Commercial performance and sponsorship of SL

[Cowardly Fan]

2 hours ago, scotchy1 said:

Im asking what properties are without sponsors? How many fewer do we have?

I don't know the past numbers, but you can look at it in terms of our properties and sponsorship categories.  From category point of view

• We have - car, rail, betting, glasses, cider, sports equipment, patient claim & mushy peas
• Some notable gaps - spirits, wine (and potentially beer if you can split it from cider), watch, airline, travel, banks, mobile

I've possibly forgotten some current sponsors and gaps, but looking at that there's still a lot of potential. 

In terms of properties as well they need to be creative in making these.  One example from football is training kit sponsorship, that was genuinely revolutionary a few years ago in a mature market and the first club to do it got a £10m deal from it.  Now all clubs look for a training kit sponsor and it appears obvious.   

[Man of Kent]

I take it as read that Elstone’s New Shiny Super League strategy to improve the product has an eye on attracting new sponsors/investors.  

Round 1 was promising - Leeds aside - so happy to give him the new regime some more time before putting the boot in.

[Dave T]

14 minutes ago, Scubby said:

If I were a potential sponsor and I asked "what was your long term plan for the WCC concept?" What on earth would they say?

Maybe, however I *think* this is the first year in a while it will have no sponsor when hosted in the UK. 

[Dave T]

6 minutes ago, Cowardly Fan said:

I don't know the past numbers, but you can look at it in terms of our properties and sponsorship categories.  From category point of view

• We have - car, rail, betting, glasses, cider, sports equipment, patient claim & mushy peas
• Some notable gaps - spirits, wine (and potentially beer if you can split it from cider), watch, airline, travel, banks, mobile

I've possibly forgotten some current sponsors and gaps, but looking at that there's still a lot of potential. 

In terms of properties as well they need to be creative in making these.  One example from football is training kit sponsorship, that was genuinely revolutionary a few years ago in a mature market and the first club to do it got a £10m deal from it.  Now all clubs look for a training kit sponsor and it appears obvious.   

We also used to sell a collective sleeve sponsor. Now nothing. The ref shirt blank (this may be RFLs asset). No WCC sponsor. 

Specsavers left. I think Kingstone Press have left. 

[Scubby]

3 minutes ago, Dave T said:

Maybe, however I *think* this is the first year in a while it will have no sponsor when hosted in the UK. 

But it really is a dog's dinner of a concept which needs stability. If potential sponsors do their homework on what has happened over the last few years it would hardly give the impression of momentum - particularly with Wigan and Hull sticking two fingers up and doing their own thing last year.

[Dave T]

7 minutes ago, Man of Kent said:

I take it as read that Elstone’s New Shiny Super League strategy to improve the product has an eye on attracting new sponsors/investors.  

Round 1 was promising - Leeds aside - so happy to give him the new regime some more time before putting the boot in.

Yes, however if we had more sponsors when the product was apparently m7ch worse we need to be careful not to just put too much faith in the shot clock. RU doesn't have a shot clock, but they do have strong commercial teams working for them (and even they are finding it tough) so we need to make sure we have the right level of investment in this area.

[Cowardly Fan]

1 minute ago, Dave T said:

We also used to sell a collective sleeve sponsor. Now nothing. The ref shirt blank (this may be RFLs asset). No WCC sponsor. 

Specsavers left. I think Kingstone Press have left. 

I was just going off the website, that's poor if they have left and it's not been updated.  

[Dave T]

1 minute ago, Scubby said:

But it really is a dog's dinner of a concept which needs stability. If potential sponsors do their homework on what has happened over the last few years it would hardly give the impression of momentum - particularly with Wigan and Hull sticking two fingers up and doing their own thing last year.

Oh I'm not disagreeing, but despite all that, which has been an issue for ages, we have always been able to get a sponsor to throw a couple of quid in for title rights. 

I was expecting our commercial performance to improve out of sight.

[Dave T]

1 minute ago, Cowardly Fan said:

I was just going off the website, that's poor if they have left and it's not been updated.  

I meant to say that, it is difficult to wok out who the partners are tbh.

I am saying Specsavers left because they weren't on the refs kits on tv, but they were on the linesman kit at Wakey. Really professional.

[DoubleD]

1 hour ago, Dave T said:

Maybe, however I *think* this is the first year in a while it will have no sponsor when hosted in the UK. 

We’ve had sponsors come on at the last minute for this before..........still time

[Dave T]

18 minutes ago, DoubleD said:

We’ve had sponsors come on at the last minute for this before..........still time

Yep, defo still a possibility to be fair.

[EastLondonMike]

Two major things let us down with picking up big commercial partners that other sports can. Strategy and exposure.

[RayCee]

I'd like to see sponsors given added value.

Spec Savers for example could have been offered a few top players and officials to reenact a game situation where the officials get it badly wrong and the catch line is then used. 

If Dacia is involved, get a few top players in an advert with say the Duster model with an angle of how tough RL is and likewise the vehicle.  

Companies are increasingly careful how they spend their money so give them a feeling that RL wants their involvement and will go the extra mile to ensure they get maximum exposure.  

[NotToday]

1 hour ago, EastLondonMike said:

Two major things let us down with picking up big commercial partners that other sports can. Strategy and exposure.

SL/RFL needs to get some Youtubers on payroll.

Have them start a channel or two discussing Rugby league, making compilations, moments from history, get a discussion going. Give them free reign to use footage from the archives to do so. Every other sport has this in droves. This is how you reach new audiences.

RL needs to be pop-culturally relevant. That's where it's failing.

[ghost crayfish]

I'm assuming the process of setting up SL as an independent entity from the RFL will have been excruciatingly difficult (and still ongoing). Combine that with all the league format fighting and work that goes into launching a new season, and it's probably no surprise some things have been neglected. The job of liaising with corporate support may have simply fallen through the cracks between the two bodies? Now that a lot of this has calmed down, hopefully the authorities can address it. Given the difficult circumstances, I'm giving Elstone until July before I judge him on stuff like this.

[Mattrhino]

There are loads of different sponsorship oppurtunities that we haven't got at the moment. Official timekeeper/watch, official bank, official soft drink, official beer, fast food etc.. we also have stuff like sponsorship of the game day broadcast, player of the game, replays, pregame players to watch etc..

[DoubleD]

9 hours ago, EastLondonMike said:

Two major things let us down with picking up big commercial partners that other sports can. Strategy and exposure.

Absolutely. It’s amazing and a credit to the game that we even get sponsors for the WCC, although the value is probably very small. We don’t know from year to year whether it’s going to be played anymore so how can anyone plan and look to attract sponsors when it’s only confirmed 3 months out. Major companies have to do budgets 12-18 months in advance so it’s impossible to engage with prospective sponsors. 

[RP London]

7 hours ago, NotToday said:

SL/RFL needs to get some Youtubers on payroll.

Have them start a channel or two discussing Rugby league, making compilations, moments from history, get a discussion going. Give them free reign to use footage from the archives to do so. Every other sport has this in droves. This is how you reach new audiences.

RL needs to be pop-culturally relevant. That's where it's failing.

RL talks the talk about being "cutting edge" and being at the forefront etc but i do find they lack a little in the "e" side of the game. Their interweb presence isnt great, the website and app are iffy at times and the streaming has been poor. They could really lead the line with this but it is an area they lack.

[LeeF]

19 hours ago, RP London said:

Do the refs not? thought they still had spec savers.. certainly the touchy did in this photo

He is wearing last year's kit unlike the ones on the TV matches.

I would guess that this year's kit either hasn't fully turned up yet or hasn't been distributed

[Dave T]

42 minutes ago, RP London said:

RL talks the talk about being "cutting edge" and being at the forefront etc but i do find they lack a little in the "e" side of the game. Their interweb presence isnt great, the website and app are iffy at times and the streaming has been poor. They could really lead the line with this but it is an area they lack.

I can't remember the last time we did anything that I found innovative, possibly apart from some of the mental health stuff that we should be proud of.

 

 

[PREPOSTEROUS]

As I said on another thread, we have people moaning about paying five quid extra for a match day ticket, companies know their demographic, therefore they see the audience of RL as bargin basements types therefore we get the value brands rather than the premium.

[Dave T]

Just now, PREPOSTEROUS said:

As I said on another thread, we have people moaning about paying five quid extra for a match day ticket, companies know their demographic, therefore they see the audience of RL as bargin basements types therefore we get the value brands rather than the premium.

The point is though that there are many brands that fit in with our demographic for simply advertising their products, hence us getting the likes of the bookies, mushy peas, Dacia etc.

The problem though is that there are cheaper and more effective ways of doing that than sponsoring a sport. 

A big part of sports sponsorship is status, image, prestige, being aspirational, and the these are not things we associate RL with. We stick within our boundaries more than ever and seemingly know our place. 

Hopefully things like the Nou Camp game, the 2021 WC can help, but these things are few and far between. 

22 years honour innovations and aspirations were to stage a World Championship between clubs on opposite sides of the world. We see none of that now.

[Jean de Bordeaux]

www.rugby-league.com/superleague

 

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[Dave T]

 

Steeden are missing off there. 

Kingstone Press and Specsavers deals have ended.

[RP London]

1 hour ago, LeeF said:

He is wearing last year's kit unlike the ones on the TV matches.

I would guess that this year's kit either hasn't fully turned up yet or hasn't been distributed

well doesnt that just sum it all up!