Hoops

Has the Melbourne United rebrand been successful

Obviously it depends on the person.

The Tigers had a reputation for being poachers. Plenty of people disliked them for raiding the talent stocks of mid-tier suburban clubs.

But again, exactly how widespread that feeling was, and exactly how much difference it made to- for example, coaching clinics, advertising the Tigers in each stadium, etc- is a matter of conjecture.

The guys I used to go to games with played for Rangers

I played rep ball for 10 years.

In the Under 16s I played Championship division of the VJBL and we finished 10th in the state. The Melbourne Tigers were one of the top teams and beat us convincingly.

That was the same year I became a Melbourne Tigers NBL member.

Having said that, I came from a mid tier club who, while we regularly fielded teams in Championship division we rarely were one of the top teams. So we didn't consider Melbourne Tigers are major rival- that would've been the closest club to us location wise.

I suspect that it was the massive, super successful Eastern suburbs clubs who might see the Tigers as rivals because their best teams in each age division were always competing against Tigers at the top of Championship division- Dandenong, Nunawading, Knox.

How much of a difference did that really make? How much was that ultimately hold the Tigers back from growing their NBL brand? I'm not sure.

United crowds have continued the upwards trajectory that started when they were still the Tigers.

Could the Tigers have continued on the same trajectory and achieved the same off court success, if LK had been pouring the same resources into promoting them? That's the question.

"Yes there are always stubborn oldies who are attached to the old Tigers nickname or whatever but the huge number of fans gained make the few bitter old stubborn ones seem insignificant."

They sure are old. I can't believe the once traveling bum Cram is now married!

"Team valued at $10mill because LK said so. "

The new buyer acknowledged that was the valuation.

Hard to say what the Tigers brand could have achieved (it reached great heights in the 90s) as the name was changed as things were on the upswing. Their last season the crowds at Hisense were pretty impressive and that was just the start of their improved marketing.

I have no doubt the biggest difference has been management, not the brand change, but I imagine the brand change has helped somewhat in gaining access to more associations.

Team valued at $10 million and selling out gold and silver memberships. Pretty clear they've done way better than the Tigers brand could.

Their last regular season game ever as the Tigers was Goulding's 50-point game in front of a sold-out Hisense Arena.

Since we'll never know how well they would have done as the Tigers, given they were clearly on the start of an upswing, it's impossible to say how much the rebranding has helped.

When did LK come on board?

"Judging by the number of people attending games it has been a massive success. Tigers got embarrassing crowds considering they were the only team in town and that town is supposedly the sporting capital of the world. Couldn't even fill the little netball centre."

By their last season as Tigers they were getting pretty decent crowds at Hisense. Changing names has helped a bit, but really the big difference has been the continued improvement in promotion and community engagement under LK's ownership.

Yes.

The folks who keep calling the Tigers back don't understand that because of the junior association having the same name, you either play for them or hate them, which is a pretty big problem.

Im not th only one who can say they'll probably support the new Melbourne franchise, but not if they're the Tigers.

Judging by the number of people attending games it has been a massive success. Tigers got embarrassing crowds considering they were the only team in town and that town is supposedly the sporting capital of the world. Couldn't even fill the little netball centre.
Yes there are always stubborn oldies who are attached to the old Tigers nickname or whatever but the huge number of fans gained make the few bitter old stubborn ones seem insignificant.

Please post some GF results here plus the overall clubs results