IT’S an issue facing rugby league clubs on both sides of the world – as well as teams in other sports – and it came into sharp focus with Dr Marwan Koukash’s interview on Sky Sports late last week.
And it is: “How do we widen our appeal without alienating (too many of) our existing supporters?”
The Salford Red Devils owner was asked by host Brian Carney about rumours the club is about to be rebranded as Manchester.
Today's attendance was very disappointing. This is despite reducing ticket prices to £10. The club and the team deserves better https://t.co/aiyxzp4hcF
— Marwan Koukash (@drmarwanK) June 4, 2017
Koukash admitted he had a marketing firm looking into all options and suggested the rebrand was a last-ditch option, promising nothing would happen this year. If you were a betting many, you'd suggest "Salford-Manchester" or "Manchester-Salford" was on his radar, or just "Red Devils".
It’s a thorny issue: fans don’t want change. In Australia, eight and a half clubs (St George Illawarra are half-based in the city of Wollongong) share the Sydney market and rely on licensed club hand-outs and guarantees from ANZ Stadium to stay afloat.
Under what circumstance could, or should, one of them move to Perth or Brisbane or Wellington or Adelaide?
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Like Dr Koukash, the Australian clubs would need to assess if any of their old fans would stick with them under such an arrangement and – if not – whether there are enough new fans to compensate for those who will be lost.
Complicating taking a purely business approach to such a momentous decision is the fact that very few people are involved in the club for purely business reasons.
Dr Koukash may be new to the sport of rugby league but it’s clear he is passionate about the Red Devils and does not expect to make a quick buck out of owning a professional sporting team.
#ChallengeCup 🔴⚫ï¸
— The Challenge Cup (@TheChallengeCup) June 15, 2017
First semi-final for 19 years - time for a @SalfordDevils party! 🎶🎶 pic.twitter.com/mSHyhX6Wdp
The first question, then, is whether change is a matter of life and death for a club.
“I’ve looked at the level of home support for the club in the five years since I’ve been here,” Koukash told Carney.
“It’s never changed from 2200. OK, slightly higher this year than last year but lower than it was in 2013, 14 and 15.
“Any Super League club would tell you, you need five, six thousand home supporters. We have to look at: is it because of where we are, is it the new stadium, that is causing people not to come to us?
“Then I looked at the actual figures of what we had when we played at The Willows. It’s not much different to what it is here. That could tell you a story.
“And the story is, no matter what you do, no matter how successful your team is, you’re not going to get more than 2500, 3000 Salford fans.
“So for me to get 6000, I have to look at alternatives.”
If Salford need twice as many home fans as they currently attract to survive, then the choice should become easier. They must do what it takes to survive.
Compare this to the situation in Australia, where the National Rugby League props up clubs with advances on their grants and the total endowment to clubs more than covers the total cost of paying the players.
Selling seismic change to the supporter group is much harder when there is readily available finance for doing nothing different at all.
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This doesn't mean Salford definitely should rebrand, however.
The second big question is whether the change will actually save the club. A failed change of name, venue or even city is judged by history as worse than a slow death on home soil; it’s seen as “selling their soul”.
Even if we accept Salford have to "do something", there are many ideas as there are people interested in what that "something" should be.
If a community club called Salford, as an example, was to spring up at the same time as the Manchester Red Devils are relaunched in a blaze of publicity - and much of the fan base switches to the new club - then the new venture would be under pressure immediately.
If we can get agreement that the club must do something new to market itself, most fans would like to see a list of what the options are and the pros and cons of each.
As the owner, Dr Koukash doesn’t have to provide these facts and figures.
But as custodian of an organisation with 144 years of history, it probably wouldn’t be a bad idea.
