news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/front_page/8356391.stm Not good for the sport at all. Expect Sky or ESPN to get it however.

news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/front_page/8356391.stm Not good for the sport at all. Expect Sky or ESPN to get it however.

As I hate BBCs coverage with a passion, I see it being a good move. I do think though that it will stop many people from watching it however.

other than from the Semi Finals onwards, does anyone care about the Challenge Cup nowadays?

St Helens and their fans?

Its is excellent news for the sport. No longer are the RFL trapped into a corner as far as negotiation and coverage of the sport is concerned.

The BBC have laregely been inept at covering games effectively, so it is good that they no longer have the benefit of guarenteed coverage which has bred apathy for mine.

if ITV dont manage to get the rights however, then people will possibly need to have a subscription to watch the Cup, wont this spoil the cup and will not be able to appeal to the wider audience?

at that point I stopped reading because of the nightmares I was about to have...

Fair enpough, good point.

However the problem was historically that the BBC used this as a sanctimonious and patronising attempt to bully the RFL into accepting their bidding.

Despite 'assurances' to screen the game effectively and according to a benefical schedule, little has ever been delivered by the BBC.

Personally that would be rubbish news for me, as I then wouldn't be able to watch any RL on TV at all. FAIL.

It doesn't specify when yet so it still could have a while to run on the BBC.

It would be a disaster if it weren't on free to air TV anymore. It's one of the few times anyone takes any notice whatsoever of RL.

These are IIRC recommendations, which could still be amended before any decision is made.

Personally I would prefer to see the Challenge Cup remain on terrestrial television. Having no terrestrial live coverage IMO would relegate RL further into the category of a minority sport.

Perhaps the RFL can use the additional leverage of competition to squeeze a better deal out of the BBC in terms of the Super League Show and internationals?

This would be a disaster for the sport.

and teams playing their weaker sides in the competitions early rounds isnt?

It's not about the early rounds particularly, that happens in every cup competition. It's about the Final. It's 1 of only 2 RL big events in the season and is the only time that people who dont normally watch RL get in the least bit interested about it.