Cricket Victoria has quietly moved to trademark the name “Melbourne Rangers”, the clearest indication yet that the current Melbourne Stars brand will disappear if the hybrid privatisation model for the Big Bash League gets a tick in the coming weeks.
According to paperwork lodged with IP Australia on 4 June – viewable on the agency’s public register – the term Rangers is “waiting for examination”, with a provisional decision due by 3 September. The application covers pretty much everything you would expect: playing kit, digital platforms, merchandise, fan apps, the lot. Any switch must still be rubber-stamped by Cricket Australia.
Why Rangers? Insiders say it nods to Victoria’s former Bushrangers moniker, dropped back in 2018. “Bushrangers” did get another look, but CV worried about how it would land now there’s a WBBL side in the mix. A return to the state’s navy-blue colours is also on the cards.
News Corp has reported two other options – Magic and Blazers – though Rangers is thought to be miles ahead. Research commissioned by CV suggests a clean break is needed: Renegades supporters aren’t keen on an existing Stars brand, yet fans of both could rally behind something built around Victoria itself.
The background – and it’s been messy – is the broader push to sell stakes in BBL clubs to private investors. CV, once lukewarm on the idea, now backs a hybrid model and plans to sell its second licence (currently the Renegades) outright while retaining control of the re-badged Rangers. States still have to vote on the next phase on 15 June.
If that timetable slips, the Renegades may limp into the 2026-27 campaign in caretaker mode. One senior administrator summed it up last week: “There are still a few moving parts, but the goal is clarity before the WBBL starts in October.”
Not that clarity has been the hallmark so far. Word of the Melbourne merger leaked on a Tuesday evening, blindsiding staff and sending CA and CV into three days of damage control. A hurried meeting of state CEOs two days later saw CA grilled over who knew what and when. Chief executive Todd Greenberg conceded the timing “had not been ideal”.
Victoria’s CEO Nick Cummins, for his part, told colleagues he was focused on looking after employees in a “period of significant uncertainty”. Privately, officials argue that putting information on the table – even incomplete – is better than leaving staff to read rumours.
What happens next? State CEOs gather in Melbourne this week, with chairpersons to vote on 15 June. If the hybrid plan survives, CV expects to finalise a sale of the Renegades licence by early spring and press ahead with the Rangers launch. If it doesn’t, expect another round of hurried meetings and, quite possibly, a temporary stay of execution for the existing franchises.
Either way, the trademark clock is already ticking – and Melbourne cricket fans may need to start getting used to a new badge on their navy-blue shirts.
