Catalans TV and Toronto : Thu Nov 07, 2019 5:42 am  

With the the trumpeting of SBW to Superleague, how many people have noticed that Catalans TV deal has fallen by the wayside and not been replaced?

So no live games from France, no radio cover either, in essence their only appearances on TV will be away games where they bring no support and when on TV reduce the floating home gate!!

In a game funded by and relying on TV coverage this doesn’t seem to add up as now surely the Dragons should relinquish their share of the ‘Sky Pot’ now that Sky will not cover their home games without a TV partner?

Without TV coverage to the rest of France we are essentially doing no more than heavily subsidising RL in a small area of France with maybe an odd road game in Spain. Sound familiar substitute Featherstone/Leigh/York/Halifax and the reasons for growing the game in France and beyond. Without a TV deal what’s the point

Ok Catalans will carry on as normal under Bernard Gausch but essentially only because they are being subsidised by the RFL/Superleague and without any exposure outside Perpignan what’s the point? They aren’t exactly creating a competitive French National team one of the ‘gates’ for them existing and the RFL’s rush to expand the International game and grow RL worldwide.

Then up pops ‘Noble’ with the expected its unfair that Toronto need to stick to the same rules that everyone else has to. Yes, yes if it’s Canadians expanding the playing base.

I agree with his comments about the number of UK players they have to have but only if they are replaced with Canadians.

However the real purpose of his comments are that Toronto should not have a cap on money and be able to import more players from the NRL whilst the UK based teams can’t

Sadly there aren’t any Canadians or at least very few playing RL to replace the UK players so let’s essentially create an NRL team in Canada to play in the Superleague and expand into the USA too. Ain’t gonna happen unless there are rules for some and rules for others.

All this will do is create a golden era for Toronto similar to the Wigan domination of the game in the 80’s/90’s which turned droves of people away from the game outside of Wigan, as it became even more stereo typed and predictable than it is today.

Unlike Rugby Union RL is a game played mainly in Northern England and Sydney where the pool of players is created in schools and the amateur game in a fairly small catchment area.

Worldwide expansion never.

Call me parochial if you want but a team in France with no TV coverage and a team in Canada wanting to open the floodgates on the salary cap to the detriment of all the other clubs in the RFL is not the glorious expansion that’s been trumpeted but the death knell of our great game on the altar of a worldwide expansion that’s never gonna happen

Re: Catalans TV and Toronto : Thu Nov 07, 2019 8:23 am  

I think the sky TV deal should be weighted by how many times that club is on Sky. Why should huddersfield get the same as St Helens when Hudds are hardly ever on?

Re: Catalans TV and Toronto : Thu Nov 07, 2019 8:47 am  

They aren’t exactly creating a competitive French National team one of the ‘gates’ for them existing and the RFL’s rush to expand the International game and grow RL worldwide.

This is just wrong on so many levels.

The Catalans are in Super League to be a successful club in their own right - nothing more, nothing less. They're entitled to play by the same competitive rules as anyone else in the competition and to have the same expectations placed on them as any other club in the competition.

The Catalans have no control over the French National team, how it is run, which players are selected, who is appointed as its coaches, how it prepares for games or how it is funded. They're not in SL to fill the away ends of Super League clubs that can't fill their own grounds, or to in any way benefit poorly-run clubs on these shores.

If I tried to make the argument that a club like Huddersfield is responsible for the fact England/GB haven't beaten Australia for nearly 15 years, people would rightly say that's a stupid claim to make. Yet they're happy to make what is effectively the same argument for the Catalans, if only to create a stick with which they can beat a successful Super League club.

Re: Catalans TV and Toronto : Thu Nov 07, 2019 8:58 am  

Which TV deal is currently not in place?
Is it that Catalans have not secured their own broadcasting rights in France, or is it that Sky have not agreed a deal with a French broadcaster to show their pictures on Sky Sports in the UK?
Two very different things, certainly in the context of Catalans and their lack of central funding.

Re: Catalans TV and Toronto : Thu Nov 07, 2019 9:22 am  

So now we are blaming Catalan for the state of the French National team.

Pretty desperate.

Re: Catalans TV and Toronto : Thu Nov 07, 2019 9:24 am  

Nothus wrote: Which TV deal is currently not in place? Is it that Catalans have not secured their own broadcasting rights in France, or is it that Sky have not agreed a deal with a French broadcaster to show their pictures on Sky Sports in the UK? Two very different things, certainly in the context of Catalans and their lack of central funding. Catalans' agreement with BeIn came to an end at the end of this year. BeIn haven't renewed. The club were in discussions with L'Equipe, but it appears as if L'Equipe have pulled out at a late stage. https://www.totalrl.com/catalans-fear-e ... eaks-down/ There is, of course, still four months until the start of the new season.

Nothus wrote: Which TV deal is currently not in place? Is it that Catalans have not secured their own broadcasting rights in France, or is it that Sky have not agreed a deal with a French broadcaster to show their pictures on Sky Sports in the UK? Two very different things, certainly in the context of Catalans and their lack of central funding. Catalans' agreement with BeIn came to an end at the end of this year. BeIn haven't renewed. The club were in discussions with L'Equipe, but it appears as if L'Equipe have pulled out at a late stage. https://www.totalrl.com/catalans-fear-e ... eaks-down/ There is, of course, still four months until the start of the new season.

[Jimmythecuckoo]

Re: Catalans TV and Toronto : Thu Nov 07, 2019 5:05 pm  

To answer the original post.

Yes, I had noticed.

It's not ideal.

Re: Catalans TV and Toronto : Thu Nov 07, 2019 5:38 pm  

Steph Curry wrote:

I think the sky TV deal should be weighted by how many times that club is on Sky. Why should huddersfield get the same as St Helens when Hudds are hardly ever on?

Clubs don’t get the same money for Sky tv appearance, I believe the home team club receives £20,000 each home televised game. I could be wrong, but, the £20,000 comes after the club has 2 televised games, therefore clubs such as Leeds Wigan saints, receive much more money than the majority of SL clubs.

Re: Catalans TV and Toronto : Sat Nov 09, 2019 10:43 am  

As far as I know Catalans werent getting any TV money previously, so while it will be a loss to British TV it might actually get a few in France off their sofa's and into the ground.

To make the next step up, I think Catalans need Toulouse promoted (in a 14 team league) to have a rival and have big derby games. Playing a game a year in Spain will also help the club grow, but sadly Spanish Catalonia seems to lack a decent 20k stadium.

Re: Catalans TV and Toronto : Sat Nov 09, 2019 10:48 am  

All the teams pay a around 100k from their share of the sky money each at the start of the season, and then every time a team's game is shown on sky, that team gets around £15k from the pot, the amount varies depending on if it's a Thursday or a Friday game, but the teams on sky most do get a higher portion of the sky money, so the idea that everyone gets an equal share isn't really true.