Why Sports Most Hated Teams Are Also The Best For Sponsors.

 
 
 

The narrative of sporting rivalries is the driving force behind every successful sporting team, club and competition. It’s these rivalries that create drama, suspense, happiness and pain, that reality show producers could only dream about. It’s these intense rivalries that create intense love and hate for certain teams, clubs and players. 

So the question is, If everyone hates a team why would you sponsor them?

BlokeVote recently surveyed over one thousand blokes and asked two simple questions, which is your most hated NRL and AFL team? 

Not only did we want to find out which team Aussie blokes love to hate but the important questions like; Is Manly really as hated as they like to say they are? Is Collingwood still the pariah of the AFL? And when it comes to sponsorship, why would you sponsor a team that everyone hates?

Despite what Manly fans would like you to believe they’re not the most hated team in the NRL, actually not even close. The most hated team in the NRL is actually the Melbourne Storm, with the Broncos and Souths also receiving a high percentage of votes. 

In the AFL however, the story was much more predictable. Having been the most hated club since its inception Collingwood lived up to the hype and was by far the most despised club in the AFL. Collecting 28% of the votes Collingwood lives up to its hype as everyone's love to hate AFL club. The next closest was the Sydney Swans with 9% of the votes. 

Interestingly when you look at the bigger picture, all of these clubs whilst hated by their rivals, have the most passionate and die-hard fan bases. The Storm, Broncos, Souths, Collingwood and the Swans all have diehard fans who wear the hate of their rivals on their chest like a badge of honour. And this is why advertisers should look to put their logos next to teams that cause an emotional response, good or bad. 

To go with their strong membership numbers each of these “most hated” clubs have the most diehard fans in their respective competitions and this creates an “affect transfer” for the brands that sponsor these clubs. 

The theory of affect transfer is simple, I like the Swans, the Swans wear Nike, therefore, I like Nike. A study conducted by Macquarie University found that rusted-on Melbourne Victory fans were prepared to pay about 60% more for an Adidas T-shirt over a Nike T-shirt. And this wasn’t for a Melbourne Victory T-shirt; just a regular Adidas T-shirt. Even casual fans are willing to pay more for an Addidas product because of its association with Melbourne Victory.

“It takes time for the effects of sponsorship to kick in but the effect on fans’ feelings and preferences can last even beyond the sponsorship period. We studied a deal where a prominent, long-term sponsor was replaced by another prominent brand. Even two years into the new deal, both brands were held in high regard by fans” says Professor Hume Winzar of Macquarie University.

This begs the question, what about the people who hate the Swans, do they hate Nike now too? The same study mentioned above, found sponsorship of an ‘enemy’ team does not affect brand attitudes and preferences. 

According to the BlokeVote survey, these are Australia’s most hated (and marketable) rugby league and AFL teams. 

AFL Teams

  • Collingwood Magpies (28% of votes and 82,527 members)

  • Sydney Swans (9% of votes and 50,144 members)

  • West Coast Eagles (6% of votes and 106,422 members)

NRL Teams

  • Melbourne Storm (17% of votes and 33,500 members)

  • Brisbane Broncos (12% of votes and  27,463 members)

  • South Sydney Rabithos (11% of votes and 30,220 members)

Nic Franklin