At the moment we have exhausted almost every avenue of revenue possible and further options are becoming more scarce. Despite a major part of our short term debt being removed we are still operating at a trading loss every year therefore the debt continues to increase despite the stricter disciplines imposed on transfers and wages.
As much of our existing revenue options will shrink dramatically, and in some cases dry up altogether, over the next few years, further borrowing will be come fundamental to our short-term survival but at the danger of once again taking us to the abyss of bankruptcy in the longer term.
So we must seriously consider whether entry to even the lowest league in England would financially benefit us more than if we remain in Scotland. We would of course retain our existing fan-base and there would possibly be an increase in season ticket sales as supporters looking to book their places early in order to avoid the predictable drought when Rangers finally make the Championship division.
Sponsors would also be taking this longer term view and therefore much more lucrative deals could be struck weighted as they are with the probability of top flight football within two years. Therefore the most conservative estimate would be that Rangers FC could accrue at least £10 million in additional revenue almost immediately they set foot in England.
So with at least ten mill more in the bank and an infinite number of sponsorships opportunities lying ahead, the potential for growth is in dramatic contrast to the predictable decline should we remain in Scotland.
But what do we have to offer the English clubs that will sweeten the deal for them? The very presence of Rangers of course will increase interest amongst their own sponsors as well as having a very lucrative pay day when Rangers are the visitors.
And we could set up our own pay-pre-view telly deal which should give them another source of income albeit the bulk of the TV money would of course end up in the Ibrox coffers in any event. But it is not unrealistic for each of these clubs to anticipate total additional income of between £1-£2million over the season. Not bad for a league that has average attendances of slightly over 4,000 per game according to the leagues official figures. That’s a miserly £80,000 per season in ticket sales. So the financial advantages of having the teddies join them even if it is only one season will certainly open up the very real possibility of them making at least ten times as much.
A delightful bonus in ditching this scrounging cartel of nonentity’s would be of course the anti-Rangers media, politicians, SFA and bogus “charities” that infest Scotland would be left to stew in their own sectarian bile. They have no influence whatsoever over English footballing affairs and Rangers will have no fears in being judged in a neutral environment for the first time in decades.
There will be those who believe that kicking off our English campaign in the lower leagues is somehow “humiliating”, yet seem to have no qualms about our heavily subsidising unambitous dross who hate our very existence. Perhaps it is better to view playing in the English bottom league as “Round one” in a 2-3 round campaign that will take us ever nearer a platform more worthy of the ambitions of Rangers football club. Too much emphasis on the alleged short-term “downgrading” of our football may blind us to the massive opportunities that will be within our reach within a comparatively short time.
Our future is in our hands. We must seize the moment.