Challenge Cup coverage : Wed Nov 25, 2015 2:52 pm
I was just looking back over results from this years cup and thinking about the BBCs coverage of the fa cup and how they have really latched onto the whole Salford city fc thing and how they were obsessing over Leigh in our competition. Anyway they started their coverage in the sixth round and sky had a game in the fifth which is ridiculously late into the competition in my opinion. Looking back through the results, there are a number of good games which they could have screened in the interests of showing something a bit different and showcasing the game which would be great. If they started their coverage in the 3rd round say, the kells-Rochdale game would have been a good one, kells did well, put a couple of tries on Rochdale and there wad just under 600 there which is good for amateur and early round of course. Another game in that round was hemel-oxford which would have been a good one to showcase expansion teams. In the fourth round Leigh miners beat oxford which, by their definition, is a giant killing.
Anyway my point is, starting the competition that late on tv will never really enthuse potential new fans whereas if they showcased a wide variety of teams it might, showing early round at smaller, more intimate stadiums right up to Wembley just like they do with the fa cup. Thoughts?