Global brand valuation consultancy 'Brand Finance' rates our brand value at $21.1m and brand rating at AAA-.
AFL clubs “running away” from NRL in brand value race: Report Andrew Heathcote Rich Lists editor
BRW
Published 05 December 2013The Penrith Panthers are the most valuable club in Australia, according to a new study.
Australian Rules clubs are winning the branding battle against clubs from the other football codes, according to a new assessment of the most valuable brands in sport.
Global brand valuation consultancy Brand Finance has compiled a list of the 20 most valuable sports brands. Fourteen of the top 20 belong to AFL clubs and the rest are from the NRL.
The combined value of the top 20 brands is $485 million, of which AFL clubs contribute $334 million.
This is the first year Brand Finance have compiled this list but a director of Brand Finance Richard Haigh says the gap between the value of AFL brands and those in the NRL is growing.
“In the last 10 years the AFL has run away [from the NRL] in terms of ability to generate revenue, viewing figures and memberships,” Haigh says.
“Right now the NRL is struggling comparatively.”
Despite the AFL dominance, the most valuable brand in the country comes from the NRL.
Haigh says he was surprised when the Penrith Panthers emerged as the most valuable brand; it came out on top because of the methodology used by Brand Finance in compiling its list.
The Panthers are owned by the big Panthers Leagues Club, which turned over more than any other football-associated entity last year; it had revenue of $145.3 million and $84.8 million of this was from its po-ker machines.
Haigh suggests that Brand Finance considers revenue from po-ker machines to have less importance to brand value calculations than revenue from other sources, such as team shirts or branded caps. But the sheer weight of money flowing through the Panthers Group pushes it to the top of the list.
Second is the Collingwood Football Club, which is the biggest AFL club in the country in terms of revenue. It’s newly published financial results for the 2013 season show that Collingwood pulled-in $74.3 million this year.
Of this $22.2 million came from gaming and its social club while almost as much ($19.7 million) came from branded merchandise sales.
This compares to just $1.2 million in merchandise sales from the Panthers last year.
Despite ranking it second in terms of brand value, Brand Finance gives Collingwood a AAA brand rating. Collingwood is the only club in the top 20 to get a rating this high.
No A-League or Super Rugby club make the top 20, which gives an indication about how much more work they have to do to build their businesses. The other NRL clubs to make the list are the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs ($34.5 million), Parramatta Eels ($21.3 million), Brisbane Broncos ($18.6 million), Canberra Raiders ($16.0 million) and Sydney Roosters ($14.5 million).
The only AFL clubs from Victoria not to make the top 20 are the North Melbourne Kangaroos and the Western Bulldogs. The highest ranking non-Victorian club is the West Coast Eagles. Its brand is worth $32.6 million, according to Brand Finance.
The scandal-plagued Essendon Football Club ranks ninth courtesy of its $24.0 million brand.
Haigh says Essendon’s brand has coped relatively well with the bad press it has received from its drug investigations. Its overall brand value has fallen by about 5 per cent, Haigh says.
“It could have been worse,” he says. “Their brand seems to have been quite resistant.”
http://www.brw.com.au/p/marketing/afl_clubs_running_away_from_nrl_8YL6ZuV3VlH0C9MWmepfaKThe Top 20 Most Valuable Australian Sports BrandsChris Pash
Business Insider
Dec 4 2013What is the most valuable Australian sports team in terms of branding?
Or look at it another way: if a sports team had to buy their brand from someone, what would they pay?
Experts in the value of branding, Brand Finance and Landor Associates, have come up with a new league table.
And in top place is the Penrith Panthers with a brand valued at $46.2 million.
The Panthers got the high valuation and top spot because it has been so successful in creating a strong business with the elite team.
The NRL and the AFL make up all of the top 20 with a combined brand value of almost half a billion dollars.
But the AFL teams are the big winners overall in terms of volume and engagement with fans.
The study shows 27 per cent of fans interact with AFL more than once a week compared to only 21 per cent for NRL.
There are 6 NRL teams in the top 20 with a total brand value of $151 million.
The AFL has 14 teams and a total brand value of $334 million.
Dominic Walsh, Landor Australia managing Director says: “There’s no doubt that the AFL goes deeper in the Australian Psyche than NRL. This goes back to its unique Australian Heritage.”
Highlights:
The combined brand value of NRL clubs in the Top 20 exceeds $150 million in 2013.
The Penrith Panthers top the league table with a brand valuation of $46.2 million.
The Collingwood Magpies value is $39.1 million but it also received a AAA brand rating, the highest in the table thanks to a loyal fan base and strong performances on the field.
The study estimates the Essendon Bombers brand suffered because of the investigation by ASADA. This caused overall brand value to drop an estimated 5 per cent to $24 million.
This is how they calculated the brand valuations. First it is assumed the brand is owned by a third party, which then licenses the brand at arm’s length. The present value of that stream of (hypothetical) royalty payments by the team represents the value of the brand.
Rugby Union, A-League and Big Bash teams were included in the research but only AFL and NRL teams were valuable enough to be featured in the Top 20 Most Valuable Australian Sports Brands.
Landor’s research on teams is a measure of the brand’s relevance, differentiation, knowledge and esteem. There were an equal number of respondents from each Australian region and no team colours/logos were included to ensure minimal noise.
http://www.businessinsider.com.au/the-top-20-most-valuable-australian-sports-brands-2013-12
