NRL Finishes 2009 as All Stars
It is fair to say that the National Rugby League hasn’t had the best year. However, it’s great to see that they have managed to end the year with a positive initiative to re- embrace their fans.
In September, the NRL announced that they were organising an exhibition game (they didn’t call it that but that’s what it is) between the Indigenous All Stars and the NRL All Stars to open the 2010 season. And like many fans, I thought it was a nice idea but one I couldn’t get too excited about. We constantly see sporting codes put on events like this as a novelty without much meaning. The AFL has the International Rules Football, cricket has their celebrity and has-been matches and boxing has John Hopoate. All are a bit of fun but fairly pointless.
The NRL has recognized this and invited the public in to shape the event. In the five months leading up to the February match, NRL fans are invited to login and vote for their All Star teams. These are the players who may not be the best but the ones they love watching. The only restrictions is that there is a captain selected for both teams and in the NRL All Stars there must be at least one player from each club represented. The rest is up to the fans.
The indigenous All Stars were opened to voting first. NRL All Stars will be open in January.
There are a number of outcomes that I really love about this initiative:
1. The fans create the event. As I’ve mentioned previously, fans are likely to be positive about something they’ve created.
2. It’s a natural conversation point. Sport fans bicker endlessly about who should be in and out of teams. It’s fostering natural conversation. It’s not forced. I’ve got no problem posting my team to Facebook.
3. It’s cheap. It’s easy. It uses existing resources.
4. The functionality is simple. It doesn’t ask too much from the user and is easily spreadible.
5. They’ve extended the fan experience by conducting live chats with players and entertaining videos.
6. It has social significance. The game will celebrate the anniversary of the apology to the Stolen Generation and all profits will go to the NRL’s One Community program.
7. It means Wendell Sailor should finally get a representative game again.
It’s too early to determine whether it has been a success. However, to date there have been over 8,000 teams submitted, forum with threads 70+ deep and over 400 news articles in the last month. And there is still three months to go. Crowd attendance, television ratings and positive conversations will contribute as indicators to the overall success of the initiative.
Congratulations to the NRL and their partners for ending the year in style.
PS. You can find my Indigenous All Star Team here.
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I like it that the consumer/fans are so involved in the “development” of the product. It certainly builds the ownership.
I would like to see this concept extended through to the market research phase. For example, what if a list of rule changes were offered and voted on by the fans and then a game played.
Every year they review the rules and ask the bloody coaches and administrators. It breaks one of the basic marketing research rules because they aren’t who the product is made for.
And please, 2 Raiders and no Eels in your team … get of the drugs. You also need to get rid of that defensive joke Indris, put GI back in the centres and move Prince to 5/8
Great point mate. Fans feel like they are losing control of the game to TV networks and sponsors (eg. the night time grand final). Would love to be involved with new rules – my first one would be that in a rush to pack the scrum, whoever packs it plays it.
Not sure what you’re getting at with my team. What have Parramatta done all year? Nothing. I just wish I could put 17 Canberra players in my NRL All Stars team.
yeah this is a great idea. could do with a swankier interface maybe with some photos, rather than just the standard fantasy team look, but that’s all. Oh I do hate to see anything positive coming out of the NRL though, just as AFL were covering the grave in dirt. will be interesting to see what marketing west sydney gets up to grow the impending team and get crowds to games- it’s gonna have to be a pretty massive effort. cool new site Nathan, although the glasses in the masthead logo make me think you a nerd, maybe you should replace it with a glass of neat whiskey, as per adman cliches.
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Another Advertising Wanker
Nathan Bush
Digital Strategist at DP Dialogue
Brisbane, Australia
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