How do you build a business?

Despite literally years of negotiating, the future at Cardiff Arms Park remains as clear as the mud that we frequently played on before the advent of our artificial pitch. What is happening (or perhaps not happening) at the Newport Gwent Dragons (for such is the name of the Black and Amber bar stewards as I write) is though perhaps a worrying portend of what is to come. Though our situation is a little different, WRU involvement is seemingly a key plank in our ability to manage the depleted incomes that will inevitably result in us having to play at a temporary home while the Arms Park is turned into the glittering pleasure dome that will be required to sustain professional rugby in the city for decades to come. But what will be the price of such involvement?

If the Newport scenario is anything to go by, the price tag for financial support might be the suggestion that we lose the unique selling point in our name. Now, I think that we all have to agree that regional rugby has not been the success that we would like it to be. There are multiple reasons for this, but lack of success in professional support comes primarily down to money-which we haven’t got enough of-and being able to put your best product on the field on a regular basis-which for large parts of the season we’re not able to do. It is success that gets the casual supporter through the turnstiles, and affinity that keeps the regular supporter going in the absence of on field triumphs.

Now, if the WRU or any couch-bound Twitter warrior thinks that regional rugby in Wales will suddenly become successful because there is a massive latent audience simply waiting for the names Newport or Cardiff to be dropped from two of our professional teams, then they are either naïve or deluded. Such actions risk losing the support of those who currently pay their hard-earned cash to attend, while having no effect on the behaviour of the arm chair critics who don’t. Our latest survey has attracted almost 200 responses to date, with 63% agreeing that continuing to have ‘Cardiff’ in the name of our team is essential and 53% saying that its absence would impact on their attendance. One might have thought that these figures would be higher, but it’s probably more the case that they accurately represent the demographics of our membership, which is both old and young, long-term fan and recent. Either way, with an average 7,000 crowd at present, we could be looking at losing another 3,500 fans if we suddenly became just ‘The Blues’. This is on top of those who have already drifted away after the Cardiff City Stadium debacle and/or who have simply been worn down by the year on year lack of success. Is that any way to build a business?

While I completely respect the views of more recent fans who don’t give a monkey’s about what we’re called, that respect has to be two-way. They need to acknowledge the fact that many of us have followed Cardiff for most of our increasingly ancient lives and that, illogical and unreasonable though it might be, being asked to suddenly follow the singularly unremarkable but ubiquitous ‘Blues’ (or the ‘Glamorgan Unicorns’ or some such) does not float our supporter boat.

Branding is important, and we already have a brand that is still (just about) recognised the world over. Several movers and shakers at CAP have said in private conversation that ‘If it were up to me, I’d call it ‘Cardiff Rugby’’. Well movers and shakers, it is up to you and this strikes me as a jolly good idea-and one that matches the strong re-branding of many English clubs. At a time when so much energy and attention is going into developing the Cardiff Capital Region Concept, now is not the time for more lily-livered marketing.

So where does that leave the future? Would a strong Cardiff name work against the development of more effective player development pathways? I’d suggest not-it might even encourage it. Would having that name increase our success at developing local talent? No, it wouldn’t-we have to work even harder at that than we already do (but the key point is that this work needs to take place irrespective of what we’re called). Would it impact on attendance? On its own, clearly not-only success will do that, but it at least it won’t drive existing supporters away, while those who are agnostic about the name will presumably remain so. It would however try to build the business on the basis of the current customer support rather than chasing a phantom fan base-which surely is not rocket science.

Making regional rugby work means generating more funding so that we can compete on a level playing field in the first instance with the Irish and Scottish teams-a really challenging task, and one that unfortunately means acknowledging that international rugby is the primary cash-cow. It means pursuing the idea of a global season, so that the cash cow can continue to generate revenue, but also allowing domestic competitions to be properly played out. It means having to learn to love the Pro12 –crazy I know- but it needs to develop into a really strong competition that the English clubs might see some added value in merging with in future (being a cynic by nature, I think that one of the reasons that we don’t love it is that our performance in the competition is usually so abject). Above all, it means generating proper Lewis-free TV deals. What it doesn’t mean is jettisoning your principal marketing asset.

I realise that this will instantly provoke cries of ‘Typical arrogant Cardiff’ and/or ‘You’re a dinosaur’-but such is the price for sticking your head above the parapet and, as someone whose hard-earned cash has contributed in a small way to keeping rugby at Cardiff going for almost 50 years, my opinion is as least as valid as that of those in the shadows who keep theirs in their pockets.

The point is that further dilution of historic names and heritage is certainly not a sufficient condition, but neither is it a necessary condition, for future success. Properly utilised, it should be a significant help rather than a hindrance.

Martyn Phillips, Gareth Davies…let’s think this through a bit more clearly.