Play Nice Is it time to replace Woodside as sponsor?

[Gekko71]

The interesting question for me, and this goes for BHP, Chevron, Santos, Hancock Prospecting etc, is why would they want to sponsor teams like Freo and WC in the first place?

I get why Maccas, HJs, Toyota and co do, they obviously need to sell their wares to the average punter. But what are the big resource companies selling?

I've got a rough idea, but I'm interested in what others think.

Straight up PR purposes - it makes a distasteful business practice feel more communal.

What did tobacco have to do with cricket? Frankly I'm amazed that we can have an alcohol sponsor give the prohibition on alcohol advertising in general that exists elsewhere.

 

[cactuscall]

These morons should realise we're in a privileged box seat to have these big companies on board as a mining state. I like having Woodside as a principal sponsor at Freo and don't take it for granted. Over the years other clubs like Port have struggled with major sponsors.

This happened a couple of years ago where protestors crashed the Perth Fringe opening night. They wanted them to dump Woodside as a principal sponsor. Only for event organisers to say Fringe wouldn't exist without these kinds of big players supporting them!

Protesters are going to lead busy lives crashing surf live saving and nippers events, Freo games, NAIDOC events, Leeuwin Ocean Adventure foundation, WA ballet and youth orchestra, community rec centre openings and volunteer work initiatives. Along with all the other various things Woodside supports.

This is like a group of vegan protestors walking in to Outback Jack's and demanding everyone stop eating meat. This is where Freo politely tell them to **** off and concentrate on winning games of footy not pandering to a group of people clutching at their own self importance.

 

[Gekko71]

These morons should realise we're in the box seat to have these big companies on board as a mining state. I like having Woodside as a principal sponsor at Freo and don't take it for granted. Over the years other clubs like Port have struggled with major sponsors.

This happened a couple of years ago where protestors crashed the Perth Fringe opening night. They wanted them to dump Woodside as a principal sponsor. Only for event organisers to say Fringe wouldn't exist without these kinds of big players supporting them!

Protesters are going to lead busy lives crashing surf live saving and nippers events, Freo games, NAIDOC events, Leeuwin Ocean Adventure foundation, WA ballet and youth orchestra, community rec centre openings and volunteer work initiatives. Along with all the other various things Woodside supports.

This is like a group of vegan protestors walking in to Outback Jack's and demanding everyone stop eating meat. This is where Freo politely tell them to * off and concentrate on winning games of footy not pandering to a group of people clutching at nothing.

This. 100% all those high profile Freo supporters either all own and drive petrol vehicles, or else are Tesla owners and are smug about it.

(Not that I dislike Tesla's, I just dislike the smugness that has exuded from the very few people I have met that own one It's dangerously close to being smug about being rich).

 

[GingerDocker]

Straight up PR purposes - it makes a distasteful business practice feel more communal.

What did tobacco have to do with cricket? Frankly I'm amazed that we can have an alcohol sponsor give the prohibition on alcohol advertising in general that exists elsewhere.

At least the tobacco and alcohol companies were selling stuff to the punters, regardless of how distasteful it was.

These companies have nothing to sell to us.

The advertising spend is purely for political reasons, and by making these practices feel more "communal" (I like that term), They apply pressure to the political class that there is nothing to see here, move on.

As long as the average supporter is aware of this, I'm more than happy to accept their sponsorship dollars.

 

[cactuscall]

The interesting question for me, and this goes for BHP, Chevron, Santos, Hancock Prospecting etc, is why would they want to sponsor teams like Freo and WC in the first place?

I get why Maccas, HJs, Toyota and co do, they obviously need to sell their wares to the average punter. But what are the big resource companies selling?

I've got a rough idea, but I'm interested in what others think.

As someone else said, it's good PR for them at community level. A lot of the big mining companies sponsor a range of community events and initiatives. As I see it, states like SA and Tassie don't have the same luxury as us in having big players at hand with money to use to their benefit and ours. Quid pro quo, Clarice.

 

[freo1997]

I am green and don’t care tbh.

They are giving us money, not the other way round.

 

[Rob]

This. 100% all those high profile Freo supporters either all own and drive petrol vehicles, or else are Tesla owners and are smug about it.

(Not that I dislike Tesla's, I just dislike the smugness that has exuded from the very few people I have met that own one It's dangerously close to being smug about being rich).

4 of them are wearing glasses in the photo.....which are made from oil.

I doubt any of them picked up on the irony.

 

[Midnite65]

4 of them are wearing glasses in the photo.....which are made from oil.

I doubt any of them picked up on the irony.

Which ones are high profile?

 

[Scham]

Only if there's a better option and replacing them won't set us back in any way.

 

[Alfonz]

Big bad companies - seeking good publicity, but to do so have to spend money which positively impacts the community.
Virtue signallers - seeking good publicity, but has no positive impact except making themselves feel better. If they were actually able to have an impact and ban everything they protest against, they would have their lives ruined.

If the mining companies want to give out money to the community, then let them. Accepting their money does not have to mean supporting what they do. If anything, more sponsorships should be sought so these companies give back even more.

 

[myfreodom]

Only if there's a better option and replacing them won't set us back in any way.

Is anyone on either "side" suggesting otherwise?

I suspect everyone in this debate comes from the same point of wanting to improve the footy club. If you can replace Woodside with a better sponsor I don't really get what the argument against it is?

And given you need scale to provide sponsorships, we are really talking about improvement and not finding some golden unicorn that is the "perfect" sponsor. If you dig deep enough you can find dirt on any corporation. The dirt on Woodside is far more shallow which is why I think quite a lot of people wouldn't mind moving on from them if we find alternate, better sponsor(s).

The group in the paper have achieved what they wanted. We're talking about it.

 

[88mph]

Big bad companies - seeking good publicity, but to do so have to spend money which positively impacts the community.
Virtue signallers - seeking good publicity, but has no positive impact except making themselves feel better. If they were actually able to have an impact and ban everything they protest against, they would have their lives ruined.

If the mining companies want to give out money to the community, then let them. Accepting their money does not have to mean supporting what they do. If anything, more sponsorships should be sought so these companies give back even more.

We're not talking about mining companies. The issue is with oil and gas companies.

 

[Joose]

Lets all go back to living in caves and banging rocks together.

 

[Alfonz]

We're not talking about mining companies. The issue is with oil and gas companies.

Fine. I was just using a generic term that many use to include everything, but replace the word mining with oil/gas and my point is still the same. Cutting out their sponsorship money is not going to have any positive impact. It isn't going to stop their core operations and only removes money from the community.

And if people want to pick a fight against oil and gas, then they should also pick a fight with the lithium/cobalt/copper/rare earth/nickel miners. They all destroy the environment. Unfortunately it is all necessary unless we want to give up our comfortable lives.

 

[Paracleet]

this tweet below I think summarises my feelings fairly well on the matter more broadly. no strong feelings if we move onto a new sponsor one way or the other, dependent on many factors

Yeah but he's wrong. Mining is not going away. Oil (at least for non plastic uses) and Gas is. Woodside medium / long term is a zombie company; dead man walking, and the non fantasists involved know this too even though they will never say it in public.

 

[Paracleet]

The interesting question for me, and this goes for BHP, Chevron, Santos, Hancock Prospecting etc, is why would they want to sponsor teams like Freo and WC in the first place?

I get why Maccas, HJs, Toyota and co do, they obviously need to sell their wares to the average punter. But what are the big resource companies selling?

I've got a rough idea, but I'm interested in what others think.

PR only.
Well not Hancock Prospecting. For them any publicity is bad publicity since it reminds people they exist. So that sponsorship is pure personal vanity.

 

[JackFlash]

Absolute insanity, who are these people and what universe do they live in? Freo are located in the West of Australia and have to travel by plane all over the country and everything they use and deals with in order to exist relies on these companies. Money is hard to come by, what madmen think of these things? Just play football and leave everything else alone in order for you to do just that. The world has gone crazy!

 

[mattis117]

Echo the overwhelming sentiment in here that this vocal minority is getting air time they don't deserve. Completely detached from reality. Gas companies are a major stepping stone towards a greener future, they're not the enemy.

 

[DockerDerek]

I had no idea that most of these “high profile” people were Freo members or had any real interest in footy at all. Dale Kickett

Dale Kickett

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56

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179cm

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Last 5

D

16.4

4star

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9.1

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7.3

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3.1

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2.2

4star

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D

17.0

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K

9.4

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HB

7.6

5star

M

4.2

4star

T

2.0

4star

excepted of course.

Footy is just a convenient vehicle to keep their flag flying. However objectionable it may seem, fossil fuels will be with us for a while yet. The war in Ukraine should have made people even more aware of that fact.

 

[Stinky Lomax]

Their sponsorship agreement runs out at the end of 2023, you cannot seriously take money off them all these years & then dump them like that.
It can be done respectfully at the end of their term next season if that is what the club wants to do.

 

[manpurple]

So since we can't use the nasty O&G companies. Lets pick up some gambling houses and install pokies everywhere. Because they are absolutely fantastic for the community.

Hey, where's the sarcasm emoji again?

 

[im_a_lazy_sod]

Absolutely, it is time.

To the average fan, seeing Woodside or BHP on the shirts of their teams - or opponents - isn't going to subconsciously help them decide between a bunch of mining companies when faced with a dilemma pertaining to which company is the best fit for them because none of them really would have feasible scenarios like this

Give us a car company, insurance company or something else far less morally, commercially and environmentally bankrupt than a mining company - and at least the company backing us will know their subliminal messaging and consistent branding might help them actually make a sale from us poor schmucks

 

[Square Peg]

Insurance companies are bigger corporate bastards, and probably directly ruin more people's lives financially, than oil and gas companies

 

[random260]

Absolutely, it is time.

To the average fan, seeing Woodside or BHP on the shirts of their teams - or opponents - isn't going to subconsciously help them decide between a bunch of mining companies when faced with a dilemma pertaining to which company is the best fit for them because none of them really would have feasible scenarios like this

Give us a car company, insurance company or something else far less morally, commercially and environmentally bankrupt than a mining company - and at least the company backing us will know their subliminal messaging and consistent branding might help them actually make a sale from us poor schmucks

Insurance company/car company? Those people that pay their employees pennies and exploit them?

 

[im_a_lazy_sod]

Insurance company/car company? Those people that pay their employees pennies and exploit them?

At least the average punter is likely to use one of these for personal use though i.e. most of us have cars/will buy at least one car in our lifetime and need insurance, rather than a mining company - which was kind of my point