I think ive found what he's on about:
https://giphy.com/gifs/season-13-the...eUW0YhumQu210I
I think ive found what he's on about:
https://giphy.com/gifs/season-13-the...eUW0YhumQu210I
Saints are happy to have anyone sponsor them , afraid that is the way it is . RL in UK is in desperate state .
I agree mate, but just 'takin' t' money' hardly helps build a forward looking brand.
We should be looking at building a portfolio of partners as a sport that create an impression of a forward looking sport, not partners that reinforces stereotypes at just about every level: mushy peas, bingo, cheap cars, pawn shops and bookies and (pseudo) fags.
The sport deserves the rough end of the wedge at times for its manifest stupidity.
I sometimes think that potential sponsors have a very stereotypical view of Rugby League supporters and it is up to the RFL, the Super League (a name I will never like) and the individual clubs to get across the fact that Rugby League has always had supporters from all backgrounds and that fans don’t all wear cloth caps and keep whippets.
I remember going in The George on my own a couple of seasons back and someone started talking to me. It turned out he was a GP living in Scotland and he was waiting for another doctor friend, from Manchester, to join him. If we could persuade sponsors that our fans come from all sorts of backgrounds we might see a bit more diversity in the names on stadiums and shirts.
To be honest, the stereotypes wheeled out by Sky don’t always help. I quite like Barry and Terry in a way but they do play up to the perceived stereotype. All our fans, rich and poor, should be valued but advertisers and sponsors need to know the diversity of the audience they are reaching.
Judging by some of the threads on here, we even have Tories in our midst and Dire have a George Formby impersonator!
Spot on. We've seen Maxine 'I'm dead Northern me' Peake sat on a hill in a cloth cap doing some video for RL on the BBC in the past, and it all perpetuates a stereotype. We should be proud of being a Northern sport, but the idea of the North being a load of simpletons sat on the Pennines dressing like extras from Peaky Blinders doesn't do the trick really. We have a RL group in parliament that puts pressure on for stuff like funding, but they could be a bigger presence in projecting RL as a sport into the wider public. There are MPs and city mayors out there like Lisa Nandy, Yvette Cooper, David Davis, Hilary Benn and Andy Burnham that could talk up our game because they represent areas with thousands of RL fans. It just takes someone at the RFL to know anything about marketing and getting the right people in front of cameras.
It's something I personally don't like at all that so many of rugby league's sponsors are companies that prey on the financially vulnerable. Particularly given league is such a working class sport. Obviously companies that do that are going to look to invest in where they think they will get their best return but it's not a great image.
Its the only Governing body who used to get 80K per year from a sponsor (10 years ago) dealing directly at a lower semi-pro level. That same sponsor now gets exposure from the sport but for almost a zero financial input. The biggest blunder ever "STOBART" we gave the signature sponsorship away. Wood may have gone but the major commercial player in that episode is still around with our other Governing body now! Why would you pay to for a brand that registers itself worthless? Saints and other higher profile clubs rely on good will and fight to retain sponsors. Leeds are a little different, they have always had a fair number of supporters with professional occupations in law/finance etc, which helps the corporate Friday night gig.
Superleague also had a sponsor of the video ref / big screen that sued the NHS. Not a great look when one team has cash converters on their shirts, in a stadium sponsored by a vaping company called Totally Wicked (Stadium) with a company that sues the NHS displayed on viewers screens every time there's a video ref decision (every 10 mins)
Unfortunately though, there isnt a long line of potential sponsors clambering to get on board.
So we have to make do with what we do have. In the hopes it will get better.
For what its worth, ive never bought a shirt with cash converters on nor called the stadium "totally wicked" ...its still Langtree Park ...but thats also a sponsorship name.