The point being that Wigan have a captive audience of 'pester power' kids who have RL firmly in their DNA!

Its like the Newcastle fan who has bought essentially the same shirt, by the same manufacturer, with the same sponsor for years.

Unfortunately Quins dont have that lure to kids (yet) as that kind of fan base takes generations to build up.

Quins are caught between being the novelty sports team of London, and the minimal exposure sports team of London.

For any sponsor these days, youre not sure what kind of coverage you are going to get, and also how targetted its going to be. As i said before, if Veuve Cliqouet sponsored Hull FC it would be the biggest waste of money, simply because the two dont sit hand in hand with each other.

Right now, Quins need to find the type of sponsor that can align themselves with the fan base of the club. Unfortunately, the club dont really know what that fan base is, and that takes a long time, or a lot of money.

Secondly, when that type of fan is ascertained - its then purely down to the ideal sponsor to actually want to give money to the club. And in this day and age - is very very difficult.

If big Premiership Football clubs struggle to get a sponsor, then a 'niche' RL club are going to find it even harder.

Agreed but things won't change that much, we've never been able to put the shirt on sale before Xmas.

Lister, you keep saying EVERY team will get it done by christmas, i've not seen anything about Celtic getting it done or Catalans getting it done.
So you're saying you wouldn't want the sponsers name on the shirts if you bought one?
Last seasons shirt looked very bad in comparision to when it had the sponsers on it imo.
I would prefer to wait untill the sponsers get sorted before i would even want to buy the shirt.
I wouldn't want the shirt for christmas if it didn't have the sponsers on it tbh.
Yes i kind of understand what you are getting at, but with our fan base, would sales be altered that much if it was released before christmas? I dont think it would imo.
Like Exiledfromhull says, you compare it to Wigan, who imo you can't compare them together as people from Wigan are completely different to people from London when talking in RL terms. Besides their away shirt will look alot better without the sponser on it,

.
So maybe if we had some sort of design the club releases to show us what it might look like, that might change my opinion on the shirt being released before christmas, but if its anything like last years then i would rather wait till sponsers are sorted, etc.
IMO of course.

I have no interest in what Celtic (sic) are up to. They will go bust soon. I don't know about Catalans, but still, the HUGE majority of teams have got this issue sorted.



When have I said that? I said that if that is the ONLY reason then fair enough, but its still the clubs uselessness that has caused the problem in the first place.



I think the sales would be very different, yes. A new shirt released before Christmas is exciting for people to buy/recieve as gifts. Come January and February, people are moaning about being skint and won't make such purchases, and will stick with their current jersey.



I understand EFH's point and agree with many of them, but the fact remains we are both Super League clubs and they are light years in front of us. We can't even get a shirt out for Christmas and thats pathetic. I think you comment with regards to supporters from Wigan being "completely different" to people from London is extremely condescending and way off the mark. We are all Rugby League supporters and we all buy Rugby League shirts.



This shouldn't even be needed. Our season has effectively been finished since the Summer, yet nothing has been done in planning for next season. Shirts generate a useful revenue, but we seem to fail to take advantage EVERY year. Last year was a joke.

I don't disagree with what you are saying, but there is more to selling shirts than just flogging them to kids. Adults where them too, and Adults buy/recieve them as gifts. I don't think there is any difference in the percentage of people on match day wearing replica shirts at The Stoop, compared with that of those at the DW.



I seem to recall we have had this discussion before so there is no point going down the same road twice, but I think the key point that I raised last time was the levels of national exposure need to be pushed, and not just a few thousand supporters at each home game.

I'm not sure that I agree with your point with regards to the sponsor aligning itself with the fanbase. I'm looking at teams in both the Premiership and Super League, and you could probably make a weak case for every sponsor, but never a massively strong one. I don't think this will be a major concern for the club.

I understand your point Lister, it's just with our small band of supporters, can't see it would have a huge effect on sales, thats all.

Clearly we are in a minority of two Dave. Silly old us thinking that putting the major merchandising garment on sale at the biggest potential sale time of the year is such a silly idea

Clearly its Quins and Celtic Crusaders who have got it right, how ridiculous of Leeds, Saints, Wigan, Bradford, Wakefield, Salford, Warrington et al to stupidly release a shirt for Xmas

Maybe they will realise the error of their ways and realise that Quins and Celtic are the leaders and the ones who have got it right by not bothering

But we've never done anything much about increasing attendances and never done much about marketing the club in any great way but the fact we have never done it before doesn't hold water as a reason for not doing it in the future

The club HAS to move forward and while launching a shirt for Xmas may be a small opportunity, I would suggest that given the total mess the club is in from top to bottom it cannot afford to miss ANY opportunity

Just my view

Lister

I think i used the Premiership as a bad example, as that is sponsors just wanting to get their name on the box. They couldnt really care about the type of 'mule' they use to get the name out there!

I think in the case of Rugby League, at the very heart of it, the sponsor will want some connection with their target audience.
They dont receive the same 'across the board' exposure that Premiership Football will, so the money they spend will have to be a wiser and more calculated choice.

Personally - i'd have said someone like the Fullers Brewery would be a wise 'London' choice for Quins RL.

Shirts out before Christmas should be a no-brainer. If it results in sales of 1 more shirt, surely it's worth it - and I'd be buying one for my godson.



Except we couldn't wear it in France, so the deal would presumably be worth less.

Oh shut up, you just seem to asking for attention, sorry for other people having opinions that differ from you.
We're not saying it wouldn't be good for it to come out before christmas, its just that if i had a option to have the shirt out for christmas without sponsers on i wouldnt want to buy it.
Thats all.

Your opinion is ridiculous, which is what Chris Brown is getting at. You said that it would make no difference if it came out at Christmas, the same number of people would buy it, or do you want to backtrack now