These Untapped Overseas Markets

[disgruntled_bear 157]

This is one of the reason i'm happy Alastair Johnston has become our new Chairman, I'm hoping he can exploit these overseas markets.

[clubdeckcynic 0]

Asia will be a hard market to tackle because of counterfeits, but a lot of work i'm aware has gone into eradicating this, so now may be the time to explore putting the brand out there now.

Given Rangers just made the Brand Protection guy, who had been doing a pretty good job for a number of years, redundant, then I think far eastern strip piracy is a pretty low priority. We've probably farmed the job out to a contracter who looks after about 30 other teams brand protection issues.

[BLUE CYCLOPS 26]

I agree that the money taken for replica strips from overseas is exagerated. Where it is more likely to have an effect is in the exposure. If Rangers are being shown on a regular basis on some Jap, Chinese

or Arab tv station then the extra exposure we get allows us to charge our own shirt sponsers more to advertise.

I,m sure that ManU or Liverpool etc, don,t make a lot from replica strips but advertisers know there are huge numbers watching them in these countries and will pay so much more to get their name on the jersey.

[kuiper 0]

don't know the facts and figures involved, but i ship into japan every 4weeks for a day or two's cargo. when we go up the road, in most sports stores there would be the usual big euro teams gear and septics (nakamura connetion obviously), but none of our gear. in the pubs when i'd talk to a japanese football fan, they would always bring nakamura & septic's name up. what it adds up to in cash i have no idea, but they do know about septic because of him.

in adelaide australia, it's unbelievable the amount of people getting around in epl gear, not just the strips, but jackets and t-shirts. ten years ago there was bugger all football gear being worn. when i go to our local team's game, a good 25% of people have epl/italian teams gear on, yet only the odd person in rangers or septic gear.

you can't tell me there are 20-30 times the amount of english expats here compared to scots. i'd say a fair chunk of these people have no real connection to these epl teams, they've just jumped on in the last few years. the way i see it, there is money to be made, but it has to be tied in with exposure of the game, as football shirts/jackets is more of a trend/fashion statement here than people who are actual supporters (you see fuck all gear outside the big four). the epl is pumped up huge here, it's the only euro league covered in any depth in the papers.

if the spl and/or rangers were exposed heavily here, i've no doubt there would be a quid in it. not just from strips, but from jackets, t-shirts etc (there's an appaling lack of range available from the rangers online store). the exposure would just have to be done cheaply, somehow. spl games are only shown on a pay tv channel that must be payed for seperately to the normal pay tv, and so not a lot of people get it. we aussies will watch any fucking sport, especially when it's free. i don't think the spl would get to much in the way of cash from the pay tv in oz, so i think theyd be better off handing it out for free so that all pay tv customers would get it and probably have a look at it. throw in other regular stunts like coaching clinics etc. would this lead to a shit load of cash in merchandise? who knows, this country has a lot of scots heritage so it couldn't hurt, and it would cost the spl/rangers fuck all.

as for the rest of asia, they love drinking scotch whisky and i'm pretty sure loads of them go on tours to scotland, so i don't see why that couldn't be tackled the same way as australia.

[TexasGers 96]

Rangers can ignore North America at their own risk. The game has grown leaps and bounds over the last 10 years and has had a mini "explosion" over at least the last 5 years, with Beckham coming over, the World Cup getting increased exposure, La Liga/EPL getting big TV deals, etc. If you were to say that the game over here is going to grow the same level over the next 10 years as it has over the previous 10, then there is alot of money and exposure we can exploit. Will Rangers be as big as Manchester United or Barcelona here? Probably not, but there is room for Rangers to get a piece of the pie. Most fans over here will support an MLS team, and then an additional European team. Theres actually a sizeable amount that support Fulham just because of the fact that guys like Brian McBride, Carlos Bocanegra turned out for them.

Celtic dominates this market to be fair, and it's not just in traditional "Irish" strongholds like Boston, NYC. You can walk into any average sporting goods store, and you will see Man U stuff, and more often than not, Celtic merchandise. Even most of the popular online outlets carry much more Celtic gear, and you see a difference, as the number of people with Celtic jerseys I've seen walking around greately outnumbers people wearing Rangers jerseys.

The least we should do is organize a preseason trip the next preseason. Celtic have done this in recent years, and also played in the MLS All Star game. There was the game against LA Galaxy a few years ago, but if you were to organize matches against MLS teams and other European or Mexican teams, people will turn out to see it. 60,000+ turned out at every friendly match as part of the World Football Challenge they had, so it would be an extraordinary opportunity, one I'm sure our new chairmen, with his IMG connections, could at least attempt to persue.

[cooper1989 0]

To be honest.. there's almost zero market in North America for the OF. It all boils down to lack of immigration from the UK. Massive in the 60's.. non existent today. So basically the ex-pats are just well, dying off to be blunt. Another 10 years and it will be practically gone.

So.. NA isn't a viable market. That leaves the Far East -- and OZ might be better than NA, but not much. The only solution is entry to the Premier League one day. Nothing else will make much of a difference.

Reality.

I'm a bit confused...

There is no market in North America because of the lack of immigration. Presumably then, there is a market in the Far East because of the huge ex-pat community out there?

ouch!

The majority of OF clubs over here are full of guys 60-70 plus. Very little new blood. That's what I'm saying. Where did the original fans come from over here? Massive immigration in the 60's. And that simply doesn't happen anymore.

The only way we will ever get a market in NA/Far East is a move the the Premier League. If we want to market to a 'non Rangers fanbase', it's the only way ahead -- or sign a Nakamura type player etc. But that's short sighted.

So.. anyway... the 'fans' are dwindling out here.. and they are generally the only ones interested in the OF. Septic have the Oirish connection in NYC, Boston and have 'at least tried. The degree of success is unknown. Perhaps we havent tried to do better in NA simply because it's not worth it. We do run kids 'soccer' schools and they are popular though. But hardly a fortune in the making.

Bitter reality I'm afraid.

[brissyger 8]

To be honest.. there's almost zero market in North America for the OF. It all boils down to lack of immigration from the UK. Massive in the 60's.. non existent today. So basically the ex-pats are just well, dying off to be blunt. Another 10 years and it will be practically gone.

So.. NA isn't a viable market. That leaves the Far East -- and OZ might be better than NA, but not much. The only solution is entry to the Premier League one day. Nothing else will make much of a difference.

Reality.

I'm a bit confused...

There is no market in North America because of the lack of immigration. Presumably then, there is a market in the Far East because of the huge ex-pat community out there?

ouch!

The majority of OF clubs over here are full of guys 60-70 plus. Very little new blood. That's what I'm saying. Where did the original fans come from over here? Massive immigration in the 60's. And that simply doesn't happen anymore.

The only way we will ever get a market in NA/Far East is a move the the Premier League. If we want to market to a 'non Rangers fanbase', it's the only way ahead -- or sign a Nakamura type player etc. But that's short sighted.

So.. anyway... the 'fans' are dwindling out here.. and they are generally the only ones interested in the OF. Septic have the Oirish connection in NYC, Boston and have 'at least tried. The degree of success is unknown. Perhaps we havent tried to do better in NA simply because it's not worth it. We do run kids 'soccer' schools and they are popular though. But hardly a fortune in the making.

Bitter reality I'm afraid.

Supporters clubs tend to be filled with older gentlemen because that's the way they'd prefer to watch the match. The younger generation are more likely to watch it on the net or dish out the money for Setanta like I do. Just because there aren't any youn people in the supporters clubs doesn't mean there's no Brits emigrating anymore. I'm only 25 and I was born in Scotland. I know at least 5 people born in England my age as well. Immigration is still going strong.

[cooper1989 0]

Perhaps... It's really only been available on the 'net' the last few years. Before that, you needed to go to a RSC. And... at least my experience, very few younger people were there. A few. Not many.

I guess Australia has nicer weather than Canada though -- so maybe people are still immigrating there.

The point is though... I can't see there being any global market for the Rangers other than us ex-pats. We're not 'glamorous' like ManUre, Chelsea, Barca etc.

So the challenge is HOW do we market ourselves to an audience that knows very little about us? We play in the SPHell, players get the shit kicked out of them, referees are atrocious... so we can't market the Fitba. So how do we market The Rangers 'brand'.

I don't think we have a chance...unless we move to the EPL.. or a new Euro League.

[bluepeter 5,627]

Perhaps... It's really only been available on the 'net' the last few years. Before that, you needed to go to a RSC. And... at least my experience, very few younger people were there. A few. Not many.

I guess Australia has nicer weather than Canada though -- so maybe people are still immigrating there.

The point is though... I can't see there being any global market for the Rangers other than us ex-pats. We're not 'glamorous' like ManUre, Chelsea, Barca etc.

So the challenge is HOW do we market ourselves to an audience that knows very little about us? We play in the SPHell, players get the shit kicked out of them, referees are atrocious... so we can't market the Fitba. So how do we market The Rangers 'brand'.

I don't think we have a chance...unless we move to the EPL.. or a new Euro League.

Do you not think the US market (as distinct from Canada) has a lot of potential though. Lumping North America into one, then basing your arguments on what you see in Canadian supporters clubs isn't the best way to go about things, is it? Football (ok, soccer) is huge in the States, and growing all the time. Is it the same in Canada? I'm not sure, but from what you're saying possibly not. We have two US players on the books. I would never suggest they start every game to raise our profile in the States, but surely we could use the fact that they are Rangers players to tap into this growing market?

[cooper1989 0]

Perhaps... It's really only been available on the 'net' the last few years. Before that, you needed to go to a RSC. And... at least my experience, very few younger people were there. A few. Not many.

I guess Australia has nicer weather than Canada though -- so maybe people are still immigrating there.

The point is though... I can't see there being any global market for the Rangers other than us ex-pats. We're not 'glamorous' like ManUre, Chelsea, Barca etc.

So the challenge is HOW do we market ourselves to an audience that knows very little about us? We play in the SPHell, players get the shit kicked out of them, referees are atrocious... so we can't market the Fitba. So how do we market The Rangers 'brand'.

I don't think we have a chance...unless we move to the EPL.. or a new Euro League.

Do you not think the US market (as distinct from Canada) has a lot of potential though. Lumping North America into one, then basing your arguments on what you see in Canadian supporters clubs isn't the best way to go about things, is it? Football (ok, soccer) is huge in the States, and growing all the time. Is it the same in Canada? I'm not sure, but from what you're saying possibly not. We have two US players on the books. I would never suggest they start every game to raise our profile in the States, but surely we could use the fact that they are Rangers players to tap into this growing market?

'Soccer'is huge in America. But... do you think you're going to convince a teenager, or early 20's man to support The Rangers? Having US players of course might be of benefit. But our team has practically no exposure. So what I see in Canada is probably the same everywhere.

But, which teams are they exposed to? EPL, Serie A, La Liga etc. imho of course.. but there is zero chance of Rangers getting a foot in in the USA or Far East. Why would anyone other than an ex pat care about us?

Really why would they? Well after we win the CL, perhaps they'll care.

[grahamteuchter 1]

There is definately money to be made...look at the money the sellick have made...we are a joke on this front.

Any overseas action is great pr and will bring us in money.

We should get in about India...thats the next up and coming market and imagine getting the Indian communities that we have in the UK who would then buy our shirts...seems common sense to me

[bluepeter 5,627]

But, which teams are they exposed to? EPL, Serie A, La Liga etc. imho of course.. but there is zero chance of Rangers getting a foot in in the USA or Far East. Why would anyone other than an ex pat care about us?

Really why would they? Well after we win the CL, perhaps they'll care.

I would like to think they would care because we are a European club which has two Americans as players. Your last sentence, I'll drink to that!

[cooper1989 0]

But, which teams are they exposed to? EPL, Serie A, La Liga etc. imho of course.. but there is zero chance of Rangers getting a foot in in the USA or Far East. Why would anyone other than an ex pat care about us?

Really why would they? Well after we win the CL, perhaps they'll care.

I would like to think they would care because we are a European club which has two Americans as players. Your last sentence, I'll drink to that!

Yeah me too!

But this is a very interesting thread. And an important one. I don't have the answers -- clearly -- and I can't see past the fact we're stuck in the SPL. I would love some type of new Euro league that has been talked about. But, I suppose the only way we can get 'proper' exposure is to ensure we keep ourselves in the CL as long as possible -- every year.

And that means winning the SPL title every single year. I'd expect nothing less.

[NOLUWDC 1]

Celtic are so far ahead of us in this department it is unreal. Hopefully our new chairman can sort it out.