Jump to content

ISC pulling out?


Recommended Posts

Confirms what we've known for a while that ISC were ending with Leeds, not sure whether they'll carry on with Hull FC and Wakefield either. Loads of stuff on sale. 

I've noticed for a while that we've had some non-ISC stuff in the club shop (thats mostly poor quality), I hope we don't go down that cheap route next season.

Link to comment
Share on other sites


  • Replies 191
  • Created
  • Last Reply

I follow ISC on Linkedin and they are quite actively signing up new accounts/teams across a variety of Aussie sports, so maybe they are just cutting ties outside Aus/Nz.
 

You'd imagine RL in Aus would be one of, if not the biggest money spinner for a sports brand. So would be surprised if they walked away from NRL clubs also.

I know a number of smaller companies have dipped their toe in the RL market over the last couple of years, all with existing ties to the game in some way, so will be interesting to see if the likes of Leeds follow a number of other clubs and go down that route, or look to replace quality with quality.

Umbro are now actively back in the 'Rugby' market having signed up the England union team, so maybe that could be an option for Leeds. 
I'd imagine Leeds would be one of the more commercially successful clubs. So they could maybe tempt Umbro.

Newham Dockers - Champions 2013. Rugby League For East London. 100% Cockney Rugby League!

Twitter: @NewhamDockersRL - Get following!

www.newhamdockers.co.uk

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Tommygilf said:

Confirms what we've known for a while that ISC were ending with Leeds, not sure whether they'll carry on with Hull FC and Wakefield either. Loads of stuff on sale. 

I've noticed for a while that we've had some non-ISC stuff in the club shop (thats mostly poor quality), I hope we don't go down that cheap route next season.

Yeah I think this has been on the cards for quite a while, Tommy. I think Leeds' situation was a little more complex than most however due to the length of the contract they signed. As others have said, all signs point towards Oxen taking over but I for one would love to see Canterbury get back involved. Most likely, O'Neill's will continue to expand their reach in both SL and the NRL over the next few years. 

Just having a quick look through the NRL - pretty much half are still done by ISC. After that you have O'Neill's and Dynasty Sports as the next bigger manufacturers. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Canterbury are running low on teams now....... Ospreys are moving to macron.........Bath leaving too.

They basically have Ireland, NSW Origin, Waratahs and a few second tier international union sides (Georgia etc) and that's about it which isn't great for a brand which solely focuses on rugby.

Luckily they still have NZ warriors with their 25 jerseys a year

england_identity2.jpg1921_button.jpg

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

36 minutes ago, hunsletgreenandgold said:

Yeah I think this has been on the cards for quite a while, Tommy. I think Leeds' situation was a little more complex than most however due to the length of the contract they signed. As others have said, all signs point towards Oxen taking over but I for one would love to see Canterbury get back involved. Most likely, O'Neill's will continue to expand their reach in both SL and the NRL over the next few years. 

Just having a quick look through the NRL - pretty much half are still done by ISC. After that you have O'Neill's and Dynasty Sports as the next bigger manufacturers. 

Yeah I get the sense ISC are sticking with Australia/NZ exclusively. The other options aren't bad but they're not great really.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

From a Rhinos centric point of view we need to make sure we have a decent kit manufacturer. Considering our neighbours LUFC have just surpassed 300,000 shirts in the opening 2 weeks of being on sale and half the city will be in Adidas gear now, if the Rhinos go for a cheap option it will only be highlighted further by this juxtaposition.

I've seen the Elite Pro/Oxen stuff at Cas, Hull KR, Yorkshire Carnegie and Gloucester RU and am very worried we'll end up like that. A regressive step imo.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I haven't heard anything in terms of Hull but as has been said there was a lot of rumours going round a while back about ISC pulling out of England. I've always like ISC stuff, some people complain about shirts being templates and training gear being a bit boring but it is all very good quality stuff and I have to say I'm not impressed with the designs I've seen from Oxen who seem to be the maker expanding quickest at the moment. Just have to wait and see. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

57 minutes ago, Sports Prophet said:

Bring back Classic!

Going even more basic - Ellgren or Stag? 

The Leeds players could get some wheelie bin numbers and ask their mums to stick them neatly in place on the back of the shirt.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As an LUFC fan myself, getting a big brand on board like Adidas appeals more to the masses. Even without promotion, LUFC sales of Adidas merchandise would have been massive. There has been some manufacturers of small stature in RL for years now, it would be good to see the big kit manufacturers involved like they used to be. At Featherstone we used to have Umbro, a long time ago granted, but quality kit.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, Gooleboy said:

As an LUFC fan myself, getting a big brand on board like Adidas appeals more to the masses. Even without promotion, LUFC sales of Adidas merchandise would have been massive. There has been some manufacturers of small stature in RL for years now, it would be good to see the big kit manufacturers involved like they used to be. At Featherstone we used to have Umbro, a long time ago granted, but quality kit.

Agreed, looking comparatively at club Union I'm convinced we must sell more gear if not as much as most of them do and they have Canterbury, Adidas, Under Armour and Nike all in the premiership.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

11 minutes ago, Tommygilf said:

From a Rhinos centric point of view we need to make sure we have a decent kit manufacturer. Considering our neighbours LUFC have just surpassed 300,000 shirts in the opening 2 weeks of being on sale and half the city will be in Adidas gear now, if the Rhinos go for a cheap option it will only be highlighted further by this juxtaposition.

I've seen the Elite Pro/Oxen stuff at Cas, Hull KR, Yorkshire Carnegie and Gloucester RU and am very worried we'll end up like that. A regressive step imo.

Completely agree with this. A Premier League Leeds United historically does have an impact on the popularity of the Rhinos, in all senses. This would not be the time to make it an easy decision for fans not to purchase Rhinos kit/merch because of a poor supplier. I'm sure this isn't lost on the marketing team the Rhinos have and fingers crossed Oxen will be overlooked for a bigger/better name. For anybody who thinks the manufacturer/supplier doesn't matter that much, I'd suggest you either don't have children (who care about it massively) or your team changes supplier quite frequently and therefore used to the change. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 minutes ago, Tommygilf said:

Agreed, looking comparatively at club Union I'm convinced we must sell more gear if not as much as most of them do and they have Canterbury, Adidas, Under Armour and Nike all in the premiership.

The big difference is that when you're sponsoring Harlequins, Saracens and Wasps, your branding is being seen by TV audiences all over Europe. 

It's also a way for those brands to tap into England stars. Umbro might be the core England supplier, but Nike can still use the likes of Owen Farrell and the Vuinoploas in their marketing activity. We just don't have those recognisable "stars" to sell to manufacturers. 

A club like Leeds or Wigan might sell as much clobber as Harlequins or Wasps in the club shop, but it's still small fry compared to the unit volumes those brands want to shift and as a sport, we don't provide the exposure to make up for that. Union does. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

15 minutes ago, Irish Saint said:

ISC pulling out-  O'Neills  moving in? 

See the weird thing with O'Neills is i've always loved GAA jerseys (Kerry for me!) but I just can't get on board with what they've produced so far for RL. Be interesting to see what they come up with in the NRL when they actually make their own designs, opposed to inheriting them for the last supplier in the case on the Knights and Panthers. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just now, hunsletgreenandgold said:

Completely agree with this. A Premier League Leeds United historically does have an impact on the popularity of the Rhinos, in all senses. This would not be the time to make it an easy decision for fans not to purchase Rhinos kit/merch because of a poor supplier. I'm sure this isn't lost on the marketing team the Rhinos have and fingers crossed Oxen will be overlooked for a bigger/better name. For anybody who thinks the manufacturer/supplier doesn't matter that much, I'd suggest you either don't have children (who care about it massively) or your team changes supplier quite frequently and therefore used to the change. 

I'd love to have your hopefulness but given some of the recent commercial decisions of the club I'm worried we're going for the cheap option of Elite Pro sports/Oxen. I think I'm right in thinking they've been doing stuff for Leeds for the past season and a bit, including now running the club shop and distributing ISC merch. Sadly it seems that coincides with when our quality of off field stuff has also declined.

I've got myself a new LUFC shirt and the stuff in the shop is quality and feels like premium items. I'd hate for the Rhinos to be ###### by comparison.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 minutes ago, hunsletgreenandgold said:

Completely agree with this. A Premier League Leeds United historically does have an impact on the popularity of the Rhinos, in all senses. This would not be the time to make it an easy decision for fans not to purchase Rhinos kit/merch because of a poor supplier. I'm sure this isn't lost on the marketing team the Rhinos have and fingers crossed Oxen will be overlooked for a bigger/better name. For anybody who thinks the manufacturer/supplier doesn't matter that much, I'd suggest you either don't have children (who care about it massively) or your team changes supplier quite frequently and therefore used to the change. 

Leeds will be Oxen because Oxen / EPS will be the ones willing to pay Leeds for the sponsorship / takeover of the retail function. 

The financials of going with a bigger "name" brand simply won't be there for Leeds. The number of shirts Leeds would sell wouldn't be that massively influenced by the manufacturer (the fan base is only so big) and, to Oxen / EPS, the contract for supplying Leeds is proportionally massive compared to what it is for an Adidas or Nike. 

It's easy to see Leeds United's Adidas shirt sales and think it is a massive factor, but Leeds United's shirt sales were already comparable to top-half / top six Premier League clubs even before they moved to Adidas. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Canterbury probably make the vast majority of their money with the international teams. They will obviously want some presence within the union clubs, but sure they can replace those they no longer supply quite easily.

I used to work for the company that owns Canterbury (Pentland), and they were always one of the most expensive brands involved in both codes of Rugby.

Clubs in RL currently seem much more interested in the balance sheet than the quality of their merchandise. If they can make an extra penny by going cheaper, they will.

Newham Dockers - Champions 2013. Rugby League For East London. 100% Cockney Rugby League!

Twitter: @NewhamDockersRL - Get following!

www.newhamdockers.co.uk

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 minutes ago, whatmichaelsays said:

The big difference is that when you're sponsoring Harlequins, Saracens and Wasps, your branding is being seen by TV audiences all over Europe. 

A club like Leeds or Wigan might sell as much clobber as Harlequins or Wasps in the club shop, but it's still small fry compared to the unit volumes those brands want to shift and as a sport, we don't provide the exposure to make up for that. Union does. 

I think they'll comfortably sell more than those Union clubs (hence why a lot of premiership Union teams are with second rate suppliers) and whilst I can agree with your point about visibility, I think thats more important with sponsorship rather than manufacturer. Manufacturers and the deals around them are far more about volume than sponsorship deals for example.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, whatmichaelsays said:

It's easy to see Leeds United's Adidas shirt sales and think it is a massive factor, but Leeds United's shirt sales were already comparable to top-half / top six Premier League clubs even before they moved to Adidas. 

They doubled the previous record in 2 weeks and are still climbing alongside having sold less than 10% of that number 3 years ago. 

Quality gear gets respect and value. Look rubbish and people won't pay for it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, Tommygilf said:

I think they'll comfortably sell more than those Union clubs (hence why a lot of premiership Union teams are with second rate suppliers) and whilst I can agree with your point about visibility, I think thats more important with sponsorship rather than manufacturer. Manufacturers and the deals around them are far more about volume than sponsorship deals for example.

Kit suppling is sponsorship at the end of the day.

If you're a sportswear manufacturer looking to show that you sell rugby clobber, you'll supply and get your logo on the shirts of the teams that play in front of TV audiences across Europe. That ain't RL. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.