Problematic? Not problematic. FA WSL is now just WSL.

[gingerjon]

Possibly not a huge deal but a potential fly in the ointment - certainly if you're doing any social media searching or googling.

The women's football top tier has dropped the 'FA' from its name. It's now just Women's Super League. Likely to be referred to as Super League a fair amount of the time.

Have to say that the font and design look quite similar to some of the most recent branding on the RFL website.

 

[Man of Kent]

'Women's Super League Rugby'. Need to do the same for the men's, as Channel 4 has done.

[Jughead]

BBC and Talksport always seem to refer to it as WSL. 

[Damien]

I always heard it referred to as the Women's Super League anyway. On sports news it is already referred to as Super League, a fair few times they've mentioned Super League and I've been thinking they are going to proceed to talk about Rugby then instead they've proceeded to show WSL.

[gingerjon]

1 minute ago, Damien said:

I always heard it referred to as the Women's Super League anyway.

Like I say, I'm not sure it is necessarily problematic in any major way but it has the potential to be an irritant in some circumstances.

[Damien]

8 minutes ago, gingerjon said:

Like I say, I'm not sure it is necessarily problematic in any major way but it has the potential to be an irritant in some circumstances.

Oh yes certainly, it already is. Again its more a symptom of the sports failing to either/or a) not make the name strong enough to dissuade someone else using it b) not making it unique to RL.

For instance the Premier League will always be Football and its easily strong enough that no one else using that name will usurp it. Something like Premiership Rugby includes the name of the sport (lets ignore the misappropriation of the term rugby - another RL failing but I digress).

We put all our eggs in the SL basket, largely gave up using Rugby or Rugby League and now have no real brand identity. Now after 25 odd years we are in a pretty weak position when it comes to this.

[Dave T]

1 hour ago, Man of Kent said:

'Women's Super League Rugby'. Need to do the same for the men's, as Channel 4 has done.

Yes, or BetFred Rugby Super League 

Remember we added the word rugby to the logo a few years ago. That was quietly dropped and never really used well anyway. 

[Dave T]

1 hour ago, gingerjon said:

Possibly not a huge deal but a potential fly in the ointment - certainly if you're doing any social media searching or googling.

The women's football top tier has dropped the 'FA' from its name. It's now just Women's Super League. Likely to be referred to as Super League a fair amount of the time.

Have to say that the font and design look quite similar to some of the most recent branding on the RFL website.

 

Have to say its poor form for the logo to be so similar - more to our mens SL logo. The font for Super League is very similar 

[gingerjon]

11 minutes ago, Dave T said:

Have to say its poor form for the logo to be so similar - more to our mens SL logo. The font for Super League is very similar 

It's actually closer than I thought!

[EastLondonMike]

11 minutes ago, Dave T said:

Have to say its poor form for the logo to be so similar - more to our mens SL logo. The font for Super League is very similar 

Designed by the same agency. Matter, I believe.

[Toby Chopra]

We definitely need to use the word rugby in our branding of the top flight . TBH for me it's more important than having the word league in there somewhere. Our top flight is - or should be - one the of the northern hemisphere's premier rugby competitions. The fact that it's league is what makes it better to watch than union, but as long as we have a distinct brand name for our flagship competition the word league doesn't have to be in there if it's too cluttered. 

(For avoidance of doubt, that's not the same thing as changing the name of the sport itself)      

[RigbyLuger]

I heard someone on a podcast say it was really odd that with "Premier League" such a strong brand, they didn't just use that when branding the Women's game in football, especially as there are so many other "Super Leagues" around, Netball for one.

[gingerjon]

4 minutes ago, RigbyLuger said:

I heard someone on a podcast say it was really odd that with "Premier League" such a strong brand, they didn't just use that when branding the Women's game in football, especially as there are so many other "Super Leagues" around, Netball for one.

There already was a Premier League. The WSL was the FA division placed above it.

It's that simple.

[Chris22]

2 hours ago, Damien said:

We put all our eggs in the SL basket, largely gave up using Rugby or Rugby League and now have no real brand identity. Now after 25 odd years we are in a pretty weak position when it comes to this.

A very valid point. I hear "Betfred Super League" sometimes but never the name of the sport.

I have never been averse to the Rugby League (or 'RL') Premiership as a name, the Super League name is no longer unique enough, in my view

[Chris22]

Sort of on a similar topic, I noticed that Super League's latest marketing material refers to the Magic Weekend as 'The Super League Festival'.

Rebrand on the cards next year?

[Damien]

10 minutes ago, Chris22 said:

A very valid point. I hear "Betfred Super League" sometimes but never the name of the sport.

I have never been averse to the Rugby League (or 'RL') Premiership as a name, the Super League name is no longer unique enough, in my view

I think the Rugby League Premiership sounds rather good. I'd much prefer that.

[idrewthehaggis]

One for Martyn and John who were surely trainee journalists in the distant 80s/90s pre internet, pre "woke" era.

The old guard remained opposed to change. Either purposely racist or ignorant, news items would have-

• A 28 year-old man if they were "white."
• A 28 year-old black man if he wasn't white.

And then

• a female engineer if it's erm a woman 
• a engineer if he was male.

I suspect progressive minded junior reporters like Martyn and John would remark towards the ageing Franks or Arthurs: "Surely it is either all or none." Try to re-fashion the copy to the growing contemporary, before being despatched like a Boycott delivery from the editor's office into the smokey hues of the news desk with a bollocking in their ears and a mission to see Mabel and George who were celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary.

None is seen the better now a days. (Bar Police descriptions where none is basically nonsense.)

Also given compatibility is equally deemed to be polite these days.

So in other words we need to consider Men's SL and Women's SL or give each competition a specific name to identify the playing gender.

More over why was the term Super League not copywritten.

[gingerjon]

18 hours ago, idrewthehaggis said:

[1] So in other words we need to consider Men's SL and Women's SL or give each competition a specific name to identify the playing gender.

[2] More over why was the term Super League not copywritten.

[1] That is starting to happen - especially with the Challenge Cup.

[2] Others will know better but I don't think you could stop a league in another sport calling itself Super League but you could stop another rugby competition doing so.

[Tommygilf]

NRL anyone?

I notice Channel 4 presenters have occasionally referred to their coverage as "League on 4". 

[Toby Chopra]

1 hour ago, Tommygilf said:

NRL anyone?

I notice Channel 4 presenters have occasionally referred to their coverage as "League on 4". 

Interesting. 

I wonder why not 'Superleague on 4'? Is it because it's already a compromised brand with women's soccer and netball? 

[Leyther_Matt]

23 hours ago, Damien said:

Oh yes certainly, it already is. Again its more a symptom of the sports failing to either/or a) not make the name strong enough to dissuade someone else using it b) not making it unique to RL.

For instance the Premier League will always be Football and its easily strong enough that no one else using that name will usurp it. Something like Premiership Rugby includes the name of the sport (lets ignore the misappropriation of the term rugby - another RL failing but I digress).

We put all our eggs in the SL basket, largely gave up using Rugby or Rugby League and now have no real brand identity. Now after 25 odd years we are in a pretty weak position when it comes to this.

Weirdly I was thinking about this yesterday. Don’t forget the RU Premier Premiership only arrived after football started using the Premier League branding post-Carling Premiership, and all of those are predated by the Stones Bitter Premiership!

[Tommygilf]

11 minutes ago, Toby Chopra said:

Interesting. 

I wonder why not 'Superleague on 4'? Is it because it's already a compromised brand with women's soccer and netball? 

I get the sense that Adam Hills started it and it has been carried on. Sounds a bit exotic, especially in the Aussie accent.

 

[Damien]

2 hours ago, Tommygilf said:

NRL anyone?

I notice Channel 4 presenters have occasionally referred to their coverage as "League on 4". 

Is it not just a case of Adam Hills being an Aussie and they always refer to it as being league? He certainly always does.

[Bedfordshire Bronco]

21 hours ago, Damien said:

I think the Rugby League Premiership sounds rather good. I'd much prefer that.

I never understand this

If our worry that the phrase 'Super League ' is being appropriated elsewhere and is no longer unique why on earth would we use the term 'Premier'.....it is surely THE most bland and generically used term ?

I'm obviously in a minority but I have always liked SL as a term....sure in women's soccer and netball it's used but is unique still in men's sport

[Damien]

Just now, Bedfordshire Bronco said:

I never understand this

If our worry that the phrase 'Super League ' is being appropriated elsewhere and is no longer unique why on earth would we use the term 'Premier'.....it is surely THE most bland and generically used term ?

Don't understand what? Its quite simple, the name of the sport is in the title. There is absolutely nothing generic about that. Everything about Super League is generic.