Re: Salary Cap : Mon May 25, 2020 11:08 am  

The idea of merger assumes that there are other town /cities willing to take the place of one of the merged teams. there has een no evidence of this in the uk since the last licensing, only Toronto have come on board and we are at present unsure of their sustainability, mergers were rejected in Cas /Wakey /Fev, Hudds /Fax, Cumbria, Widnes /Leigh. The Hull /Gateshead was a disaster. Licensing did not work last time.

Re: Salary Cap : Mon May 25, 2020 12:19 pm  

RL in common with all other sports including soccer and RU has been struggling for years to attract new players and spectators. The RFL recognised this over 10 years ago and identified one of the key problems as the amount of competition for the “leisure pound”, i.e. so many “new” ways for people to spend their time and money. Like other sports it hasn’t managed to react. What most have done is sell themselves to tv which in turn leads to decrease in live gates. It’s a vicious circle.

Re: Salary Cap : Mon May 25, 2020 12:51 pm  

Whatever we decide going forward we need a genuine vision for the game that the RFL, SL, players, and Sky all get behind and work towards.

We can't carry on just making it up as we go along and changing it every few years.

Re: Salary Cap : Mon May 25, 2020 4:03 pm  

Marty Grrrrrrrrrr! wrote:

As ive said before its easy for Leeds fans in a city the size of ours to say the cap should be based on income and others clubs should grow their income if they cant compete. Would you say that if you supported clubs like Salford, Huddersfield and Cas?

An income based cap wouldnt be a level playing field which is supposedly the whole idea of a salary cap.

Except I think the cap has done its job as far as it can of levelling the playing field.
We’ve had Salford making the Grand Final. Huddersfield finishing 1st. Cas finishing 1st and making the Grand Final. Huddersfield, Hull FC, Hull KR, Cas all making the Cup Final. Warrington finishing 1st, making the Grand Final and winning the cup. Hull FC winning the cup.

These teams won’t be able to compete consistently until they up their revenue streams and can not only spend on players but also spend on youth systems that rival Leeds, Wigan and Saints.

Re: Salary Cap : Mon May 25, 2020 7:45 pm  

Him wrote:

Except I think the cap has done its job as far as it can of levelling the playing field.
We’ve had Salford making the Grand Final. Huddersfield finishing 1st. Cas finishing 1st and making the Grand Final. Huddersfield, Hull FC, Hull KR, Cas all making the Cup Final. Warrington finishing 1st, making the Grand Final and winning the cup. Hull FC winning the cup.

These teams won’t be able to compete consistently until they up their revenue streams and can not only spend on players but also spend on youth systems that rival Leeds, Wigan and Saints.

I agree with most of that but you are talking about small towns. Cas has a population of 40k yet they get around 8k crowds most weeks. If Leeds got that high a percentage of our poulation we would need a stadium bigger than Wembley.

All very well saying increase your revenue streams but how can they do that when they are working wonders to compete as they are.

I bet Cas' hospitality is booked to capacity most games now.

Theres no money in the game.

Re: Salary Cap : Tue May 26, 2020 9:27 am  

Fundamentally, how can a sport which struggles to achieve "critical mass" thrive when it's riven with in-fighting? I don't just mean in the UK, I mean the global game.

We need a root and branch approach to the whole sport globally, pooling resources and probably a move away from the slightly Norman structure we have now, of independent money men in their castles.

What you cannot afford in tough times is a lack of vision.

Re: Salary Cap : Tue May 26, 2020 9:43 am  

So your vision is ?

Re: Salary Cap : Tue May 26, 2020 10:45 am  

KaeruJim wrote:

Fundamentally, how can a sport which struggles to achieve "critical mass" thrive when it's riven with in-fighting? I don't just mean in the UK, I mean the global game.

We need a root and branch approach to the whole sport globally, pooling resources and probably a move away from the slightly Norman structure we have now, of independent money men in their castles.

What you cannot afford in tough times is a lack of vision.

We have root & branch reviews every few years, all done in house. Like previous changes, it will be rejected after a few years and either another solution found or a return to the previous status quo.

Re: Salary Cap : Tue May 26, 2020 11:23 am  

Marty Grrrrrrrrrr! wrote:

I agree with most of that but you are talking about small towns. Cas has a population of 40k yet they get around 8k crowds most weeks. If Leeds got that high a percentage of our poulation we would need a stadium bigger than Wembley.

All very well saying increase your revenue streams but how can they do that when they are working wonders to compete as they are.

I bet Cas' hospitality is booked to capacity most games now.

Theres no money in the game.

I know what you mean and agree to a large extent but it’s where I think we need to look beyond small towns otherwise 8k will always be our limit.

If Cas can’t reach further afield then we need clubs with bigger reach who can attract more money into the game.

A league of:
Leeds
Hull FC
Hull KR
Manchester
Newcastle
London
Wigan
Saints
Warrington
Catalans
Toulouse
Toronto

Looks a lot more likely to attract investment than:
Leeds
Hull FC
Hull KR
Wigan
Saints
Warrington
Wakefield
Huddersfield
Castleford
Salford
Featherstone
Leigh

Which is a league we could easily end up with if we don’t provide a proper direction for the sport.

If I were marketing or wanting to be associated with a sport, and I weren’t a scrap metal merchant or local fish and chip shop, then I know which league I’d prefer.

But either way, the cap dependant on income truly gives clubs the opportunity to prove their worth to the league. We could even include a rule that over so much spending on players incurs a 20% tax that is then spent on infrastructure for clubs in development areas or for marketing the sport. It then further restricts the ability of one club to
massively spend more than the others.

Re: Salary Cap : Tue May 26, 2020 2:10 pm  

Him wrote:

I know what you mean and agree to a large extent but it’s where I think we need to look beyond small towns otherwise 8k will always be our limit.

If Cas can’t reach further afield then we need clubs with bigger reach who can attract more money into the game.

A league of:
Leeds
Hull FC
Hull KR
Manchester
Newcastle
London
Wigan
Saints
Warrington
Catalans
Toulouse
Toronto

For Manchester see current Salford team
For London - see current London team
For Newcastle - see Gateshead Thunder.
Toronto and Toulouse are unproven,
not sure I would be banking on these at the expense of established clubs.