"American Rugby"?

[Poul]

Rugby XIII

13 stands out around the world for various reasons, be it bad luck, evil or what ever, that's fact. Calling it Rugby XIII will stand out and there's so many ways to promote it.

Just look at this T Shirt and tell me you don't like it.

Yes, it says XIII, no maul no ruck, just RUGBY!

Yeah, I like it. AND , I'm real happy for the French, that this is one of their great contributions to the game.

BUT, I'd like to see the USA have its own stakehold in the game, by having the game referred to in the AMERICAN market as American Rugby

 

[ParraEelsNRL]

Yeah, I like it. AND , I'm real happy for the French, that this is one of their great contributions to the game.

BUT, I'd like to see the USA have its own stakehold in the game, by having the game referred to in the AMERICAN market as American Rugby

Fair enough mate, but I think the game world wide should be called Rugby XIII.

 

[Poul]

Fair enough mate, but I think the game world wide should be called Rugby XIII.

I do think that more should be made of the symbolism of "XIII" in Rugby League, although I don't think the game should be universally referred to as Rugby XIII. The XIII symbol is one way to unite the game in its many outposts, even when it may be referred to by different names.

My suggestion to rename Rugby League in the USA, American Rugby, is more about boosting awareness and differentiating our great game in that very tough market that is the USA. Unfortunately, I don't think too many Americans would be aware of how many players there were on either a Rugby League or union team, so I don't think Rugby XIII will do this.

The XIII symbol does have one connection in the USA, that being to the original 13 American states ( I believe there were 13 stars on the original American flag). Perhaps someone with greater skills than me, could create a XIII symbol enclosed within a ring of 13 stars. Maybe this could become the new symbol for American Rugby.

 

[ParraEelsNRL]

I do think that more should be made of the symbolism of "XIII" in Rugby League, although I don't think the game should be universally referred to as Rugby XIII. The XIII symbol is one way to unite the game in its many outposts, even when it may be referred to by different names.

My suggestion to rename Rugby League in the USA, American Rugby, is more about boosting awareness and differentiating our great game in that very tough market that is the USA. Unfortunately, I don't think too many Americans would be aware of how many players there were on either a Rugby League or union team, so I don't think Rugby XIII will do this.

The XIII symbol does have one connection in the USA, that being to the original 13 American states ( I believe there were 13 stars on the original American flag). Perhaps someone with greater skills than me, could create a XIII ]symbol enclosed within a ring of 13 stars. Maybe this could become the new symbol for American Rugby.

Now you're starting to talk.

Told you there's plenty of uses for 13 ;-)

 

[PacificCoastRL]

I'm not sure that I like "American Rugby". It reminds me of Aussie Rules or Gaelic Football, games that were invented in those countries. Obviously rugby league was not invented in America.
I do like the thirteen angle. My preference would be Rugby 13's. I know that some people struggle with that though as they feel it is a nod to rugby union, ala rugby 7's.
And I do like, as a nickname or slang - "six-tackle". I can picture kids on the park using that. "Let's play some six-tackle".

 

[Knownothing]

:lol:

Nice troll there.

I am not trolling. The only way for the term "rugby" to be exploited for RL is for it to be turned into a generic term - like "cola" is. PepsiCola and Coca Cola both work, but huge amounts of money has been put into exploiting and marketing the products and their names - and even then they are better known just as Pepsi and Coke .

It would take a large amount of money to turn "rugby" into a generic term - particularly as the IRB et al have succeeded to a large extent in making it apply exclusively to RU in most of the big markets that RL would want to exploit. It would then take even bigger amounts of money to take the generic term and make it apply exclusively to RL.

I really do not know why RL would want to squander its resources fighting a battle for the use of a name against a foe with much greater financial resources, and the momentum position.

I am not a marketing man, but I doubt that anybody who is would recommend such a brave course of action, unless it was driven by an organisation that has very very deep pockets indeed.


Tell me where I am wrong, preferably from a marketing viewpoint - but take the financial implications into the equation.

 

[docbrown]

I think a nickname that perhaps evokes the imagery that ours is a collision sport.

 

[ParraEelsNRL]

I am not trolling. The only way for the term "rugby" to be exploited for RL is for it to be turned into a generic term - like "cola" is. PepsiCola and Coca Cola both work, but huge amounts of money has been put into exploiting and marketing the products and their names - and even then they are better known just as Pepsi and Coke .

It would take a large amount of money to turn "rugby" into a generic term - particularly as the IRB et al have succeeded to a large extent in making it apply exclusively to RU in most of the big markets that RL would want to exploit. It would then take even bigger amounts of money to take the generic term and make it apply exclusively to RL.

I really do not know why RL would want to squander its resources fighting a battle for the use of a name against a foe with much greater financial resources, and the momentum position.

I am not a marketing man, but I doubt that anybody who is would recommend such a brave course of action, unless it was driven by an organisation that has very very deep pockets indeed.


Tell me where I am wrong, preferably from a marketing viewpoint - but take the financial implications into the equation.

Simply put, there are two codes of Rugby and RL has just as much right to the name as the other mob.

 

[taipan]

CODE X111.straightforward and to the point.

 

[Number 16]

I find this thread a bit strange. Plenty of people from every corner of the planet telling the Americans how best to market the game in the US!

 

[billy2]

I find this thread a bit strange. Plenty of people from every corner of the planet telling the Americans how best to market the game in the US!

The odd thing about American League is that it began about the same time as the internet, and the AMNRL website was one of the first great international League websites as far back as 2000, so many international fans have been following American League from day one just about.
Some of us even followed the Sunshine State challenge on the net in 1999 - in the days of the old USRL.
Hard to imagine now, but Nui was the first guy to use the net well.
This forum has been going since 2003, but it had a few earlier incarnations that started as early as 2001.

 

[babyg]

I posted this idea previously in the RLIF website thread, but thought it may get a wider audience here.

Should Rugby League in the US be renamed "American Rugby", and the terminologies of the game americanised to give Americans greater "ownership" of the game? I say it should!

Americans appear to be more favourably disposed to "American" sports, u.t., American Football, Basketball, Baseball, so renaming Rugby League, "American Rugby" may make it more palatable to American tastes than union which has previously been referred to as "English Rugby".

There are some obvious terminologies in the game which could be changed, such as "touchdown" for try, and "down" for tackle, "endzone" for ingoal. What other terminologies could be americanised, to give the game a greater American flavour?

I know there will be many here who will oppose this idea, but we already have different terminologies between Australia and England, u.t., Five Eighth c Stand Off, Lock c Loose Forward, Field Goal c Drop Goal.
In particular , I'm interested in the thoughts of our American and American based contributors. Let the flames begin

As soon as I saw the title I thought it was a genius idea.

Most know what rugby is but this implies that it is a combination of NFL and rugby. which is what league is.

Ps. Rugby 13 is Pretty crap. I think need to know what the 15 man code is to understand the 13 reference ie. French

 

[Steve Davy]

I like American Rugby. It was not invented in the USA, but there are some Aussies who think rugby league is from Australia and that does not harm things in the least.

 

[spooky]

You can bet your backside that Canada will not be calling it American Rugby.

 

[Poul]

You can bet your backside that Canada will not be calling it American Rugby.

My suggestion was for the US market. Obviously I would not expect Canadians to call it American Rugby.
There is the opportunity for Canadians to call it Canadian Rugby if they were to choose, although my impression is that Canadians are less nationalistic than Americans, and less dismissive of "foreign" sports than are Americans, so may not feel the need to.

Already in North America, the major football codes in the US and Canada are referred to as American and Canadian Football respectively.
Whilst I am not completely familiar with the differences between the two games, my impression is that they are essentially slightly different versions of the same game.
My impression is that Canadian Football has exhibited a course of "convergent evolution" wrt American Football, making the two games very similar, whereas Rugby League has been on a path of "divergent evolution" from union, making it a completely different game.

The original suggestion was about marketing Rugby League in the USA.
Each country should be able to determine for themselves how best to do so in their own country.

 

[PacificCoastRL]

My suggestion was for the US market. Obviously I would not expect Canadians to call it American Rugby.
There is the opportunity for Canadians to call it Canadian Rugby if they were to choose, although my impression is that Canadians are less nationalistic than Americans, and less dismissive of "foreign" sports than are Americans, so may not feel the need to.

Already in North America, the major football codes in the US and Canada are referred to as American and Canadian Football respectively.
Whilst I am not completely familiar with the differences between the two games, my impression is that they are essentially slightly different versions of the same game.
My impression is that Canadian Football has exhibited a course of "convergent evolution" wrt American Football, making the two games very similar, whereas Rugby League has been on a path of "divergent evolution" from union, making it a completely different game.

The original suggestion was about marketing Rugby League in the USA.
Each country should be able to determine for themselves how best to do so in their own country.

I know this is off topic, but, the differences between Canadian and American football are more numerous than the differences between union and league.

 

[Poul]

I know this is off topic, but, the differences between Canadian and American football are more numerous than the differences between union and league.

I'll concede that I know next to nothing about Canadian Football, and the differences that it has with American Football

What I have been banging on about is how best to promote our great game in the American market, which I believe is the last great frontier for the game.
I don't think we can rely on what has been used in other markets, even where that may have been successful.
I believe we have to use some "lateral thinking", out of the box if you wish.
Rugby League in the USA has made some wonderful advancements since its resurrection by David Niu in 1998(?). More recently Spinner Howland has done some fantastic work in Jacksonville. However, both these guys, despite long time residence in the USA are, with all due respect, "foreigners", and unfortunately I think that this has some impact on the acceptance of the game as potential "American" sport.
I think the future of the game in the USA lies with born and bred Americans assuming positions of power, and without wishing to piss in his pocket, guys like Lawrence from RIR, who can take the game forward to gain acceptance as an American sport. I hope they have the foresight and courage to make the right decisions.
I also hope to live to see the day when the USA National team (whatever they may be called) take on one of the present day Big 3 at home, and to hear the crowd roar as the network commentator screams out as the wide receiver goes in for the winning touchdown, and to declare an historic victory for American Rugby.

 

[Big Picture]

I know this is off topic, but, the differences between Canadian and American football are more numerous than the differences between union and league.

How you can say that is beyond me. The scoring system (with the sole exception of the rouge) is the same in both. The method of restarting play after a tackle is identical in both. So is the method of restarting play after the ball goes out of bounds. The fundamental aspects of so-called "Canadian" football are American in origin, not Canadian. Even the names of the positions players have were imported from the US.

The few distinctively Canadian rules in so-called "Canadian" football are poorly understood and play a minor role in CFL or CIS games. About 3/4 of the players in the CFL went to American colleges where they played American football. Most coaches in the CFL are Americans who grew up with American football. One such coach once described his approach to the CFL as "I send my 12th man wide, the other coach sends his 12th man wide and we play American football."

Anyone who's watched RL and RU knows the games are played in fundamentally different ways, unlife American and "Canadian" football.

 

[southwalesrabbitoh]

IMO, the sport should be named Steeden. There we have it, a seperate name, we broke away from rugby and produced a completely different sport, so we have to have a completely new name.

 

[theblob]

Already in North America, the major football codes in the US and Canada are referred to as American and Canadian Football respectively.

I don't know about in Canada, but in the US it's simply referred to as football. I have no problem with finding different ways of marketing the game that are relevant to a particular country, but I really can't see how the pretence of being American can last. It's going to be tough to explain to people how this sport has a big following in other countries already, whilst being almost unknown to the public in the country where it was created! (By 'unknown', I mean unknown as 'American rugby')