The Las Vegas Thread

[Taking The Two]

Yes exactly. Hopefully it would just be called the NRL in the UK and France too. The other option is to call them premierships etc. NRL is currently the Telstra Premiership. So it could be Pacific Premiership and European Premiership - especially when PNG join.

These would just be honorary titles for sponsors and competitions, nearly everyone would refer to it as NRL (or footy or rugby depending where you are in the world). Would also lend itself to the World Club Challenge really feeling like a battle of the 2 NRL premierships (and across 5 countries).

Premiership is UK rugby union, I think. It used to be the Football Premiership, which is now the Premier League.

I don't think there is an obvious name change for UK RL. Ideally, we would have trademarked Super League in the 90's but we now have the Netball Super League and the Women's Super League which is Football, so we're a bit lost amongst that. The Premiership/Premier League has connotations elsewhere as above. The NRL name would only be if there was a buy-out, which is another discussion altogether. NRL Europe seems to be the frontrunner and I don't think the NRL would want to move too far away from their brand should they buy the comp as a whole.

 

[mccarthyj367]

Premiership is UK rugby union, I think. It used to be the Football Premiership, which is now the Premier League.

I don't think there is an obvious name change for UK RL. Ideally, we would have trademarked Super League in the 90's but we now have the Netball Super League and the Women's Super League which is Football, so we're a bit lost amongst that. The Premiership/Premier League has connotations elsewhere as above. The NRL name would only be if there was a buy-out, which is another discussion altogether. NRL Europe seems to be the frontrunner and I don't think the NRL would want to move too far away from their brand should they buy the comp as a whole.

If the NRL is involved Super League as a brand will no longer exist. As you say, it is a weakened brand because the UK administration simply can't be trusted to protect its IP. SL also has connotations with the SL War and if the NRL were to invest in the game in the UK and France it would want the remnants of that divisive time extinguished for good.

I think NRL Europe works. NRL is an unbelievable brand across the Pacific, that isn't an accident - it's the refining of a product over the last 5 years in particular. To play NRL is seen as the pinnacle so it would be great for young kids in the north of England to aspire to get an NRL contract (whether in Europe or Australia/NZ).

 

[blue bags]

As an aside, if the NRL made $2m profit on it like they say, they should pump that money back into the event to make it bigger. Put $1m of that on activating very high profile individuals to be at the game and lead-up events posting on their own socials. Put the other $1m on getting a high profile US-based musical act to perform.

Get Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce, iShowspeed, Dana White, Snoop Dogg, Post Malone... just get one of these involved and posting about it on their socials and it will generate mass attention.

ex NFL patriots player
Gronski . is used to promote NRL now. in USA. on tv . media ad's

 

[blue bags]

Should chain people to their seats so they can’t leave

like mechanical clamps

 

[blue bags]

I agree it's not as big of a problem as people make out, however optically it doesn't look the best for casual viewers tuning in. The NRL don't have to throw out the baby with the bathwater to fix it, but like I mentioned they could change up the format a bit to make it more likely for fans to want to stay in the stadium. 3 games back to back to back is a bit much for anyone, but throw in an 'Free Aussie bbq on the field, meet your favourite players, sign autographs' and a big musical act to break up the games will do the job to keep people engaged and in the stadium

crocodile Dundee
put another shrimp on the Barbie

 

[Mother Nature's Son]

Firstly, like you say, nobody actually says national rugby league - the NRL is already in two countries, so it's already incorrect. But that's semantics and nobody cares. Secondly, if you're in England or France, you wouldn't say NRL.. Europe, you just say NRL.
You're only saying Europe when it's not obvious, like if you're making mention of it in Australia for example.

Fans might not but broadcasters and TV hosts will have to differentiate and that’s where it sounds plainly ridiculous.

Broken Hill Propriety Limited; Queensland and Northern Territory Airline Service, Commonwealth Serum Laboratories... mmmm.... now what does everyone worldwide know those companies as. NRL would be no different.It`s a brand.
Many companies are trying to reduce even further now to instantly recognisable logos, easier to market.

 

[Taking The Two]

Broken Hill Propriety Limited; Queensland and Northern Territory Airline Service, Commonwealth Serum Laboratories... mmmm.... now what does everyone worldwide know those companies as. NRL would be no different.It`s a brand.
Many companies are trying to reduce even further now to instantly recognisable logos, easier to market.

Not a clue. What are they known as?

 

[Mother Nature's Son]

Not a clue. What are they known as?

BHP, QANTAS, CSL., you mightn`t have heard of CSL, but you`d have to have been living under a rock not to have heard of one of the world`s largest mining company`s, BHP, and not knowing QANTAS proves my point, people will only know the National Rugby League as the NRL, people are lazy, they love acronyms, look at how the next gen text.
NRL, btw, the world`s largest `rugby` competition.

 

[steeden.]

BHP, QANTAS, CSL., you mightn`t have heard of CSL, but you`d have to have been living under a rock not to have heard of one of the world`s largest mining company`s, BHP, and not knowing QANTAS proves my point, people will only know the National Rugby League as the NRL, people are lazy, they love acronyms, look at how the next gen text.
NRL, btw, the world`s largest `rugby` competition.

Qantas slightly different since you say it as a word rather than the initials - but your point is legit.

my only concern is that calling both “NRL” colloquially might get confusing when you talk about “watching the nrl”. A return to the RFL could work maybe

 

[Gobsmacked]

Qantas slightly different since you say it as a word rather than the initials - but your point is legit.

my only concern is that calling both “NRL” colloquially might get confusing when you talk about “watching the nrl”. A return to the RFL could work maybe

How often are you talking about SL and NRL interchangeably?
If you're talking about NRL and your in Sydney, are you really confused at to which you might be referring to?
And the same would apply if the roles were reversed.

The whole idea is that we want them thought of as the same thing, the same organization, just 2 separate branches.

NRL is going global and this is another step towards that being a legitimate claim and selling to global broadcasters is 30 teams across 5 countries and 2 continents, play games in Japan, Vegas..

NRL

 

[steeden.]

How often are you talking about SL and NRL interchangeably?
If you're talking about NRL and your in Sydney, are you really confused at to which you might be referring to?
And the same would apply if the roles were reversed.

The whole idea is that we want them thought of as the same thing, the same organization, just 2 separate branches.

NRL is going global and this is another step towards that being a legitimate claim and selling to global broadcasters is 30 teams across 5 countries and 2 continents, play games in Japan, Vegas..

NRL

fair point. I was thinking of the poms saying they're "going to watch the NRL" - is it the Australian version with the bigger name, or the English game rebranded?

 

[marlins2.0]

Qantas slightly different since you say it as a word rather than the initials - but your point is legit.

my only concern is that calling both “NRL” colloquially might get confusing when you talk about “watching the nrl”. A return to the RFL could work maybe

Its pronounced Nirril mate

 

[Taking The Two]

BHP, QANTAS, CSL., you mightn`t have heard of CSL, but you`d have to have been living under a rock not to have heard of one of the world`s largest mining company`s, BHP, and not knowing QANTAS proves my point, people will only know the National Rugby League as the NRL, people are lazy, they love acronyms, look at how the next gen text.
NRL, btw, the world`s largest `rugby` competition.

Point proven really. What is big in your country can be unknown and not heard of elsewhere. Mining companies are not exactly well known in the UK. Well, not anymore. Maybe 50 years ago.

 

[Mother Nature's Son]

Point proven really. What is big in your country can be unknown and not heard of elsewhere. Mining companies are not exactly well known in the UK. Well, not anymore. Maybe 50 years ago.

Back on point, go back over the conversation, acronyms are fine and widely used, many people don`t even know what they stand for and wouldn`t care. Ask most people what BBC stands for.

 

[Bukowski]

Back on point, go back over the conversation, acronyms are fine and widely used, many people don`t even know what they stand for and wouldn`t care. Ask most people what BBC stands for.

Be careful typing that into Google

 

[Taking The Two]

Back on point, go back over the conversation, acronyms are fine and widely used, many people don`t even know what they stand for and wouldn`t care. Ask most people what BBC stands for.

Apart from where they’re not widely used, as it’s been proven by some miners, which hasn’t been a thing in the UK since the 80’s.

 

[Wb1234]

They would bring at least the same amount of fans as this year if not more

 

[yakstorm]

When Super League launched in 97 it had an amazing opportunity to really own the brand, make it synonymous with Rugby League and prevent other sports from taking it.

Instead they did little to protect it and over the years almost 60 different sporting competitions have popped up around the world using the same name. Depending who you talk to, when you say Super League, it could mean Rugby League, it could mean Football, it could mean Cricket or Netball. It's pretty much just become an alternate name for a 'Premiership competition'.

NRL, whilst flawed in some ways, at least has minimal competition. The only other NRL's out there are the Newcastle Rugby League and the National Ringette League in Canada, so it's a brand that the sport can truly own from a recognition perspective.

In terms of profile, I think it's under appreciated how well the NRL is known within Rugby circles in Europe. Remember, Sky Sport show a minimum of 3 live games a week on one of their main channels in the UK, BeIN Sport pays for 3 games a week in France and actually pays for a French commentary team. Sport1 covers the game in German in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and it is also shown on ESPN in Netherlands.

Remember on the flip side, Super League actually has 2 French teams, yet it can't get a broadcaster to pay much more than coverage costs for games. Sky only puts 2 SL games a week on it's main channels with the rest on Sky Sports+ (Streaming). SL's only other broadcasters in Europe are Sport1 (Germany, Austria and Switzerland) and TV3 in Catalonia (Spain/France).

Going from SL to NRL Europe (or NRL North / NRL 54.5260° N, 15.2551° E or whatever) is not going to be that big of an IP loss IMO. Longer term, I think it's a brand they can actually grow, versus SL (which will forever be in the shadow of FA's Women's Super League), RL Premiership or ERL.

Having alignment with the brands globally isn't a bad thing, speaking of experience trying to introduce RL into Singapore, I can assure you we've had a lot more success getting traction with the name Singapore NRL (SGNRL), than any previous attempts to start Singapore Rugby League, Rugby League Association Singapore, etc.

 

[i0Nic]

Renaming SL to NRL instantly uplifts both competitions, but the NRL will only want to associate it's brand to a top flight, commercially sustainable competition and teams. They will not want to attach the name to a competition that is clearly sub-par. So with that I believe they will definitely restructure the SL and reduce teams to 10 and try to pool resources/talent to these teams rather than spreading thin.

However this is exactly what the super league clubs are worried about and why they may not vote in the NRL.

It's possible that this results in no investment from the NRL, or potentially a breakaway comp formed but I'm not sure the NRL will be motiviated enough to make that a reality.

 

[Gobsmacked]

Renaming SL to NRL instantly uplifts both competitions, but the NRL will only want to associate it's brand to a top flight, commercially sustainable competition and teams. They will not want to attach the name to a competition that is clearly sub-par. So with that I believe they will definitely restructure the SL and reduce teams to 10 and try to pool resources/talent to these teams rather than spreading thin.

However this is exactly what the super league clubs are worried about and why they may not vote in the NRL.

It's possible that this results in no investment from the NRL, or potentially a breakaway comp formed but I'm not sure the NRL will be motiviated enough to make that a reality.

There's been strong signals out of NRL HQ that they're not interested in anything hostile like a breakaway comp.
It looks to me to be a clear offer for full control and that control will be centered around a sound/ sustainable business model.

It makes it a difficult thing for clubs to argue against, arguing against this proposal means you are effectively admitting you know your club is what is holding the League back.

Safe clubs that would welcome the investment are most likely:
Saint Helens
Wigan
Hull KR
Hull FC
Warrington
Leads
Catalans
Toulouse

The next 3 months is the opportunity for those clubs not safe to get a business case together and a strategy to show the NRL that they can be a net benefit to the League moving forward.

Going to be very interesting how this plays out.