A name says a thousand words

(Copied from Two Left Feet - the link to this site is under 'Sites of Interest)

The super 14 is in full flight. Teams from Australia, New Zealand and SA (mis)tackle each other in an effort to be crowned best of the best or remotely as good as the Crusaders.

Even the Wallabies recognised this truth and appointed Crusaders coach Robbie Deans as Australia’s national coach. If they can match Kiwi muscle – perhaps taking a leaf from their tans-Tasman foes and also importing Pacific Islanders, although with a growing number of South African expats that may not be necessary – the Aussies are sure to once more be a formidable force.

The Super 14 is widely held as the best Rugby competition in the world - apologies to Heineken Cup fans. Not only does the Super 14 produce exiting rugby (if you understand the experimental law variations) most the teams also have exiting names. What’s in a name, someone might ask? Bear in mind the name reflects the franchise, and to the layman it reflects their qualities and abilities.

New Zealand has the Crusaders, Chiefs, Hurricanes and Highlanders which all sound like formidable forces. Then there is the Blues. It’s a matter-of –fact name and more often than not it is what they inflict on battered opponents. In Australia there is Western Force, Waratahs (either a 500ft steamer or indigenous plant), Brumbies (indigenous horse) and the Reds. Reds is a matter-of-fact name and more often than not, lately, it is the colour of their faces after meeting more illustrious opposition.

But when looking at the names of South African teams, a trend emerges which has this armchair flyhalf kicking with both his left feet. Besides the Sharks, in the Vodacom (cellular service provider) Super 14, we have the Vodacom Cheetahs, Vodacom Bulls and Vodacom Stormers. Evidently Vodacom, the supporter of South African supporters, spares no effort in reminding us of this fact (not taking anything away from the good support they give South African sport). But the name that steals the show is the awful name that has been bestowed upon the Lions.

Having lost SAA as a Super 14 sponsor I am sure there were many anxious suits at Ellis Park. But what they have settled for in terms of naming rights has to go down as the most ridiculous, if not embarrassing, sports name in the world. Sitting at Ellis Park and hearing the announcer laboriously go through the full name every time he mentions the team is enough to make the staunchest cynic cringe. “Ladies and gentlemen I present to you… the Auto & General Super 14 Lions! Also be aware that if you are an Auto & General Super 14 Lions fan, you stand the chance to win season tickets for every home game of the Auto & General Super 14 Lions!” The Lions website last week proudly proclaimed a match between “Auto & General Super 14 Lions vs Sharks at 5pm on Saturday, March 15”.

Anyone would accept that sponsorship is central in the professional era, and that without it our teams would simply not be able to exist, never mind compete, but surely such forceful corporate branding is a case of sponsors taking advantage of desperate unions with no leverage. In the same vein, can the unions really say they tried to preserve their name before preceding it with a sponsor’s title that, in the case of the Lions, changes every few years? Are the returns in profile and revenue generated by the sponsor force-feeding their brand down the throats of spectators and fans enough to justify such a farce? Everyone is well aware of who the sponsor is because its name is branded on the kit and merchandise of the union, as well as all over the home venue and website.

The Auto & General Super 14 Lions: it would take a lot of convincing for this cynic to see of the point of having a ten-syllable name for a sports team, and that includes the need to specify that one particular company sponsors one competition and not the other, whether or not it is done to appease all stakeholders. Surely a common sense approach would be better. If not, then our sport is being held hostage.

The sport and recreation website reports that a study by BMI SportInfo among the top 100 sponsors in SA shows that sports sponsorship in SA is worth R2,6bn with an additional R2,2bn being spent on leveraging those sponsorships. The industry has a year-on-year growth of 14% which is ahead of the 11% global average. Most sponsors are “positive” or “somewhat positive” about the country.

Sports fans are grateful to sponsors whose cashflow keep their teams both afloat and competitive and recognise the right for the sponsor to receive the recognition it deserves, but corporate muscle-flexing turns into a farce. Thank goodness we don’t speak of the Mr Price Sharks, and we certainly don’t hear about the Ford Crusaders or Ford Rebel Sports Super 14 Chiefs (although those would make fantastic cars).

A quick search of the internet will reveal that most sane organisations and people drop these corporate prefixes from their fixture lists, tables or news stories. There is a place and need for corporate sponsorship in professional sport. Unfortunately, the only place for an invasive corporate farce, as epitomised by Auto & General Super 14 Lions, is the Two Left Feet hall of shame.