IMG

Fellas I am in complete agreement with the sentiment just trying to think about it a different way. Darts and Snooker are what started me thinking about it, they wouldn’t matter if no-one turned up the money is eyes on glass and sponsorship.

I disagree with very little about what is said here, I am struggling to pin down what I WOULD do to make it more financially viable and attractive.

well the first thing i would do is ban any instruments from entering the ground, i have not heard one musical sound from the likes of manu / man city / liverpool / spurs / chelsea etc etc. Yet when we played tonga at headingly all i could hear on the tv was that set of trumpet / drum / cowbell banging idiots & if you want bigger tv audiences then the people who think this presentation is good for the game ought to sit at home & try to watch this horrible mess & i love rl’ but its not that good to watch with the sound turned off, what a mess the game is in.

Two perfect example there form Mdean,if there was ever a couple of marketing success stories it’s Darts and Snooker,they found a gap,filled it and marketed it brilliantly. The PDC darts championships scheduling in particular is a work of genius. Turning what’s effectively a pub game into something drawing in large audiences both live and on telly is incredible. I honestly believe we have an amazing sport that doesn’t get enough exposure or recognition, I’m just not sure IMG are the right people to get us there, but then the RFL certainly aren’t. Where I agree with IMG is in the match day experience needs to be better,getting people through the turnstiles creates atmosphere which translates through the Tv screen,look at the difference between watching Cas on telly and Huddersfield,chalk and cheese. Three blokes and a cowbell doesn’t constitute an atmosphere however shiny the stadium. We know we need to improve our facilities and even without IMG we should have done that, clean toilets,decent seats,decent disabled access are a basic necessity not a luxury. I really hope IMG bring about improvements and a sustainable game I just fear in doing so they will cut out its very heart.

For me, the big issue is the pee poor marketing of RL compared to that of RU.
We have a far better product than the kick n clap boys especially at club level but you would have thought it was the other way round, and the superior marketing attracts more sponsorship and fans.
Marketing of RL is where IMG should start, with the focus being on how tough and fast RL is, particularly at SL level.

agreed, just take the introduction to the bbc super league show depicting rugby players emerging out of a hole in the ground infering that all the RL players work darn pit, who is behind this type of degrading images of RL & is anyone at RL headquarters bothered, no wonder the powers that be have brought in IMG who must be costing millions to send the game further into decline. our game is being crusified from all directions & we have no one at the top with any brains to put it right.

yorky I didn’t notice that from the BBC but yes it does depict the working class players fighting to get a try. I can’t for the life of me remember seeing a rugby union advert but then again I don’t watch the sport. I’d guess they were brought to earth on a heavenly vessel, or at least that’s what I imagine.

It’s subliminal but it’s poor stuff.

IMG aren’t interested in anything else but making money and they’ll try to do that. It’s just not clear how they get their money with this 12yr deal. Is it a cut of profit from the rfl? Is it a percentage of any TV deal? Or are they paid a fee from the rfl and/or clubs?

Whichever way, the grass roots of the sport starts at 5yr old. I’d probably only expect to see one or two players to have made their super League debut in their tenure. So it’s not going to be about that.

I’d expect it to be about the players, like football, that’s where the money will go. Salford are showing us that right now, a few good years and facing adminstration after begging £300k from it’s fans, selling it’s 3 best players ( croft, ackers and Dupree) and all within the last 6 months.

If IMG are looking for a share of profits they could be in for a shock. As for the BBC, they’re a spent force as a live sports broadcaster, their live sport highlight this weekend was trampolining,enough said. Our image does need a buff up and the stereotypes they’re perpetuating don’t help. Rugby League may well be a Northern oriented sport with its roots in the working classes times change. Perhaps the Beeb should take a look at the Sky viewing figure analysis that showed the majority of people watching Rugby League on Sky live in the south.

Just to double down in my last post, London won’t be having a junior set up as it doesn’t add anything to the IMG criteria. Meaning less chance of a youngster making their debut within the timescale of their tenure.

Lots of doom,gloom and hand wringing about on social media and the various forums, blame being apportioned in all directions, I know it’s the hot topic and I expect the majority of us are worried about the future of the club but it’ll be a blessed relief when the season starts. So much is going to happen next season and I believe the Sky coverage could play a pivotal role in keeping us all informed and getting what’s happening out to a wider audience, to date,apart from the original flurry of activity when the preliminary gradings were announced there’s been very little in the mainstream media, from IMG or the RFL and I think that is really playing to peoples fears. When there’s no real news, the theorisers,second guessers and fake news hounds fill the void. We’re almost at the point where we’re having an inquest without having an actual body.

Why don’t the club come out and tell us why it’s taking so long for IMG to rectify our points.
Surely the club have or can approach them and ask why it’s taking so long.
Or have IMG already told the club we arnt getting the point back. It’s farcical.

Maturecasfan Spot on, the silence is deafening from both sides.

the problem is both the RFL & IMG have dug a big hole & they cant see a way out, what london have had to do is disgrace & no mater what happens too many people are brassed off. If IMG give us more points Leigh will drop down then Derek Beaumont wont be happy, its a proper ba//s up

Exactly yorkie.
Both the RFL and IMF will be pooing themselves if they have to give us our points back.
Like you said Beaumont will do his nut.
The whole thing is a shambles.

For me the final assessments should be independently audited to preserve impartiality.

pirate

Do you really think there’ll be a 14 team league.
The money in the game now with 12 is sparse .
The big boys won’t be liking it if it as to be spread around 2 extra teams.

I can’t see it happening myself, it’s all rumour and talk.

I