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Wests Tigers take over bid

AnonymousLurker

Juniors
Messages
1,900
If we want to sell the NRL to the rest of the world we need to use brands that sound credible.

Western Sydney Tigers
Western Sydney Magpies

The proper noun Sydney has to be in it so people outside of Australia know where it is. Sydney is Australia's most well known city, so let's use that to our advantage.

Money can be made by taking a club that has "Sydney" in its name to overseas markets and establishing some sort of link with the local community. America, Canada or England would be a great place to start. Visit schools and universities during the off-season to teach them about the game. Give the schools a Blu-Ray to help them understand the game, showcase the most exciting aspects of the sport and leave behind some footballs and training manuals so that the schools can add the game to their curriculum. It would leave a huge impression on the students. Provide a foreign membership option that allows signed up members to stream every NRL game live and on demand, provides caps player cards and stickers of the team logo so they can put it on their school bags, skate boards and school books. It's great advertising.

But do not use the name Wests Tigers. It sounds low brow and informal.

Penrith Sydney panthers
Cronulla Sydney shark
Canterbury Sydney bulldog
Manly Sydney seagulls
Parramatta Sydney eels

Need to add Sydney to the rest , how will other countries know where the above teams a from
 

BunniesMan

Immortal
Messages
33,687
If we want to sell the NRL to the rest of the world we need to use brands that sound credible.

Western Sydney Tigers
Western Sydney Magpies

The proper noun Sydney has to be in it so people outside of Australia know where it is. Sydney is Australia's most well known city, so let's use that to our advantage.

Money can be made by taking a club that has "Sydney" in its name to overseas markets and establishing some sort of link with the local community. America, Canada or England would be a great place to start. Visit schools and universities during the off-season to teach them about the game. Give the schools a Blu-Ray to help them understand the game, showcase the most exciting aspects of the sport and leave behind some footballs and training manuals so that the schools can add the game to their curriculum. It would leave a huge impression on the students. Provide a foreign membership option that allows signed up members to stream every NRL game live and on demand, provides caps player cards and stickers of the team logo so they can put it on their school bags, skate boards and school books. It's great advertising.

But do not use the name Wests Tigers. It sounds low brow and informal.
Exactly. There was a fad in the late 90s to make every Sydney team "Sydney" or not even that when the Dogs were "The Bulldogs" for a terrible period. Overpaid PR consultants with no idea. The biggest clubs in the world do not shy away from representing their geographic base. In American football and European soccer. And the best comparison being the London soccer clubs who haven't ruined their names even as they transitioned to competing for fans on a worldwide basis. Chelsea is still Chelsea.
 

RedVee

First Grade
Messages
5,853
Macarthur Magpies, or give the Macarthur to SGI, the Illawarra catchment abuts to the Macarthur and Southern Highlands.


I admit to bias, being a 50+ year Dragons fan and a 30+ year Macarthur resident. (oh, and living a short walk from Pratten Park growing up).
 

Perth Red

Post Whore
Messages
65,411
Wests Tigers Chairman Lee Hagipantelis has downplayed the chances of club great Benny Elias buying a majority stake in the joint venture club.

Reports last week emerged that Elias and a financially backed consortium were plotting to purchase a 50.5% share in the Wests Tigers for somewhere between 8 to 10 million dollars.

Currently, the Wests Tigers are owned by the Wests Magpies and the Balmain Tigers to the extent of 90% and 10% respectively. With Elias a club great of Balmain, it is believed he is aiming for his former club to have an equal say in operations.

Hagipantelis joined SEN 1170 Breakfast where he labelled the prospects of a takeover as "very slim" and stated that he was aware of the ‘secret’ meetings held between Elias and club powerbrokers.

“Well it’s interesting, because even as the Chair of the Wests Tigers, it's not a matter that strictly speaking concerns the Wests Tigers,” he said.

“The Wests Tigers, as is publicly known, is owned by shareholders.

“The shareholders being the Wests Magpies and the Balmain Tigers to the extent of 90% and 10% respectively.

“So if someone was interested in purchasing the club, they would have to speak to the shareholders because they would be buying the shares of the shareholders that were held as ownership of the club."

The chairman admitted he had been informed about the meetings as a matter of professional courtesy by the Wests Magpies through West Ashfield League club CEO Simon Cook and Ben Elias.

“The discussions have been taking place as it’s been widely reported,” he said.

“I have been informed as a matter of professional courtesy by both the Wests Magpies through the CEO of West Ashfield, Simon Cook and by Benny.

“I’m very grateful for that courtesy.

“But so far as the Wests Tigers is concerned, it’s a matter that concerns shareholders only.

“However having said that, I take on board the public comments of Mr Cook that Wests Magpies are flattered at the interest but the Wests Tigers are not for sale.

“So I would think that the prospects of the Wests Tigers being sold are very, very slim indeed.”

Wests Tigers Chairman plays down Benny Elias' chances of takeover bid (sen.com.au)
 

simmo05

Bench
Messages
3,784
Considering they are probably the worst run club in Sydney I could do a better job than their current leadership.
Imagine what wests could do if our billionaire life time member decided to do something with his spare change. The merkin could buy out politis, Crowe etc 10 times over, and still have a bit left over the buy the NRL!
 

Tiger5150

Bench
Messages
3,052
Exactly. There was a fad in the late 90s to make every Sydney team "Sydney" or not even that when the Dogs were "The Bulldogs" for a terrible period. Overpaid PR consultants with no idea. The biggest clubs in the world do not shy away from representing their geographic base. In American football and European soccer. And the best comparison being the London soccer clubs who haven't ruined their names even as they transitioned to competing for fans on a worldwide basis. Chelsea is still Chelsea.

Not like you to spout off about what you know nothing about...........is it?

In 1994, 3 years before Super League, I was present at a Balmain Football Club meeting where Ken Arthurton on behalf of the ARL spoke to football club members and explained that RL was undergoing a massive change and that the ARL was introducing strict criteria that all clubs had to meet by 1997 to be accepted for ongoing continuation in the ARL. These criteria included total financial turnover, average home crowds, corporate sponsors and corporate facilities. The Balmain Tigers were told at this meeting that if they did not meet these criteria, they will not continue in the comp.

This speech was given at ALL clubs and this is the reason that many clubs made massive changes in an effort to meet their requirements. Balmain changed to Sydney Tigers (in an attempt to attract international sponsors) and moved to Parra Stadium (in order to meet the minimum average crowd and corporate criteria)/ Canterbury changed to Sydney Bulldogs and moved home grounds, Easts changed to Sydney City Roosters. All of these clubs made significant changes to ensure their futures as well as boost the ARL. I noticed at the time that Souffs did................nothing.

When the Superleague war came and went and the newly formed NRL introduced their own criteria for admission, I noticed again....Souffs did........nothing.
 
Last edited:
Messages
14,479
Imagine what wests could do if our billionaire life time member decided to do something with his spare change. The merkin could buy out politis, Crowe etc 10 times over, and still have a bit left over the buy the NRL!


Why doesn’t he then?
 

Reflector

Juniors
Messages
2,263
Not like you to spout off about what you know nothing about...........is it?

In 1994, 3 years before Super League, I was present at a Balmain Football Club meeting where Ken Arthurton on behalf of the ARL spoke to football club members and explained that RL was undergoing a massive change and that the ARL was introducing strict criteria that all clubs had to meet by 1997 to be accepted for ongoing continuation in the ARL. These criteria included total financial turnover, average home crowds, corporate sponsors and corporate facilities. The Balmain Tigers were told at this meeting that if they did not meet these criteria, they will not continue in the comp.

This speech was given at ALL clubs and this is the reason that many clubs made massive changes in an effort to meet their requirements. Balmain changed to Sydney Tigers (in an attempt to attract international sponsors) and moved to Parra Stadium (in order to meet the minimum average crowd and corporate criteria)/ Canterbury changed to Sydney Bulldogs and moved home grounds, Easts changed to Sydney City Roosters. All of these clubs made significant changes to ensure their futures as well as boost the ARL. I noticed at the time that Souffs did................nothing.

When the Superleague war came and went and the newly formed NRL introduced their own criteria for admission, I noticed again....Souffs did........nothing.


Considering Souths were already tenants of the SFS and didn't have News Limited sugaring their palms or a wealthy leagues club to buy the kind of players clubs like Parra and Norths could, what would you have liked to see Souths do in just 1998 and '99 to qualify for admission?

The irony is, had Balmain not voted to merge with Wests, they would've finished 14th in the criteria and Penrith would've been cut.
 

ash the bash

Juniors
Messages
1,078
Considering Souths were already tenants of the SFS and didn't have News Limited sugaring their palms or a wealthy leagues club to buy the kind of players clubs like Parra and Norths could, what would you have liked to see Souths do in just 1998 and '99 to qualify for admission?

The irony is, had Balmain not voted to merge with Wests, they would've finished 14th in the criteria and Penrith would've been cut.

Anyone got a list of clubs finishing rank in that criteria ?
 

MugaB

Coach
Messages
11,807
I seem to remember that when they first ranked the clubs they didn't get the results that fit their agenda, so they played around with the criteria to achieve the outcome they were looking for. The whole thing was a big farce.
I applaud the idea of conspiracy, but it was really about slimming down the comp, and keeping the roosters viable at the same time, incase you haven't noticed the roosters get whatever they want
 

BunniesMan

Immortal
Messages
33,687
Not like you to spout off about what you know nothing about...........is it?

In 1994, 3 years before Super League, I was present at a Balmain Football Club meeting where Ken Arthurton on behalf of the ARL spoke to football club members and explained that RL was undergoing a massive change and that the ARL was introducing strict criteria that all clubs had to meet by 1997 to be accepted for ongoing continuation in the ARL. These criteria included total financial turnover, average home crowds, corporate sponsors and corporate facilities. The Balmain Tigers were told at this meeting that if they did not meet these criteria, they will not continue in the comp.

This speech was given at ALL clubs and this is the reason that many clubs made massive changes in an effort to meet their requirements. Balmain changed to Sydney Tigers (in an attempt to attract international sponsors) and moved to Parra Stadium (in order to meet the minimum average crowd and corporate criteria)/ Canterbury changed to Sydney Bulldogs and moved home grounds, Easts changed to Sydney City Roosters. All of these clubs made significant changes to ensure their futures as well as boost the ARL. I noticed at the time that Souffs did................nothing.

When the Superleague war came and went and the newly formed NRL introduced their own criteria for admission, I noticed again....Souffs did........nothing.
And most changed bank when they realised they were losing their identity and there was no flood of sponsors for the 4th generic version of Sydney.

Biggest brands in Sydney now are us, Dragons, Eels. All clubs that still make note of their georgraphic heritage. The only club that stayed "Sydney" was the Roosters and despite all their premierships they still can't grow to a A grade fanbase.

And still, as bad as having a thousand "Sydneys" what is an even more amateurish brand is "Wests" nobody who is not intimately aware of rugby league knows where the hell Wests Tigers come from.

NFL, EPL, even the AFL, big clubs all over do not need to throw away their place name to grow.The biggest AFL clubs still have their suburban names, the only one that took your route is the Western Bulldogs and they are Melbourne's most irrelevant team.

From Collingwood to Richmond in the AFL, South Sydney to St George in the NRL, Chelsea to Manchester United in the EPL, clubs build brands around their heartland. They don't throw it away to become more generic. It would be like Nike and Adidas changing their name to "shoes".
 

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