly getting involved with a consortium looking to put together a bid for a New York-based team to go into the UK Super League.

There is already a team from Toronto known as the Wolfpack which will play in the English Championship. They have signed former NRL stars Josh McCrone and Dave Taylor.

 

[Captain Moondog]

Pie in the sky. How about working on getting us a five-eighth for next year.

 

[Darren]

Our problem is we have the lowest amount of fans in the comp through the gates and Penn has to find another way of raising money.

 

[jbb/james]

Great article purely on the fact it points out the NRL squashed an idea that wouldcost them nothing to expand the game. On the us venture, if fox is involved its best to be in the forefront of negotiations

 

[Heckenberg]

Our problem is we have the lowest amount of fans in the comp through the gates and Penn has to find another way of raising money.

Might be a great way to get some huge tpa's from an overseas market to be honest.

 

[HappilyManly]

Our problem is we have the lowest amount of fans in the comp through the gates and Penn has to find another way of raising money.

6th lowest crowds are at Brookie.

It's commendable considering our Team's rebuilding phase, plus the state of Brookie

Check the crowds at the reigning Premiers' Shark Park.
Gorman had better pull his CRM finger out next year

https://afltables.com/rl/crowds/2017.html

Team Ave. ↓
Souths 10903
New Zealand 11753
Penrith 12922
Cronulla 12953
St George Illawarra 13334
Manly 13493

 

[Rodo]

Rugby League could quite easily be big in the US. The Americans would love it. Surprised (well maybe not surprised) that the NRL has not tried to enter this market.

Hope this effort from Penn gets somewhere.

 

[Harvies elbow]

Let's go to our Silvertails US correspondent @Manc Yank for an update on the publicity this has generated in the US of A, come in Manc....

 

[rifraff]

Fox is trying to sell itself to Disney. Will we see Selena Gomez starring as Lewis Brown in a rags to riches fairytale sometime in the future?

 

[Ryan]

Not sure why everyone is so hard on Lewis Brown?

1. He plays at 100% every opportunity
2. He WANTS to be here
3. He is forced to play many various positions
4. He's experienced
5. As a club at present, beggars can't be choosers

 

[nightster]

I'm with you Ryno poor old Poo is always the butt of grossly unfair criticism .... just wish he was a bit bigger

 

[Briza]

I reckon Penn is trying to get his foot in the NY door $$ wise, this has the potential to bring huge cash flow into the club/Penn's pocket.

 

[USA Rugby League Fan]

Let's go to our Silvertails US correspondent @Manc Yank for an update on the publicity this has generated in the US of A, come in Manc....

Read ya loud and clear @Harvies elbow on location in the Big Apple there's a large congregation of ladies and some dudes screaming with excitement for some Manly Australian men with sexy accents and hot bodies waiting to invade America. There hasn't been this much excitement since Crocodile Dundee in the 80's arrived. The locals are brushing up on the 'Australian' language in anticipation. I've seen several Daly Cherry-Evans "Will you marry me!" signs everywhere. One burly man was wearing braids like his idol Martin Taupau. One sad bastard shaved his hair to the middle of his head like his idol and I regretfully let him know that Nate Myles and his forehead now play for the Storm.

I have to confess I look up Rugby League news online 24/7. All this talk of the Super League starting a team in New York by the Englishman Ricky Wilby is bloody euphoric. Every time I read anything with League linked to the USA the first thing that comes to my mind is "I TOLD YOU SO!" I know without a shadow of a doubt that this sport will be huge in the US. I just know it. And for these rich owners to see my vision is awesome. The world's super power is begging on it's hands and knees for someone like Jorge Taufua to rumble up the middle to score tries. All I can do is sit back and watch it unfold with a huge smile on my face. I wear my Sea Eagles gear everywhere here in Los Angeles. I'm so proud to wear it. I love this team. And I'm so lucky and proud to share that excitement with you guys. I will be up at 12:50 AM (It's now Friday Dec 1st at 7:54 PM) to watch the final. I've seen every game in this World Cup except 3 in the whole tournament. It's been INCREDIBLE. Good luck boys!

 

[Peter C]

Not sure why everyone is so hard on Lewis Brown?

1. He plays at 100% every opportunity
2. He WANTS to be here
3. He is forced to play many various positions
4. He's experienced
5. As a club at present, beggars can't be choosers

Lewis was never going to set the world on fire, Barrett knew that when he signed him, Cleary had no hesitation in taking him with him when he left the Warriors, now Barrett as well, as you say, as a bench player he can fill most positions on the field, maybe not great, and is rarely injured.

 

[Harvies elbow]

Read ya loud and clear @Harvies elbow on location in the Big Apple there's a large congregation of ladies and some dudes screaming with excitement for some Manly Australian men with sexy accents and hot bodies waiting to invade America. There hasn't been this much excitement since Crocodile Dundee in the 80's arrived. The locals are brushing up on the 'Australian' language in anticipation. I've seen several Daly Cherry-Evans "Will you marry me!" signs everywhere. One burly man was wearing braids like his idol Martin Taupau. One sad bastard shaved his hair to the middle of his head like his idol and I regretfully let him know that Nate Myles and his forehead now play for the Storm.

I have to confess I look up Rugby League news online 24/7. All this talk of the Super League starting a team in New York by the Englishman Ricky Wilby is bloody euphoric. Every time I read anything with League linked to the USA the first thing that comes to my mind is "I TOLD YOU SO!" I know without a shadow of a doubt that this sport will be huge in the US. I just know it. And for these rich owners to see my vision is awesome. The world's super power is begging on it's hands and knees for someone like Jorge Taufua to rumble up the middle to score tries. All I can do is sit back and watch it unfold with a huge smile on my face. I wear my Sea Eagles gear everywhere here in Los Angeles. I'm so proud to wear it. I love this team. And I'm so lucky and proud to share that excitement with you guys. I will be up at 12:50 AM (It's now Friday Dec 1st at 7:54 PM) to watch the final. I've seen every game in this World Cup except 3 in the whole tournament. It's been INCREDIBLE. Good luck boys!

Absolute gold mate absolute gold...
The league could do with people with the passion for the game like that spreading the word that's for sure.
Scotty Penn sign this man up !!!