Coventry Bears rebrand

[David Shepherd]

I think Cornwall is probably the only place left in the country where this kind of regional branding would work.

 

[langpark]

Personally I don't like it, but I doubt it can have hugely negative consequences. If they take a few games per season on the road to other midlands towns, then it will kind of make sense. 

My worry is though, that if/when another midlands team joins in the same division, it becomes a bit awkward. Like when Auckland Warriors rebranded to NZ Warriors. Will look a bit silly if/when a second NZ team is added. 

[Eddie]

27 minutes ago, Wellsy4HullFC said:

As a Bears fan, do you think it will affect your attachment to the club?

To me (an outsider), it feels like a completely different different club to the Bears. It runs the risk of disenfranchising their current support at the same time as trying to appeal to more, and the biggest reason why clubs such as Swinton (Manchester) and Barrow/Whitehaven/Workington (Cumbria) haven't ever gone down this route.

I think Bearman is the owner rather than a fan. 

[OriginalMrC]

26 minutes ago, Wellsy4HullFC said:

As a Bears fan, do you think it will affect your attachment to the club?

To me (an outsider), it feels like a completely different different club to the Bears. It runs the risk of disenfranchising their current support at the same time as trying to appeal to more, and the biggest reason why clubs such as Swinton (Manchester) and Barrow/Whitehaven/Workington (Cumbria) haven't ever gone down this route.

This is a change or die situation and necessary to secure the long term future of the club in the midlands. More announcements will be made in due course which will shed some light on things. 

Putting my fan hat on I am glad to still have a team to support. While the Bears have always had a local support, large percentages of fans (particularly season ticket holders) travel from all over the midlands. I have no doubt people in the midlands will back this. It's a risk of course but necessary I think. 

[northamptoncougar]

Just now, Eddie said:

I think Bearman is the owner rather than a fan. 

He’s not 

[Eddie]

9 minutes ago, David Shepherd said:

I think Cornwall is probably the only place left in the country where this kind of regional branding would work.

 

I think it would in Norfolk too actually, it’s geographically isolated (though not as much as Cornwall) and people here are proud of being from the county. 

[Eddie]

Just now, northamptoncougar said:

He’s not 

Fair enough, I thought he was Alan Robinson for some reason! 

[Damien]

8 minutes ago, David Shepherd said:

I think Cornwall is probably the only place left in the country where this kind of regional branding would work.

 

I think Cornwall makes complete sense. It has a strong identity as a county and realistically the game is never going to have more than 1 professional club in a sparsely populated region of 500,000 people with no towns of any real size. The Midlands is a completely different story with some massive towns and cities.

[Mumby Magic]

Have a soft spot for Coventry. I'd like it if it was an additional team not in place of. However they've done a great job whilst others have fallen before them so in Robinson we trust.

[Henson Park Old Firm]

looks like this decade will be remembered as the decade of rebranding the way things are going... 

[northamptoncougar]

13 minutes ago, Eddie said:

Fair enough, I thought he was Alan Robinson for some reason! 

I could be wrong but I’m pretty sure it’s some grumpy old bar stool from Barrow

[OriginalMrC]

43 minutes ago, Eddie said:

Fair enough, I thought he was Alan Robinson for some reason! 

It's the club present who's been with the Bears since day 1 

[OriginalMrC]

I guess it should be pointed out that Coventry Bears will still exist but as a community club

[Yakstorm]

I wonder how long this has been in the works for? I mean the Midlands Hurricanes were first launched back in 2017 as an Under 16s Academy, so I wonder if this was always a bit of an end game for the Bears, with the club adopting the regional naming and having a series of satellite & affiliated clubs underneath plus a bunch of development hubs?

I'll be keen to hear more from the club about their plans.

[Yorks Tim]

4 hours ago, Eddie said:

They certainly sound like they’ve thought about it. Must admit I’m not a fan of regional names but if they think they need to do it to grow then fair enough. 

 

4 hours ago, Damien said:

Not for me. They should have stuck with Coventry Bears.

Carrying on as Coventry Bears would have been ideal but the club seems to have reached the limit of how much it can grow based on attracting the city's sports fans. Expending the reach therefore the best way forward.

Although I'm from York and otherwise despise (for the sake of the banter) all other Coventry teams I have been fiercely proud of Coventry Bears. I'm glad the name will carry on and expect I'll now become fiercely proud of the Hurricanes too. 

 

 

[Yorks Tim]

1 hour ago, langpark said:

Personally I don't like it, but I doubt it can have hugely negative consequences. If they take a few games per season on the road to other midlands towns, then it will kind of make sense. 

My worry is though, that if/when another midlands team joins in the same division, it becomes a bit awkward. Like when Auckland Warriors rebranded to NZ Warriors. Will look a bit silly if/when a second NZ team is added. 

Another Midlands side in the Pro/semi-pro divisions would always be welcome, particularly in Coventry. Can't see it happening any time soon though. Perhaps when it does, there could be another rebranding. 

[OriginalMrC]

17 minutes ago, Yakstorm said:

I wonder how long this has been in the works for? I mean the Midlands Hurricanes were first launched back in 2017 as an Under 16s Academy, so I wonder if this was always a bit of an end game for the Bears, with the club adopting the regional naming and having a series of satellite & affiliated clubs underneath plus a bunch of development hubs?

I'll be keen to hear more from the club about their plans.

Yes as Saint said its been in the works for a while and bizarrely probably brought forward due to the funding cuts. More announcements in due course will help clarify things and make more sense of the decision. Yes it's a rebrand in league 1 terms but for the midlands it's big news which will strengthen the footprint of the game. 

[DoubleD]

A comparison could be made to when Leeds Carnegie rebranded to Yorkshire Carnegie to appeal to a wider audience. Whilst that wasn’t the root end of their demise, it certainly didn’t help. I’m far from convinced this will succeed but hope I’m wrong 

[OriginalMrC]

19 minutes ago, DoubleD said:

A comparison could be made to when Leeds Carnegie rebranded to Yorkshire Carnegie to appeal to a wider audience. Whilst that wasn’t the root end of their demise, it certainly didn’t help. I’m far from convinced this will succeed but hope I’m wrong 

This isn't quite the same. Correct me if I'm wrong but Carnegie thing was just a name change. This is a rebrand with wholesale changes to the club itself and the structure around it.

[Bearman]

3 hours ago, Wellsy4HullFC said:

As a Bears fan, do you think it will affect your attachment to the club?

To me (an outsider), it feels like a completely different different club to the Bears. It runs the risk of disenfranchising their current support at the same time as trying to appeal to more, and the biggest reason why clubs such as Swinton (Manchester) and Barrow/Whitehaven/Workington (Cumbria) haven't ever gone down this route.

Yes, there is a risk of disenfrechising the loyal fans. Unfortunately, after 5 years there are not enough  Coventrians coming through the gate.The demographics of our fans have shown that a lot of our supporters have come from the wider Midlands. After 5 years it  just wasn't working. We were faced with a situation of rising costs from our landlord, without the opportunity to make any income. That and the draconian cut in central funding meant we had to do SOMETHING.  

We knew this was on the cards a couple of years ago and we had been looking at our options. The local council has shown that they were powerless to help us ( Their ability to help the Sky Blues to find a stadium is proof of that). 

We knew that that SOMETHING would need to be radical. The name " Bears" has been overshadowed by the Warwickshire cricket team and believe it or not we still get confused with an American Football team that folded in the '90s.

Without giving anything away we have big plans for the very near future with on going discussions.  Suffice to say we hope to be able say more in 2022.

3 hours ago, Damien said:

It's more the ditching of Coventry for Midlands that I don't like. The Midlands is a big place and unless they are somehow going to play games all over then it seems like a gimmicky empty gesture. I would also like clubs in places like Birmingham and Nottingham to rise up to the professional ranks rather than finding the route cut off because we have a 1 Midlands side in an area of 10+ million people. I think Coventry would benefit more from competition and rivalry like this.

As stated above, despite the fact that the "Bears" brand has not worked in the professional arena it has a pretty good history as an amateur club. We want to keep that up and hopefully work with the amateur clubs in the Midlands and perhaps  try to reinvigorate the local scene.

 

3 hours ago, The Hallucinating Goose said:

I think I'm gonna reserve judgement on this one until we hear more. If it's been necessary to keep them going and keep them in the league structure then I'm all for it.

Don't really see the need to drop the Bears nickname though, what would have been wrong with Midlands Bears? I always think teams named after weather phenomena sound really manufactured like they're a netball team that's just been plonked down randomly in some made for TV, franchised sports league by someone throwing a dart at a map but that's just me nitpicking, just my preferences for team names. 

As above, we are keen to keep the legacy of the Bears brand. 

I was shocked when we went to Toronto a few years ago that no one we met had a clue where Coventry even was! 100 miles from London worked as did

' near Birmingham". We think of Coventry as a big city, but in reality it isn't 

Again has stated above the " Bears" is now associated with the cricket. I know that the importance of the local press is waning but the headline "Bears + cricket" is now part of the  sporting pysche. 

Of course, we thought long on hard before coming up with Midlands Hurricanes and believe me there were pros and cons and a lot of agonising before the change.

We had to change , it had to be radical. Because after 5 years and faced with swingeing cuts and very little opportunities to grow we had to accept that it really was a case of adapt or fold.

 

  

[Northern Eel]

A brave decision with clearly a lot of thought given. 
 

In community RL terms, the Midlands ‘locality’ stretches from Telford to Immingham. That’s one heck of a large area to encompass in one brand. Are the plans focussed more around the West Midlands? 
 

 

[The Rocket]

10 minutes ago, Bearman said:

Of course, we thought long on hard before coming up with Midlands Hurricanes and believe me there were pros and cons and a lot of agonising before the change.

We had to change , it had to be radical. Because after 5 years and faced with swingeing cuts and very little opportunities to grow we had to accept that it really was a case of adapt or fold.

Haven`t read the rest of the thread but mate I`m right with you. It`s a bold move that has taken a lot of guts, and as they say fortune favours the bold. Good on you and good luck.

[RugbyLeagueGeek]

28 minutes ago, Bearman said:

We were faced with a situation of rising costs from our landlord, without the opportunity to make any income.

29 minutes ago, Bearman said:

The local council has shown that they were powerless to help us ( Their ability to help the Sky Blues to find a stadium is proof of that). 

Does this mean that the team is relocating then? One poster mentioned Birmingham earlier, but I wasn't sure if I'd misunderstood his post or not.

[Damien]

8 minutes ago, ShropshireBull said:

So once again the same familiar problem in rugby league.  No infrastructure for income generation. 

It is certainly a recurring issue.

[Gerrumonside ref]

54 minutes ago, Bearman said:

Yes, there is a risk of disenfrechising the loyal fans. Unfortunately, after 5 years there are not enough  Coventrians coming through the gate.The demographics of our fans have shown that a lot of our supporters have come from the wider Midlands. After 5 years it  just wasn't working. We were faced with a situation of rising costs from our landlord, without the opportunity to make any income. That and the draconian cut in central funding meant we had to do SOMETHING.  

We knew this was on the cards a couple of years ago and we had been looking at our options. The local council has shown that they were powerless to help us ( Their ability to help the Sky Blues to find a stadium is proof of that). 

We knew that that SOMETHING would need to be radical. The name " Bears" has been overshadowed by the Warwickshire cricket team and believe it or not we still get confused with an American Football team that folded in the '90s.

Without giving anything away we have big plans for the very near future with on going discussions.  Suffice to say we hope to be able say more in 2022.

As stated above, despite the fact that the "Bears" brand has not worked in the professional arena it has a pretty good history as an amateur club. We want to keep that up and hopefully work with the amateur clubs in the Midlands and perhaps  try to reinvigorate the local scene.

 

As above, we are keen to keep the legacy of the Bears brand. 

I was shocked when we went to Toronto a few years ago that no one we met had a clue where Coventry even was! 100 miles from London worked as did

' near Birmingham". We think of Coventry as a big city, but in reality it isn't 

Again has stated above the " Bears" is now associated with the cricket. I know that the importance of the local press is waning but the headline "Bears + cricket" is now part of the  sporting pysche. 

Of course, we thought long on hard before coming up with Midlands Hurricanes and believe me there were pros and cons and a lot of agonising before the change.

We had to change , it had to be radical. Because after 5 years and faced with swingeing cuts and very little opportunities to grow we had to accept that it really was a case of adapt or fold.

 

  

Sounds like this is being done for the right reasons.

Good luck Midlands Hurricanes!