Saw this article, and thought it was worth discussing. www.totalrl.com/comment-has-the- ... any-clubs/ Should we look at reducing the amount of clubs in the top 3 divisions, going into negotiating the next TV deal?

Saw this article, and thought it was worth discussing. www.totalrl.com/comment-has-the- ... any-clubs/ Should we look at reducing the amount of clubs in the top 3 divisions, going into negotiating the next TV deal?

It’s a reasonable point. I honestly don’t think it can however I’m one of those who thinks we need to follow the NRL model with a licensed league and feeder clubs below it. It’s something the RFU are actively considering as well.

Unfortunately people look at football and say we should mirror that setup. In an ideal world I’d agree however football has so many clubs it doesn’t matter if a couple fall by the wayside. We can’t afford that. Also in football whilst it’s a massive deal for a Championship club to get into the Premier League, the gap between the leagues isn’t as great as in RL.

There are approx 116 professional football clubs in the country compared to 24 (being generous) RL clubs. If Wigan were drawn against Workington in the Cup it’s the equivalent of Man City playing against Kidderminster Harriers.

I also think we need to pool resources. Use the same website, ticketing, IT services etc, could clubs near to each other band together and create better, joint, training centres, pool ground and maintenance staff etc If both Hull clubs can run a joint academy it can’t be beyond us to work together better. Which of course can be done with feeder clubs as well.

There aren’t 24 professional clubs. I count 13

There's 37 that get a share of the TV deal, according to that article anyway

Which makes the disparity even greater and really points toward a licensed SL even if it’s larger than now at 14, 16 or even 20 teams. If there’s only 13 clubs that can run a pro side then that’s the limit of the reach of the sport at the moment.

Only 12 supportable clubs:

[iWigan, St Helens, Warrington

Leeds, Hull FC, Hull KR, Castleford, Huddersfield

London

Catalans, Toulouse

Toronto, [/i


Hopefully sustainable clubs in New York, Montreal, Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago, Avignon, Lyon, and Paris will emerge in subsequent years.

I largely agree. A couple of suggestions made me think ‘why isn’t that happening already?’

Returning to the the article linked in the OP, isn’t it true that the lower leagues’ share is relatively tiny? It’s fair enough to say the pie is cut 37 ways, but the slices are not all the same size. Would giving Doncaster’s or Newcastle’s or Skolar’s morsels to SL teams make much difference?

Maybe the issue is more around coping with sudden change. While those in charge at Leigh and Widnes undoubtedly bear some responsibility, relegation represents a huge challenge and dislocation. Which brings us back to licensing or franchising, in a groundhog decade sort of way. And we all remember what a farce that was last time.

Maybe big changes will be necessary, but to make much difference, I think they’d have to come at the top end, rather than squeezing the bottom.

See where you're coming from, perhaps the title of thread should be "Can TV revenue sustain so many RL clubs?"

The next TV deal is of great concern, as Sky are losing so much live sport now.

Yes and no.

The problem is that there's no holistic game. Everyone is at war with each other and there's no one banging heads together. For me, we need to adopt an American NFL style conference system as soon as possible and leave it as that. 24 franchises and the chance of regular glamour ties for the likes of Halifax, York, Newcastle is likely to swell attendances in those areas. We have too many sides in too bigger area, and dwindling fan bases. No longer are people parochial and tied to one location, people move around.

At the moment everyone INCLUDING ourselves is deriding the game. We're going to get a rubbish TV deal? Sky ARE going to offer less money? Well, what bloody incentive have they at the moment to offer us a bigger deal if we all believe it's going to be rubbish. Someone in the Super League PR department really needs to get this by the scruff of the neck and starting promoting the positive message. We want a bigger deal, this is what we can offer, this is how we're going to do it, this is how vision, this is what we can bring to Sky.

Why does a 24-team (6 groups of 4) conference system work?

1) Intrigue - randomly drawn groups at the start of each season could see mouthwatering clashes and the chance for new people get to OT plus an opportunity to get in front of press and create excitement
2) Reducing games - play your own conference home and away and everyone else once - 26 games a season plus play-offs
3) Bigger crowds and growth potential in expansion areas - someone like Halifax is likely to get a bigger attendance (as shown by Super 8s) by playing in the top table and by being able to support a fully professional side, with bigger visiting fans. Also chance to bring in Toulouse, York, Newcastle, and a second Canadian team/New York plus any other franchises for any spare spots
4) Exposure - we can sell the game on getting brands exposure across 24 grounds rather than 12 SL grounds, we can tell them we're going after a Gen Z and Millennial audience in bigger city locations, and not just that internationally too. We can inflate the money into the game based on this and also target Canadian and French sponsors who want to appeal to the UK, French Canadian, French audiences.
5) Holistic - we're all in it together. There's no Super League and the Championships, there's no them and us. Everyone knows what they're playing for and what they're getting.
6) Broadcasting - it all starts with a vision but they get 24 teams eyes on games, and they get the lure and intrigue to attract bigger advertisers and sponsors. We have to benefit them - sell it! And this goes for international broadcast rights too - let's get money pumped in from France and Canada into the British system.

Some will no doubt say we haven't the money to support a 24 team system but this is where we need to sell it. We need to be able to increase the salary cap to £5m for each club and we need to show Sky the value of doing this? For this to be achieved, we need £5m for each club or £120m per season for clubs. This will bring in the world's best players for rugby league, rugby union and possibly even from the NFL. We can go out and sell these games as events, get people in local areas to come down and create a huge brand push.

It starts with a vision and at the moment we're going around in circles with the same old, tried, tested and stale ideas and it's time to start thinking ahead, and big, than looking at the here and now. Get everyone briefed in in on this and get them excited now. The others teams still have their place underneath the 24 team system and will still contribute to the Challenge Cup, and they will benefit from the trickle down effect fingers crossed.

The 24 teams I imagine at the moment are:

Bradford
Castleford
Catalans
Coventry
Huddersfield
Hull KR
Hull FC
Leeds
London Broncos
Newcastle
Salford
Sheffield
St Helens
Toronto
Toulouse
Wakefield
Warrington
Wigan
York

Plus 5 from the rest. For this to work, sad as it is sentiment needs to be thrown out the window here but I think we need to evaluate the value of having a Welsh team (Crusaders) and a Cumbrian outfit (Workington since they're getting the World Cup?), possibly, Halifax, Doncaster and one other Canadian/American team? There's always Widnes if they recover from their current plight too.

Someone like Featherstone is probably always going to be behind Cas and Wakey in terms of size, and Dewsbury and Batley are good honest local clubs. Would leave a community league underneath of:

Featherstone, Oldham, Hunslet, Whitehaven, West Wales Raiders, Keighley, London Skolars, Swinton, Rochdale, Leigh, Dewsbury, Barrow, and Batley

I'd imagine that these could all partner with two of the main Super League clubs for loans/dual registration like we already have and for player pathways e.g. Featherstone - Cas and Wakey; Hunslet - Leeds and say Hull KR.. These clubs could all be set specific KPIs they need to meet in order to be considered for further promotion as part of an expansion.

In terms of player numbers, we already have 12 Super League teams already with good players. Toronto and Toulouse only need to add to theirs and I'd imagine Bradford would be the same. There will probably be more of an influx on players from the NRL in the short-term and that's a sacrifice we need to make but there's plenty of good players at Championship clubs (e.g. Widnes, Fax, Leigh, Fev, who could play in Super League too).

Either way it's time to take a very big, radical and overarching punt. We can't show any mercy now - it's time to go with what broadcasters and sponsors want, not smaller clubs who aspire but realistically can never achieve.

I can see this being a far better vision for the future than at present feeling threatened and left behind as for the relegation sides and championship clubs, the only problem I do see is the money aspect of it, some clubs will still struggle

And disappear

10 years ago at the onset of licencing I contacted several Championship ( NL1 at the time ) clubs with a suggestion to work together with regards the manufacture of their merchandising , the replies I got were disappointing to say the least , you've no chance of getting any clubs to work together in the way you suggest