Club relocations – A guide for first timers
Roar Pro
By Gruffalo, 31 Oct 2007 The Crowd is a Roar Pro
Gruffalo writes: Kangaroo fans – take heed of the NRL’s experience in dealing with the “relocation” of the North Sydney Bears rugby league team to the NSW Central Coast in the late 90′s. Far from successful, the Bears are now out of the top grade and the NRL has ensured that the road back is as difficult as possible. Below are some tips for Kangaroo fans on how to manage relocation.
1. When the AFL promises relocation, get it in writing, legally binding and expose this in the media constantly until the deal is done.
2. Ensure that no international media organisation is involved whose priority is not your future but the sale of PayTV products.
3. Ensure that your board promises (legally binding) that no critical decisions will be made (e.g. putting the club into administration) until all aspects have been fully disclosed to and discussed by members (and supporters) and the media at large.
Ensure that everything done in the decision is open, transparent and fully digested.
Finally – review all internal and external parties involved with your club and find out any vested interests that may affect the direction your club takes.
If you manage this, the outcome will, at the least, have clarity and be above board. Otherwise, you will be a Bear.
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onside said | October 31st 2007 @ 4:35pm | Report comment
One more thing,
If the AFL relocate the team from North Melbourne to a RUGBY LEAGUE region, dont call it the KANGAROOS !!!
Sibbs said | October 31st 2007 @ 11:20pm | Report comment
I think ultimately the Kangaroos will be down the drain no matter what happens. They receive no funding if they stay in Victoria, they die a slower death if the move to the Gold Coast. The AFL has stabbed them in the back yet again.
sheek said | November 1st 2007 @ 3:18am | Report comment
Onside,
Why shouldn’t the North Melbourne Kangaroos call themselves the Gold Coast Kangaroos, if they moved there? Rugby League doesn’t own the Kangaroo emblem (neither does Qantas!).
There is no conflict with the Australian RL Kangaroos. The problem arises when two teams have exactly the same first & second names.
For example, the NSW Cricket team is known as the ‘Speedblitz’ Blues. There is a conflict with the NSW State-Of-Origin RL team, but it seems both organisations are happy with each other calling themselves ‘Blues’. Then there is the Sydney FC ‘Blues’. Generally, no problem with either NSW Blues or Sydney Blues.
When AFL Brisbane Bears merged with Fitzroy Lions to become Brisbane Lions, this created conflict with the pre-existing Brisbane Lions Soccer team. However, for a large sum of money, the Soccer franchise was happy to hand over the naming right to the AFL.
Which also explains why the Brisbane A-League team is known as Queensland Roar.
Spiro Zavos said | November 1st 2007 @ 4:25am | Report comment
All this business about who ‘owns’ rights to frequently-used sporting nick-names like ‘The Kangaroos’ and so on reminds me of a story about Groucho Marx and Warner Brothers, the Hollywood giant film-makers. When the Marx Brothers named a film ‘A Night At The Opera,’ Warner Brothers complained and threatened to sue on the grounds that they had brought out a film some years earlier with that name. Groucho Marx threatened to counter-sue on the grounds that the Marx Brothers had the ‘Brothers’ title in their name years before Warner Brothers used it.
The public is not stupid enough to think that an AFL story about ‘The Kangaroos’ is really a story about the Rugby League Kangaroos.
onside said | November 1st 2007 @ 5:41am | Report comment
Sheek and Spiro,
A bit of mischief really. I must shift with the times. The idea of a floating name irks me,thats all.
My preference is to call a team after a town,suburb or region.But that went out of style when
Nixon was in office. The Kangaroos used to be North Melbourne.They were once knicknamed
the ‘shinboners’ because a few players were known to kick opposition players in the shins.
That was back when Truman was in office.I like the possesive title of a team to be the area they
come from. Sure Spiro,The Gold Coast Kangaroos; that will work. Sporting team names bug me
In the Super 14, I want Canberra to play Durban, Wellington to play Perth,and so on.I can relate
to that.I can get emotionally involved.The Force Vs The Bulls ,doesn’t cut it with me.I dont know
anybody who lives in Bulls. I dont know which team comes from where anymore.That comes
with being out of touch I suppose. God knows how I going to get on next week when I get my
first colour TV set. But mooted name changes are nothing new really. For far too many seasons
the Collingwood Football Club failed or fell apart when they played in finals ( like the All Blacks).
There was a suggestion the team was going to relocate to the Philippines and be known as The
Manilla Folders.
So hey, Kangaroos it is then.,even if they end up in Darwin.
I
Gruffalo said | November 1st 2007 @ 7:17am | Report comment
Onside
You will find that team names have a reason, in some instances. When the Australian Rugby League sold out to News Limited, they were happy for their teams to be called more generic names – not “locational” ones – for good reason. If you’re known only as the “Bulldogs” or “Storm” or a quintessential Aussie name like the “Titans”, then the owners of the game can simply uproot you to any part of Australia that suits their needs. For example, if demographic research suggests that there will be significant Pay TV purchasers in the Kimberleys, then welcome the relocated “Kimberley Storm”. Another example – how ridiculous that a club with the smallest junior base in Sydney can be renamed Sydney City?!
Personally, I like the idea of “NSW” playing “Auckland” or the North Sydney Bears playing the Manly Silvertail Scum. All football codes are games of passion and identity – and tradition is critical. Real names.
Once sporting hierarchies stand up and protect the game against rapacious commercial interests, we will never get the ideal balance between sport and business. It takes guts in management. Rugby Union has it. Soccer and AFL guard their game well. Rugby league sold out a decade ago and is run by media lackeys whose top priority is not the wellbeing of the game.
onside said | November 1st 2007 @ 7:28am | Report comment
Gruffalo,
Understood that it needs to be that way mate,
But it still posses me if, a little more than somewhat
BPM said | November 1st 2007 @ 8:36am | Report comment
Gruffalo
“Manly Silvertail Scum” – ??? where have you been for last 10 yrs???
Gruffalo said | November 2nd 2007 @ 1:33pm | Report comment
Only real silvertails can be bankrupt and still manage to survive. Then again, how do you sign Ben Kennedy, Orford, Kite, Jamie Lyon etc if you’ve got no money?
westy said | November 19th 2007 @ 8:49pm | Report comment
To Gruffalo NSW rugby union sold out Western Sydney decades ago . It simply did not have the confidence in its own game or was run by elitist prats or both. It is never possible to forget how many players Parramatta got in the Sydney rep team the first time they won the Sydney comp, nor nsw rugby ‘s “ardent ” development of the game in this region[it is truly a terrible history]. how nsw rugby union basically went broke because of inept management and although run by the ” business boys” had to be bailed out by the nsw govt, the aru and its ” kind” connections at a certain bank. Rugby union gutted out over two decades ago when it failed to establish a national team competition. It basically runs 4 professional teams ‘ the force” Australian as hell; what type of joke is it. By the way Rugby league has not changed the Kangaroos jersey . Of course rugby boys changed their national jersey. Boy oh boy have they got balls. Whose the sponsor now? THE nsw blues oh sorry the waratahs . What NZ wants it gets . Oh yes Australian rugby union has guts . Nsw rugby union runs a third rate district competition. Just where are Sydnet Unis juniors? I am sick to death of the cheap shots at rugby league by a game that has never run a professional domestic competition of any substance and has made a complete and utter pigs breakfast of its amateur district competition . Are there any kids in the eastern suburbs? Union the the bottom football code in Australia.