- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
In case you missed it, the XXXX Queensland Bulls are now the my FootDr Queensland Bulls. Because the boys presumably spent so much of last season drunkenly tripping over that they now need a podiatrist.
I love the Queensland Bulls as much as anyone who grew up before the 1994-95 Summer of Martin Love. I also appreciate the need for corporate sponsorship as much as I appreciate the need for good foot care.
What I don’t understand is the perceived value of smashing two foreign concepts together and speaking about them as if they’ve always been a thing.
The union may well be a successful one on the field, and the company in question may well do amazing things for Queensland cricket off it, but the new moniker doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue. At best, it’s kinda ridiculous.
Yes, the good people at my FootDr have got their two mentions here, and their comms team no doubt have an intern noting this in a nifty Excel spreadsheet as we speak (stick with it kid, you’ll go places). But are these two name-drops really worth anything?
Lest this sound like a witch-hunt, full disclosure – I’ve never gone for referring by sporting teams or venues by their branded monikers. Suncorp Stadium will always be Lang Park. The New South Wales Victoria Bitter Blues will always be The Cockroaches. The Gabba will always be… well, The Gabba.
In fact, Australian cricket venues have done a pretty good job of holding onto their identity over the course of my lifetime, and the AFL by extension (or vice versa). Could you imagine the uproar if the MCG was re-branded as the Coca-Cola Coliseum? Adelaide Oval became American Airlines Arena?
Un-Australian.
Of course, there are examples where the synergy between sport and corporate partner captures the zeitgeist perfectly.
Qantas Wallabies? The two entities’ current synchronised tailspin is as majestic as their synchronised turn-of-the-century soaring.
Holden Kangaroos? Half of Australia is happy to see either lose.
CTI Melbourne United? Until Chris Anstey handed in his clipboard Monday, only disgruntled Melbourne Tigers fans knew either existed.
But if we look at the online presence of the teams at the top of Australian sport in 2014 – the South Sydney Rabbitohs and Hawthorn Football Club – the sponsors’ product sits beside or beneath the team name, not on top of it. Which proves it is possible to succeed without selling your identity, or switching your home ground’s name from one online betting organisation to another in the blink of an eye as the Penrith Panthers have in recent times.
Don’t even get Cronulla Sharks fans started on a home ground which is renamed so often the club should have sign-writers on staff.
Companies will always want to buy in to the sporting dream, though, and there are a couple of ways I can see it being done with the credibility of all concerned remaining intact.
One, be a ridiculously wealthy energy drink manufacturer so you can run as many motorsport teams and football clubs in your name as you have time to pay attention to.
Or two, go to Stadium Australia Group when ANZ’s naming rights deal comes up for renewal, somehow outbid the big-four banks during a heated negotiation process, and rebrand the Olympic Stadium as Cathy Freeman Arena for the duration of your tenure.
Your comms team might not get the mentions, but the goodwill you’ll generate will be priceless.
Build your own fantasy cricket team and put it to the test with Draftstars daily fantasy competitions. Pick your match, pick your team and watch the points roll in to take out cash prizes on each match. What are you really gambling with? Set a deposit limit.