The Sharks and the Future

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G.H Shark

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I'm over complacency and just waiting for things to change around us.

Let's be in front of it all, let's lead the change.

But again, change for rugby league fans is something very difficult to comprehend.
 

Guardshark

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The Sharks appealed to me because of the style of club we were and the players we had with Peachey, Preston Campbell, Kimmorley etc

Think about how many extra fans we picked up with Barba, Lewis, Valentine etc and how we were strong as a club/brand with an identity in those years .. it helps

The shire thing is cool but always need to think big
To be honest (and looking back), I don't mind expanding the marketing to appeal to a wider audience on the face of it, the issue is just doing it at the expense of the "Cronulla-Sutherland" bit. We can market to more people in Sydney (and on the international level, if that means anything) without dropping the Cronulla half of the name and changing the jersey around and updating the logo to look like a digital 2024 design. All that achieves is weakening what's already sitting there for dubious gains.
 

G.H Shark

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To be honest (and looking back), I don't mind expanding the marketing to appeal to a wider audience on the face of it, the issue is just doing it at the expense of the "Cronulla-Sutherland" bit. We can market to more people in Sydney (and on the international level, if that means anything) without dropping the Cronulla half of the name and changing the jersey around and updating the logo to look like a digital 2024 design. All that achieves is weakening what's already sitting there for dubious gains.
How do you know it weakens anything and what does it weaken?

In all honesty what are our memberships numbers like in comparison to other teams, aren't we always at the bottom for memberships?

There's nothing wrong with refreshing your brand once in a while to suit the need of the market.

Under one Sharks brand, you could expand into other sports and create growth in other channels.
 

CrazyMatt

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So we don't try?

Larger fanbase = more money coming in, through merch, membership, sponsorship etc.

The younger generations don't care for tribalism, we are going to be dealing with a newer audience that needs a much different approach. Its evident in the players aswell.

Tribalism means nothing and nostalgia means nothing to this new generation. Its a transactional, digital and flashy audience, where you need to market excitement, youth, trends to capture them.

Honestly we had it in the late 90s, we really did, Saturday nights at Shark park with those Pepsi jerseys and such an exciting team to watch.

The bolded part is rubbish mate, I'm sorry, i’m not trying to be rude and I do respect your point of view, but it isn’t true. Sport is still very much tribalistic among the younger generation. They still care that their local team they support is still better than somewhere else that thinks they’re better than them. That wont change. You can and need to keep that.
 

G.H Shark

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The bolded part is rubbish mate, I'm sorry, i’m not trying to be rude and I do respect your point of view, but it isn’t true. Sport is still very much tribalistic among the younger generation. They still care that their local team they support is still better than somewhere else that thinks they’re better than them. That wont change. You can and need to keep that.
Rubbish?

Haha you dismiss me then tell me you respect my view? I liked you man, you were one of my favs on here :(

Anyways agree to disagree it's fine, I'm just saying what I see especially in my field of work.
 

Guardshark

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How do you know it weakens anything and what does it weaken?

In all honesty what are our memberships numbers like in comparison to other teams, aren't we always at the bottom for memberships?

There's nothing wrong with refreshing your brand once in a while to suit the need of the market.

Under one Sharks brand, you could expand into other sports and create growth in other channels.
Of course it weakens the current branding and identity when we go from the Cronulla Sharks to just The Sharks (who happen to be in Cronulla). We might be around the bottom for memberships but that's only because the clubs that were below us ate it/merged (and bearing in mind the mergers are all complete basket cases), people around the shire aren't as rabid/stupid as people from other areas, and conversely we happen to have one of the strongest local junior bases in Sydney. I also get the feeling it's limited by the stadium capacity right now, not that many paying membership prices for eye-bleeder seats.

We can partner up and expand the club into other sports/businesses which I'm all for, the club branching out with things like sharks at Kareela or partial ownership of the mall they just built next door would be a fantastic monkeymaking opportunity. I know the dogs are supposed to have bought out a good chunk of leagues clubs and pubs to base their finances on which is probably something the sharks should look into at places like the Gymea/Caringbah pubs.

Overall the only thing is staying as Cronulla-Sutherland, based out of the Sutherland shire, because that's the heart of what the club is and every club in the league is the same. It's good to run these things as a business but they're not just corporate entites with nothing to them past the colours and the name.

Only somewhat related but to quote some rabid tigers fan being told leichhardt should be dropped;
What the **** is progress if it's towards a few fans sitting in half empty behemoths of stadiums? Progress towards what? More expensive tickets, slightly more money for the club, fans that act 'civilised'. You people can't even define what progress is but you're sure it has to happen.

So progress looks something like the modern AFL which is defined by happy clappers arriving from all corners of the city to support a team with no clearly defined modern geographic boundary or local identity playing at one of 2 stadiums, who sit around munching on 15 dollar pies and Chardonnays talking about anything but the game. I know the Whig view of history is just a plot to move towards a picture of mass consumerism and public uniformity and order but any rational person would take a game at Leichardt over the MCG any day. What's the point of progress in the NRL if it is just to make every game look something like a Dockers vs Saints match.
 

HaroldBishop

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In all honesty what are our memberships numbers like in comparison to other teams, aren't we always at the bottom for memberships?
We're only a few thousand behind Penrith, Roosters and St George last time I checked.
 

Wizard

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The bolded part is rubbish mate, I'm sorry, i’m not trying to be rude and I do respect your point of view, but it isn’t true. Sport is still very much tribalistic among the younger generation. They still care that their local team they support is still better than somewhere else that thinks they’re better than them. That wont change. You can and need to keep that.
That’s not really true CM, every sharks fan isn’t from the shire.. a team or a brand can stick out and resonate to someone even if they are from Campbelltown.

The youth are definitely into what’s trending and what’s hot/not, who their favourite player is on TikTok etc it’s all changing… social media plays a bigger part then ever too . I know plenty of families where their own kids each go for different teams. Plenty. And for all different reasons.

There is a ton of different metrics for fans other then that’s just my local team
 

CrazyMatt

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Rubbish?

Haha you dismiss me then tell me you respect my view? I liked you man, you were one of my favs on here :(

Anyways agree to disagree it's fine, I'm just saying what I see especially in my field of work.

LOL I didn’t dismiss you. Disagreeing with your point of view doesn’t mean dismissing your right to a view. But whatever, you take it how you want to take it. Thats your right. 🤷‍♂️
 
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CrazyMatt

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That’s not really true CM, every sharks fan isn’t from the shire.. a team or a brand can stick out and resonate to someone even if they are from Campbelltown.

The youth are definitely into what’s trending and what’s hot/not, who their favourite player is on TikTok etc it’s all changing… social media plays a big part. I know plenty of families where their own kids each go for different teams. Plenty. And for all different reasons.

There is a ton of different metrics for fans other then that’s my local team

Oh I definitely don’t deny that. There’s a large chunk of people who do that. Hell, I go for Manchester United and I’ve never set foot in Manchester, I know its not the best example seeing as its on the other side of the world, but I do know for a fact that even Brits who’ve lived in London they’re whole lives go for Manchester United.

But at the same time, a large chunk still do feel a local connection with their club. These clubs are an extension of the areas they represent and its an important part of the fabric of those areas and Rugby League, I just feel like its being suggested in this thread that we throw that away, I believe that would be a fatal mistake.

I understand what GH is trying to suggest, I just dont think its right to do it by cutting off the name Cronulla from our club name for example. i think there needs to be a way we can have both worlds so to speak.
 

HaroldBishop

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Oh I definitely don’t deny that. There’s a large chunk of people who do that. Hell, I go for Manchester United and I’ve never set foot in Manchester, I know its not the best example seeing as its on the other side of the world, but I do know for a fact that even Brits who’ve lived in London they’re whole lives go for Manchester United.

But at the same time, a large chunk still do feel a local connection with their club. These clubs are an extension of the areas they represent and its an important part of the fabric of those areas and Rugby League, I just feel like its being suggested in this thread that we throw that away, I believe that would be a fatal mistake.

I understand what GH is trying to suggest, I just dont think its right to do it by cutting off the name Cronulla from our club name for example. i think there needs to be a way we can have both worlds so to speak.
We got rid of Cronulla from our name for a while in the 90s, has everyone forgotten? Was one of the dumbest things we ever did.
 

Wizard

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Oh I definitely don’t deny that. There’s a large chunk of people who do that. Hell, I go for Manchester United and I’ve never set foot in Manchester, I know its not the best example seeing as its on the other side of the world, but I do know for a fact that even Brits who’ve lived in London they’re whole lives go for Manchester United.

But at the same time, a large chunk still do feel a local connection with their club. These clubs are an extension of the areas they represent and its an important part of the fabric of those areas and Rugby League, I just feel like its being suggested in this thread that we throw that away, I believe that would be a fatal mistake.

I understand what GH is trying to suggest, I just dont think its right to do it by cutting off the name Cronulla from our club name for example. i think there needs to be a way we can have both worlds so to speak.
Yeah no I don’t think you cut off the Cronulla part.. we need to be from somewhere and it matches the sharks lol but that’s the only thing I would disagree with GH on
 
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