The Guards, the Stingrays, the Ironmen, the Marlins, the Rays, they are the final five nicknames chosen by GC17 one of which will become the nickname of the AFL’s newest franchise.
These selected nicknames comes as a shock as it was widely expected by the public that they would be labeled the Sharks, the Cougars or even the Dolphins. None of which were included in the final five due to possible legal complications with trademark rights according to GC17 general manager Scott Munn.
“We have taken legal advice and were told there are significant issues around three names the public supported,” he said.
“Our legal advice was that it was going to be extremely difficult to register a unique trademark in a number of different categories.
“In the case of the Sharks, it is a registered name by a whole range of companies — Cronulla Sharks (NRL), San Jose Sharks (American ice hockey), East Fremantle (WAFL) Greg Norman’s Great White Sharks Enterprises.
“So we are not willing to proceed with them at this point in time.”
Although the final five has been selected GC17 have not ruled out adding another name to the list if the public demand it.
What do you think the team should be called?
