Sponsors warn NRL over sex scandal
NRL’s major sponsorship voices have joined the debate over the fallout of the Matthew Johns scandal.
In an article in the Australian Financial Review today, the newspaper spoke to some of the sport’s biggest sponsors, who make it clear that it is teetering on the brink of a revenue catastrophe if the game does not sort out its image.
There are a series of strong comments.
From John Symond, boss of Aussie Home Loans:
“The reason you sponsor a sport or an athlete is to enhance your brand. At the moment rugby league isn’t enhacing our brand. If our contract was up next week, we wouldn’t renew it.”
Toyota’s GM of marketing Peter Webster threatened a rethink unless poor player behaviour is “eliminated or almost eliminated”.
And Katuie Page, chief executive of Harvey Norman, said the companmy was “appalled” and “disgusted” , but was standing by the sport.
And former adman John Singleton also shares his views, tellign the newspaper: “The immediate problems for the NRL are that corporate sponsorship will be harder to get and mums won’t let their sons play rugby league.”
Tim Burrowes founded Mumbrella in 2008. He worked on Mumbrella until 2021. At various points he was editor, content director and editor-at-large.
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If absence of anything else, maybe it’s money that will ‘wake them up’
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Yes, money talks, Kate. Ever since 2004, when the Bulldogs sex scandal erupted, it’s been ticking away. The thing is these clubs do not realise they are in business, and in business, reputation is all, particularly when it comes to corporate sponsorship. And yet they still don’t seem to get it. All that matters to them is that they win games. These are highly-paid employees that are ruining reputations. If they came from any other occupation they’d be sacked. Oh, but that’s silly, then we wouldn’t have rugby league. Play on, fellas.
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Maybe money will make them wake up but I doubt it. When young boys are treated like gods and the old boys run the clubs nothing is going to change. Women, like money and booze, are commodities to the players and club management. As they say the fish rots from the head down.
If we are all so appalled at this behaviour why are we still going to matches or tuning in to the TV to watch them?
Seriously, pay them less, make them get real jobs in the real world and stop treating them like gods. They are not gods, they are just naughty boys.
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Being a media website, I’d be keen to see the contributors spell better..?!
Katuie Page?
companmy?
tellign?
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I agree with Ellen, pay them a lot less, get a job so they have a career after Footy and make them all take a Sponsor IQ tests before you employ them.
But, how do you convince girls to stop chasing these blokes for the Celebrity status?
Have you ever noticed how many attractive girls hang around after a match looking to hook up with a so-called sports celebrity? It takes two to tango!
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Ross you are right in that it takes two to tango. In the case of Matthew Johns et al I do have to question the wisdom of a woman who goes back to a hotel room with a footballer.
There was a report earlier this week about young women not being equipped to say no to sex – or something like that. The sentiment I felt was that young women do not understand the power of their sexuality or the pitfalls.
Where am I going with this? More education for young girls about sex and that it is ok to say no.
And education for the boys about treating women with respect. I wonder how many of them would be offended if someone treated their mothers, sisters, wives or daughters the way they have treated some women?
I also think the media needs to have a good long hard look at itself. Again I state that we should not be treating these young boys like gods.
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It wasn’t the tango but more the “Sicilian circle” for the Sharks boys…
A Sicilian circle is formed by couples facing couples like spokes of a wheel in a large circle around the hall. They require a large group of people to be danced comfortably. At least 24 couples are needed to keep the radius of the circle large enough to permit couples to quickly identify the next couple in the big ring.
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Ellen – I’m sorry, but how long has it been since you’ve visited your local pub or gone out to a club.
Women are well versed in understanding the power of their sexuality. Do you really think that the woman went back to a hotel room with two footballers because she didn’t understand that? She understood quite well what the needs and desires of the footballers were, and played to that.
She also understood full well the power of their sporting status. I doubt she would have gone back to the hotel room with the world class debate champion team.
Yes education is needed, but so is more scrutiny by the media of all players in a situation, not just those with celebrity status. I think we are too clouded by women’s rights issues, and a false need for sporting celebrities to be role models that we miss one important element:
women make mistakes too!
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We are talking about ‘men’ and ‘women’ but we should be talk about ‘men’ and ‘girls’. At 19 most girls are still living at home with their parents, for a very good reason. They have not yet formed the social savviness to protect themselves from themselves. Men like footballers, treated as though they are something special, hyped by management and media, fed booze, drugs, parties, money and women fail to differentiate between young women and slags. An ordinary young woman or girl who suddenly finds herself in the presence of a football hero does not see him as a potential rapist. And a lot of these women are five foot nothing … the footballers are bloody big giants. It’s all very well saying ‘but she could have said no.’ It does not take a lot for one bloke to intimidate another bloke with his size: try and imagine the effect on a girl. And while we are on the subject of multiple players wanting to use the same woman, this is crass, disgusting behaviour unlikely to be anticipated by a young girl who in most cases would simply freeze up with fear in the presence of so many hulking blokes egging each other on. The reality of thinking you are going back to a room to have a drink and get to know someone, who seems charming at the bar, and finding yourself pack raped by said hero charmer and his friends, even if no charges are laid, are miles apart. The men need to take more responsibility for their actions, and the League hierarchy needs to step up their education.
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Yes David I have been to a pub and club recently and yes I do see what goes on aided by alcohol and bravado. And I do see your point. Yes some women do set out to put a footballer notch in their belts.
As Shirley says though, young girls can feel intimidated by big boofy blokes and may also not be equipped to get out of a situation that has changed from what they first thought. And girls can get star struck.
One thing though this had got nothing to do with women’s rights issues but everything to do with human decency and respect.
The main point is these young men just don’t get it and I suspect its because football management does very little to discourage this behaviour.
On the way home this evening I heard on the radio news that yet another footballer was being stood down for testing positive to recreation drug use. See what I mean? They just don’t get it.
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