Is it time for Rugby League to change its name?

[Bearfax]

'League?' Trouble is league is also a kind of generic name: baseball league, basketball league....dodgeball league, etc!

So is 'Football'. Didnt stop them using it exclusively for soccer.

 

[Ryan]

They should change it for Dan's suggestion alone. That's the power that man's words carry.

 

[Bearfax]

They should change it for Dan's suggestion alone. That's the power that man's words carry.

The again iF Dan's power with the word is so strong maybe we should call the game DAN.

 

[Rodo]

Great idea Dan but seriously the people running rugby league in Australia and overseas could not care less about expansion and promoting the game in countries that know little about the game.

All the NRL seems to care about is itself and although they are called the National Rugby League the game isn't even played on a national level.

South Africa is one country that would be perfect to promote the game as they live and breathe rugby union. It wouldn't be that hard to grow the game there. But from my conversations with South Africans, they know more about AFL than they do rugby league.

 

[Dan]

If the NRL can't educate our own countrymen as to the difference between the two "RUGBY's" what hope is there?

That is kind of the point in changing the name. If you change the name you make it stand out immediately as its own sport, no need to explain it as "Like Rugby, just different" you just call it "league" (which I dont think works for the reasons @globaleagle mentioned.)

I don't know what you change it too, "Footy mcFootFace" or something. You know why not look at some of the pioneers of the game and use their names to come up with a name. The first meetings of the faction that lead to Rugby League were in Huddersfield, you could use something like that or part of that to come up with a name "Huddersball" or something. In Australia the first meetings for Rugby League started in the Bateman's Hotel, there is a name in that surely. If you look further at the history, you have the first sponsors, Tetley and Player, Something out of those could form a good name. You could take terms from the game and use those to come up with a name, or you could use positions (DummyBall) haha

There are lots of options, and one of the first hurdles to getting people perhaps interested is to remove any prejudice that may be associated with Rugby, if they are thinking of it as a name of the sport rather than confusing it with another sport, they can think fresh.

The NRL want to grow the game and they are losing numbers internally within Australia, there are many factors to that, but from a marketing perspective this is one easy and wise fix

 

[Loaded dog]

I'm thinking of - "FUGBY". howzat?

Or "BUNKER BALL"?

 

[EagleFromMay1967]

The problem with getting a name from the early 20th century history of "Rugby League", @Dan is that the current TV sport loosely decribrled as 'the NRL' HAS NOTHING TO DO with that original game, or its rules. So that association does not wash.. The only link is about 4 of the Sydney clubs, and 13 playing on the field at a time.
Suggest "Rupertball".

 

[globaleagle]

That is kind of the point in changing the name. If you change the name you make it stand out immediately as its own sport, no need to explain it as "Like Rugby, just different" you just call it "league" (which I dont think works for the reasons @globaleagle mentioned.)

The NRL want to grow the game and they are losing numbers internally within Australia, there are many factors to that, but from a marketing perspective this is one easy and wise fix

Not really name related but regarding growing the game overseas I think they make somewhat of a mistake here....

I have cable tv with the sports package and tonight (7.30pm) the afl grand final is on.

If I wanna watch the nrl gf (or any nrl games) it's an additional subscription to sportsnet world ($20 a month.)

the nrl could get some more viewers by allowing games to go on the usual sports package upgrade and not some rather specific one. People watching hockey/soccer/nfl etc may stumble onto a game or two of nrl that way, but not a chance the other way. There's no reason for them to subscribe to sportsnet world.

Additionally, earlier on the the year the nrl took the games off sportsnet world and only allowed them to be viewed on non tv devices (wtf).

I emailed the providers over here and yadda yadda yadda it was all reversed but by that time I'd cancelled the $20 per month and just vpn'ed nrl live or acquired games 'another' way.

Happy to pay for hockey+nrl+other sports as one package....but not all sports as one then additional for just the national rigged league.


what a lot of waffle ge
-true

tl:dr

nrl should get heads outta butts and make games more accessible to non traditional nrl markets.

(and call it calvin-ball)

 

[Dan]

tested my theory with a few people today, a Saffa, a Romanian and a Jamacan/American

The net result was when i told them to stop thinking of it as a version of rugby and think of it as a sport called "League" they all got intoi it more and stopped trying to compare it to their knowledge. The NRL should hire me as a consultant