If SKY pulled out then the game would be up the creek.

When you see how the financial health of the game here has deteriorated in comparison with down under, especially over the past 20 years it's sobering stuff. In the "old days" we used to get top quality stars from Australia because we could pay similar salaries - now there's no chance. Comparing NRL with SL is like comparing SL with Championship.

If the TV money dries up or reduces any more then you wonder if maintaining fully professional SL is viable - could we be going back to the days when the top division only had one or two fully pro clubs?

Leeds disclosed a detailed turnover note showing 2023 central funding as £1,586,339 compared to 2022 of £1,934,193. This seems consistent with SKY's reduced contract as from 2023.

Saints chairmen saying they have lost 1 million and is calling for more central funding to fix it.

So by my maths spread that equally across the current 12 Super Greed teams they just need another 12 million from central funding to fix it.

Does anybody these days at any level in rugby league know what there doing?

The losses are worse (as I reported) than quoted in the BBC article after stripping out the revaluation on the property. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-leagu ... 8d91d1z22o I think McManus bleating is preparing Saints for a massive shock in 2024 if they fail to make the top 6 play offs which could hit them hard, Just the tip of an enormous iceberg. I reckon Salford could be the first ....................

The losses are worse (as I reported) than quoted in the BBC article after stripping out the revaluation on the property. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-leagu ... 8d91d1z22o I think McManus bleating is preparing Saints for a massive shock in 2024 if they fail to make the top 6 play offs which could hit them hard, Just the tip of an enormous iceberg. I reckon Salford could be the first ....................

What grade license do Rochdale get for being the only profitable club there then?

Still waiting for London's 2023 accounts which are now over 2 weeks overdue. I'm guessing they won't make pretty reading as in 2022 they lost over £1 million and had net liabilities of over £27 million (!!!!)

Talking of struggling clubs, Fev's important top 6 game against Sheffield attracted just 1,246 fans. Reduce admission to £12 tops and significantly reduce player contracts and salary caps accordingly, in my view. That's the only way to stop the rot.

The Championship Salary Cap used to be significantly lower than super league, and over the years it has gone up and up. As have gate prices, I remember in the not too distant past paying £12 to get in at the likes of Whitehaven.

I have seen an argument that "making players poorer" isn't the answer. And RL for a long time has had this ideology that if you pay people more, they will be better players. While you can argue making them full time makes them fitter, few get better as a result.

Commercially the game is on its backside. So many clubs living hand to mouth, and propped up by backers happy to throw money away. Few if any are commercially viable businesses and the game should be working towards making clubs be that. And if that means drastic cuts to spending, then that is what has to be done.

It's not about taking money off people, it's about realising where the sport stands and operating at that level, It isn't football

One thing that has happened with the clubs and players is the following scenario.

You have a player who stands out so club A offer X amount to sign him.

Club B also want him so offer XX amount club A counter bid XXX etc etc.

Another player comes along of a similar quality and the bar has been raised higher by the precedent set by the player A deal so his agent says he wants the same and the bidding starts again.

You only need 1 club with any ambitions and a bit of money to set it off and you only need 2 clubs for the price to be bumped up and then in varying degrees the rest are forced to follow in an attempt not to be the whipping boys club.

Everyone ends up spending more for the same batch of players playing at the same standard that either stay where they are or just move around from club to club with the better ones going to the highest bidder but with all the rest getting paid more to do it and the clubs putting up the prices to try and pay for it.

Its hard to know what the answer is especially with everything that is going on with the Shay. Even as a base figure season tickets hardly cover the cost of the rent on the stadium and a couple of the top earners salaries and thats before the rest of the squad and staff. There is no doubt the rent on the stadium is very reasonable but in the grand scheme of things we simply can not afford it along with running a competitive squad. Ive often thought that lowering prices might be an option but when it has been done in the past it has not shown a significant increase on the gate which must make it hard for the club to justify doing it. The problem is paying over £20+ entrance fee is disproportionate to the standard of rugby on offer.

That's why there needs to be a strict LOW salary cap to stop this player gazumping. I'm still waiting for 4 championship clubs to release their 2023 results, but if we exclude French club Toulouse and SL bound Wakey, and include relegation bound London, of the 9 clubs so far only Batley and Swinton are solvent - Batley because they own their ground and Swinton's balance sheet is helped by some useless goodwill and they tapped Salford Council for some money after the year end.

As for players being"poorer" ..... are they actually "poor"? It's their choice to play RL, if they don't like the money then do something else. As for "richer" players giving more entertainment ....... watching the Wakey v York game on the sportsmen it was far more entertaining than full time Hull v Salford and York's efforts put Hull's to shame.

I've no idea where we're going from here. We'll just plod along and I see a big dip in season ticket sales after the recent drama, with the floating fans choosing their games more and more, Not just Fax, but all the clubs. I foresee Fev being the next championship club to plead poverty, and as I've said before Batley selling their ground to survive. The sport is in its biggest mess in its history.

There's no way new fans will be attracted at £20, not a chance. There have been several occasions in the pub after a match when I've been asked by an "interested" rugby non-attending fan how much it costs to get in nowadays and my "20 quid" reply is greeted by "HOW MUCH????" and to be honest I'm fairly embarrassed by it, especially when I've watched some really drab games wanting to leave before the end.

But if the clubs think lowering the admission is simply not affordable then so be it, but the current option will also eventually be unaffordable as the fan base will gradually diminish over time anyway.

At championship level your standard mainstay squad player has a trade as his primary job - earning him somewhere around £30k +/-
He then plays part-time RL for an additional £10-£15k per year.
And that is it. You can build a 22 man squad for about £250k from that premise. And RL is a simple enough game that it will be competitive.

The younger ones who have come through an academy without being picked up will dream of playing well enough to "make it" and be offered £50k to go full time with an SL club.
The older ones will be happy to build their job up as the priority and look for a decent part-time club to earn enough for all the family extras that make a difference when cost of living is so high.

Is this pool of players getting smaller? Is it wage growth due to inflation? Putting their bodies on the line does have a risk towards their main job so they will want to maximize their part-time earnings. The championship clubs have just had their central funding axed and the fans are feeling the pinch as well.

[i[Part quoteAt championship level your standard mainstay squad player has a trade as his primary job - earning him somewhere around £30k +/-
He then plays part-time RL for an additional £10-£15k per year.
And that is it. You can build a 22 man squad for about £250k from that premise. And RL is a simple enough game that it will be competitive." End.
[/i
Not having a go and a serious question.
When has Bradford's playing budget past and present ever fitted into the financial figures mentioned above.
How much was Dec Patton on, how much did it cost to get Gaskell to sign, how much is Joe Keyes going to be paid.
How many other players are being paid between £10-£15 k per year and what is the likely hood of that ever happening?
It's all too deeply rooted and too far gone and now events are catching up and it's difficult to know what or if there is an answer.

Maybe if enough go bust and enough of them still have the desire they rise from the ashes and form a division that's based on the lower wages / entrance fees that have been mentioned.