Quote tigertot="tigertot"I am not disputing the things you say (other than the bit about Newcastle; I have been there & cannot believe there are more play than Wigan/Hull/Leeds etc combined, not that that is much to celebrate) but where is the funding going to come from for long term investment in Sheffield, York or anywhere? Advertisers, who pump in the money, are bothered about the class of viewer & supporter. On average no-one watches polo, tennis or golf, apart from once or twice a year, but look at the bling sponsors they get. I am not impressed with Nigel Wood, but that is more his physical appearance than anything he has particularly done, but I was by Richard Lewis who was doing such a good job that he was head hunted by tennis. But he struggled to make any headway.'"
Lewis got a sponsor for the elite comp at least. Nobody watches polo period. It's hugely susbsidised by its participants to the extent it can hardly be called a professional game. Tennis has a huge international circuit which draws viewers all across the world. It's as cheap to film something in London and send it to Singapore as it is to send it to Edinburgh.
I agree in part about advertisers looking at demographics but it's a great deal more complicated than you're making out. A huge factor in ITV pushing the boat out for Champions League football was that the advertisers want access to young men of all classes because as a group they're disappearing from the TV watching group and they tend to get money and spend every penny. As a group many will have more disposable income for instance than a young middle class couple with two kids.
I think where we disagree is on your point about where to find the money for long term investment in the big cities on our fringe. I think the failure to market the game with it's TV partners and subsequent failure to get a sponsor for the WC or SL is inexcusable. I've never understood why SKY or the RFL allow clubs to play on Friday in direct competition with the Sky game. The Friday night game and Monday night footy should be THE big TV events. Friday with 4 games and Saturday tea time is a total waste.
