Swinton considering Manchester rebrand as club targets wider audiences
Swinton chairman Andy Mazey admits the club are exploring the possibility of rebranding to Manchester, but there are no concrete plans in place just yet.
The Lions have put an emphasis on themselves being a ‘Manchester club’ in recent press releases, with their latest marketing campaign being ‘international Summer of Rugby in Manchester’ with their visit of Toronto coming up on Sunday evening.
Mazey believes the Lions will gain bigger crowds and attract more sponsors by putting themselves out to the public as a Manchester club.
Speaking to loverugbyleague.com, Mazey said: “There are no concrete plans to change the name but we are looking at how best we can rebrand.
“We are Swinton and we are proud of the history and heritage of the club but we are a Manchester club as well.
“We have got an M27 postcode and there are no concrete plans to do anything as we stand at the moment in terms of changing the name.
“It’s all on the drawing board but we certainly have to emphasise the Manchester tag moving forward whilst paying respect to the past but also moving towards the future as well.”
Mazey became Swinton chairman back in 2017 after being a sponsor of the Lions.
He admitted that although the club is looking to expand to a wider Manchester audience, they are still very much rooted to their Swinton history.
Mazey added: “In Manchester, we are very fortunate to be part of a globally recognised sporting city.
“We are an M27 postcode, we are Swinton and we are really proud of our roots, history and heritage and that will never change.
“But from a marketing perspective and a branding point of view, we do have Manchester on our badge and we are proud to be from Manchester.
“We’ve got to target that Manchester audience heavily now but I want to emphasise that there are no plans in place to come away from being Swinton, but at the same time we are exploring opportunities to find something new and exciting.”
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