Re: Lenighan blames West Yorkshire mafia : Sun Jul 08, 2018 9:10 pm  

Sal Paradise wrote:

What choice did the clubs have and how did they end up that situation?

"How did they end up in that situation"??? What are you talking about?

The situation where Sky came to them after two years of a five year deal and offered them more money, including cash up front but with a tight deadline? Sky are smart people and they know that most SL club owners are two-bit businessmen whose clubs are so badly run that every thing is hand-to-mouth (or handout-to-mouth) who would grasp such a deal if offered. And the RFL couldn't exactly not pass the offer on to the clubs, despite coming completely outside the negotiating cycle.

Re: Lenighan blames West Yorkshire mafia : Mon Jul 09, 2018 1:58 am  

The Ghost of '99 wrote:

This is bullshit with respect and it really would help if you tried to understand the dynamics of the TV deal before you go repeating talking points.

1. Sky came to the RFL/SLE several years before the contract was due to end and years before the negotiations were due to start.
2. They had a hard deadline - an upcoming stock market announcement they wanted to make revealing renegotiated packages across a whole host of sports. This to settle market nerves after the increasing threat of BT.
3. They did give a take it or leave it - the leave being, stick with the existing, lower deal which was an option. Did this place the RFL in a difficult place? Yes - Sky aren't stupid. Did the clubs, including Lenagan who has whinged about it non stop for the last 4 years vote for it? Yes they did because it was a decent deal.

The great irony is that the same people who say the last TV deal was a poor one are complaining that the next one won't match it, even if negotiated by these genius businessmen (not genius at RL but apparently outside it). Which is it to be folks?

Call bullshit all you want mate, but I know different.. and direct from inside Sky.

The sport has the remainder of this contract to get things right. I'll say no more on the subject. Carry on believing what you will.

Re: Lenighan blames West Yorkshire mafia : Mon Jul 09, 2018 4:27 am  

Phuzzy wrote:

Call bullshit all you want mate, but I know different.. and direct from inside Sky.

Yeah I'm sure you do.

Phuzzy wrote:

The sport has the remainder of this contract to get things right. I'll say no more on the subject.

It doesn't take someone with "inside knowledge" to know that!

Re: Lenighan blames West Yorkshire mafia : Mon Jul 09, 2018 9:51 am  

The Ghost of '99 wrote:

Not true - in the original press conference and subsequent interviews he said he felt the Championship clubs got too much money. In the most recent interview(s) he has said it will remain the same both for the duration of this deal (which was a given anyway as it couldn't be changed despite Lenagan's demands) AND for future deals at an absolute level, assuming there is a contract increase.
Now we can assume if there is an increase it won't be huge so the %s heading down the game will not reduce much and it is therefore a clear concession and an evolution from the original position.

No, what he said was the championship clubs get too big a share of the monies for what they are bringing to generate the monies.

Elstone genuinely believes there are opportunities to increase the value of the deal - what he is saying, quite rightly IMO, the teams that generate the additional revenue should be keeping it. He actually thinks the championship clubs bring less to the game than the bigger amateur clubs - it is not rocket-science to see why.

Re: Lenighan blames West Yorkshire mafia : Mon Jul 09, 2018 10:59 am  

Whatever way you slice it we are now in a position where he has guaranteed the lower leagues their distributions won't go down when the next deal comes into effect as long as a better deal is agreed.

That's a much more attractive proposition than the previous threats, mostly from Lenagan, of cutting the money.Clearly if the deal is lower there are still problems. But there will be issues game-wide in that scenario.

And the continual dismissal of Championship clubs is more than annoying, it creates a false narrative. The amateur clubs may well be the place most development happens but if you wilfully destroy the local pro team you destroy the fulcrum of the sport in an area, the team that people identify with and who they have an emotional stake in. Even putting aside the relatively trivial amounts we are talking about, it makes no sense to do that.

Re: Lenighan blames West Yorkshire mafia : Mon Jul 09, 2018 11:50 am  

The Ghost of '99 wrote:

Whatever way you slice it we are now in a position where he has guaranteed the lower leagues their distributions won't go down when the next deal comes into effect as long as a better deal is agreed.

That's a much more attractive proposition than the previous threats, mostly from Lenagan, of cutting the money.Clearly if the deal is lower there are still problems. But there will be issues game-wide in that scenario.

And the continual dismissal of Championship clubs is more than annoying, it creates a false narrative. The amateur clubs may well be the place most development happens but if you wilfully destroy the local pro team you destroy the fulcrum of the sport in an area, the team that people identify with and who they have an emotional stake in. Even putting aside the relatively trivial amounts we are talking about, it makes no sense to do that.

How many Championship clubs are the fulcrum of the sport in the area? Do you think Halifax are the fulcrum of the attention for all the junior clubs in the area - seriously, same goes for Featherstone, Dewsbury, Batley etc. The attendances in the Championship are pathetic - only 2,300 at the Halifax v Featherstone. I don't know the rest of the crowds but I would hazard a guess - Toronto apart - that was the biggest of the rest which is a sad indictment on the competition and it does beg the question as to what they are actually bringing to the sport other than a place for over-the-hill players, those not good enough to play SL, those who can't get a SL game that week.

SL is consistently providing 15% of the players on a weekly basis.

Re: Lenighan blames West Yorkshire mafia : Mon Jul 09, 2018 11:55 am  

how many at Salford? Huddersfield? Widnes?

Re: Lenighan blames West Yorkshire mafia : Mon Jul 09, 2018 12:18 pm  

The Ghost of '99 wrote:

Yeah I'm sure you do.

It doesn't take someone with "inside knowledge" to know that!

Sorry, my error. I forgot you know more than anyone else on the subject and no one could possibly have any inside information if you don't. After all you are the font of all human knowledge aren't you? Like I said mate, believe what you want. You're clearly happy in your ignorance.

P.S. If you are also aware that we need to sort things out, why are you supporting the current regime that you must also know is currently failing to do just that? Somewhat of a contradiction, don't you think? Unless, of course, you don't "know" anything at all.

Re: Lenighan blames West Yorkshire mafia : Mon Jul 09, 2018 12:38 pm  

tad rhino wrote:

how many at Salford? Huddersfield? Widnes?

Average attendances YTD 2018 season:
Huddersfield 6,116
Widnes 4,612
Salford 5,568

How many Championship clubs have that level of support?

Re: Lenighan blames West Yorkshire mafia : Mon Jul 09, 2018 12:55 pm  

Huddersfield is skewed as they had 9k for letting people in for free. I would say 5k is there average.still crap has ever you paint them