You’ll never walk alone?
Writing for Smoke Signals, self-styled titan of tekkers and account manager Michael Coetzee asks if the Premier League is just widening the gulf between club and fans following a brand overhaul.
As I sit at my desk staring at mid-table mediocrity in Mohawk’s Fantasy Football League whilst checking ticket prices for the Carling Cup final, I begin to question what it means to be a football fan.
I’ve been a Liverpool fan since I was 5 years old, being born to a scouse Dad and raised by a family loyal to the Kop. It feels like Premier League football clubs no longer resemble the team you supported when you were a boy.
Clubs have now become ‘brands’ with ideologies, and demonstrate real financial wealth which drives their quest to establish global communities. With the recent influx of foreign investors, increases in television rights, rising ticket prices, ludicrous wages, brand endorsements and sponsorships, the Premier League now has more money invested in it than ever before.
Our beloved clubs, such as Liverpool, have made significant changes to their ‘brand’. The progression of their insignia feels more in aligned to sports giants Adidas and Nike. The Premier league clubs are no longer just teams, they are fully lubricated money making machines, set up just like any other stealth business, answering to a board of directors, commercial partners and shareholders.
Taking the lead from its star attractions, the Premier League has recently made changes to their brand. From next season, the Premier League will be moving away from title sponsorship and will instead feature 7 main sponsors such as Nike and EA sports among others. The lack of marquee sponsor demonstrates the financial power of the league in a similar way to Wimbledon and the World Cup, all of which are independent of a lead sponsor.
Smack bang in the centre of this rebranding is a bold and bright new logo and the tagline ‘for every fan’.
The logo has been ‘designed to communicate a new side to the world’s most popular football league’. It’s clearly mindful of its place within modern media spaces, such as digital advertising, social media and mobile app icons. Building on the heritage of the ‘iconic Lion’, the logo has a vibrant and bold look. The aim is that it will stand the rigours of the media landscape for the next 10 years.
This is the Premier League’s first real rebrand since 2006. Their new logo is divisive and the inevitable Twitter snarking has already brought on the memes.
The new logo is an example of the Premier League trying to establish a global identity through modern, relevant, flexible and accessible iconography.
However for sheer symbolic power, it reminds me of the columns and flags of Nuremberg, where the Nazis held many of their rallies. The rebrand crystallizes the status of the Premier League as a ruling monarchy over the world of football and of sport in general.
The rebrand clearly demonstrates the financial firepower of the most watched leagued in the world. This will inevitably attract more of the world’s greatest players, managers and brands but by doing so, can also widen the gulf between the supporter and club.
The ‘Lion’ symbol is aloof and creates an air of prestige above us all, symbolic of the mass commercialisation and gentrification of the game.
Living only in a world of billionaires and global sponsorship deals, it symbolises elitism and the growing detachment of the sport from its grass roots. Their tagline ‘for every fan’, has almost the opposite of its intended effect, as we become in real danger of alienating what remains of community in football and are left with tourist attractions.
In a world of supporter revolts against ticketing prices and the growing disenfranchisement of so many in society, it’s safe to say that the Premier League is playing a dangerous game.
In an on-going battle between club and supporter, as shown in the Liverpool ticket price fiasco, there is only ever going to be one clear winner.
After all what is a club without its fans? And what is a brand without its audience?
Do you agree with Mike? Have your say in the comments below. For more missives and musing on brands, culture, advertising and more, follow our publication Smoke Signals.
