With the announcement that Sky will broadcast every match next season and include video refs at each one too does that mean their investment has increased and will the clubs see anything extra? Games on TV have always drawn smaller crowds and while it’s awesome that we’ll get to see Cas on TV every week how will that affect the numbers for the turnstiles and income generated / is it being offset by more cash coming in from Sky?

I was amazed at this deal, for people like me who live four hours away it means I’ll get to see Cas more often but I’ve no idea how it’s going to affect our gate receipts which worries me. I’m in a fortunate position of being able to be a season ticket holder,something I started during Covid,that’s done to support the club,it’s not value but I hoped it would help the club survive. Others I know do the same but the current climate means it’s become more difficult. For me you can’t beat being there but I can fully understand many more will now pick and choose their games. Be interesting to see how season ticket sales hold up.

It was always going to hurt crowds as the remit for IMG was build the eyes on the game. TV does that. We have to face facts that you can’t rely on away support. Apart from wakey and occasionally Leeds. Who brings many to us? I would say hull and kr do because barring each other, we are their local fixture. Only the hardcore away fans will turn up and then our usual crowd. A good season will bring in more. It also doesn’t help that other teams treat away support like crap. You go to Leeds and are given the only stand without a roof, at Huddersfield they make you pay more. At most places you are given a stand with no options.

Sky will be thinking, more RL on tv more subscribers, so more coffers into their business. Sadly it’ll take away fans from going to the games. So clubs will lose revenue. Good for one business, bad for another.

I genuinely think this is a case of the good, the bad and the ugly. Good - more exposure of our great game on national TV, perhaps enticing greater levels of sponsorship. Bad - lower attendances therefore lower matchday income Ugly - with smaller crowds the grounds will look empty, or at least less full. The timings of the games will be interesting to see as you can’t cover 6 games in 2 days. You may get away with 1 each on Thursday & Friday, and 2 each on Sat & Sun but there may well be a Monday night game coming into play. Will these prevent clubs dictating when they play, such as every Friday unless picked for the Thursday game.

I am prepared to have a leap of faith here. RL alone has summarily failed to enhance attendance and eyes on in any meaningful way, so we have to try something else. I also assume that we here will not have our behaviours changed too much by this, we are not the target market, our eyes are already on. TV viewing and the growth of people willing to sponsor and buy ads in the games are the only way to bring real growth money. Darts, Football, NFL, NBA, Snooker etc - make hugely more money from their TV and sponsorship revenue than they do at a club. No one could watch another game and it would continue to be profitable. Something around a season pass might be the saving of RL, but there will undoubtably be an impact in the stadium of the casual fan. As you said @FlatCapper there is definitely going to be some fixtures moving around and that will not be at all related to attendance or clubs views - it will be cynically when the TV audience is most available and works best.

A season pass with part of the proceeds going to the club may well work depending on the price point and the amount that goes to the club. Be interesting to see how the fixtures are once released. I can’t see there’s much to lose by giving it a try,it will become apparent very quickly if it’s not financially viable.

i remember the days of saturday afternoon matches on bbc with Eddie Waring & empty grounds, my fear is it will go back to that kind of viewing

Maturecasfan aye covered in mud & knocking hell out of one another, rate rugby!

yorky I agree, it might and it might look bad…… But if a Vitality came on board and sponsored every board and break like the cricket and each club and the sport was net better off because of it…. would it be worth it? I don’t know, I am just asking. It isn’t what we came on board for or the traditional supporters, but sadly there are not enough of those to make money and grow.

New Sky deal

TheFirm

This is a hole entirely of the clubs own making. The board has sat on their hands hoping that there will always be a team worse than us without actively looking to improve itself. And now its biting them on the backside and panic has ensued. The stadium has been left to crumble, the first team is weak and will likely be 11th at best again next year, reserves a joke, the academy ruined and the women’s team decimated. And all this whilst continuing to lose money. Its time for change. Fulton, Gratton etc your time is up. Go now.

Hepworth

TheFirm I’ve a little more hope on the playing front,while I don’t think we’ll challenge for the play offs I think we’ll improve. Everything else in your post is spot on, Rome has burned and we’ve fiddled. I dare say if Fulton had a chance of recouping some of his money he’d be off like a shot.

TheFirm

Hepworth I agree i think he would as well. As for the first team i think we’ll be better and with a bit of you never know. But we were 8 points behind the next team Hull and they’ve also strengthened. I think we’ll close the gap but its a long old road to rise up the table with a now reduced budget.

RaoulDuke

Hepworth after listening to the coyf podcast, both rfl and Cas made error but the rfl only amended theirs. Jeez, how bag is that.

RaoulDuke

https://www.seriousaboutrl.com/highlighting-the-errors-that-show-why-imgs-grading-should-be-stopped-before-it-even-starts-84201/

This is a good read. Factual and just shows the madness we are dealing with.

mdean

It is a strange one this, I think some of my anger has subsided now at the amateurish way we’ve submitted an error. I would be bollocking my kids in secondary school for not treble checking a submission……

BUT - I am coming back to this. Framing the future, franchises and IMG are definitely imperfect I totally agree. But also leaving it to the 12 chairmen is calamitous and everyone is losing out to the point that some of the 12 are barely hanging on to full time let alone professional sport. Participation rates, viewing rates and attendances are not growing YoY.

So that being said, five more years of wrangling for the perfect answer while in essence doing nothing is not going to save Rugby League on TV and as a professional sport. I think that is fundamentally where we are now saving the sport.
So we have to do something, I would rather go down trying something than sleep-walk in to obscurity and wish we had.

I don’t have all the answers, but forgetting Cas, Leeds, Toulouse individually - someone somewhere has to set a vision and make it happen one way or another.

RaoulDuke

mdean i completely agree. Something needed to be done and maybe IMG are the best available to the sport. It just doesn’t seem it at the moment.

pirate

I think the whole IMG carry on will see the creation of a 14 team Superleague and unfortunately thats yer lot, the rest will slowly be starved out of existence.
It looks to me that IMG are working more for the RFU than for the RFL.

By definition, when you take the competetive element out of a sport, it ceases to be a sport

I despair

Maturecasfan

There’s now more competition off the field than on.
Teams know they won’t be relegated next season.
what happens on the field is now irrelevant.
IMG and theRFL have ripped the sport to pieces.

stuey

We know that London are going to be relegated at the end of the season and we know that 5 or 6 teams are not, whatever the results are or how badly or well they do. No jeopardy in any of the matches next season, and with SKY showing every game, crowds will be down massively. What is the point of attending games when the result does not matter.
The game will be dead in two years time when we have a closed shop SL.

Why spend money on bringing new players in to improve performances, teams will get more points from showing a healthy profit than results on the field. Lose every match, don`t spend anything, but score heavily on having a healthy bank balance!! Crazy!!

Hepworth

stuey And exactly how do you quantify financial stability, at the end of the 2022 season no Super League team got within half a million a quid of breaking even, there was a combined loss of around £12 million, Huddersfield alone lost almost £2.5 million. Even for the clubs with sugar daddies thems some pretty scary figures. Be interesting how IMG try to counteract that. You only have to look at the Rugby Union premiership teams who’ve gone bankrupt to see what happens when you live beyond your means.

RaoulDuke

According to the Sheffield RL directors in a recent q and a. It is the top ranked 12 teams that will play in the 2025 super League. The only promotion and relegation is from the championship to League one.

So on the incorrect grading given by the rfl we are done but once the correct grading is given, at this moment we will be safe.

pirate

I am not sure if I want us to be part of that nonsense, i know we should strive for greatness and all that but if the results mean less than soft arse wipe what is the point?
If it means part time and the championship so be it, but at least it will be an honest sport and not the elitism we are seeing developing in front of our eyes

Rugby league needs a new break away from this bo***cks,

Heres to a good 2024 before they finally get shut of us.

CTID

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