Even if they do lose every other game until September how will you know it was down to Cummins, or his perceived lack of mental toughness or "aura"?

I'd say your post is 82% with potential to be 99% by the end of September.

I just know these things, I am a surveyor.

Was it the Richmond Buildings lack of "aura" that caused that cladding to come off?

No, but it may give a pointer to (a) the lack of sponsorship funds in general and (b) the place of RL in the pecking order for such funds as are about.

For sure but it demands some explanation considering only football gets better viewing figures on Sky.
Similarly, I can't understand why Sky or the RFL allow numerous games on Friday night in direct competition with it's flagship weekly match.

Presumably the type of person who watches RL on Sky & the advertising revenue that attracts in comparison with Social Class AB who watch snorefests & waste their money on over-priced tat.



Presumably because Sky would have offered even less if the RFL tried to call all the shots.

There clearly are class and gender correlations between the audience and sponsorship/advertising but I don't think it explains why we don't have a sponsor at all. They sell the ad slots on Jeremy Kyle after all.

On the second point, I think there's a misunderstanding. One would think that Sky would stipulate that only the TV game is played Friday night and the RFL only too happy to oblige to keep the figures up. If Leeds/Wigan are at home and the SKY game is at Hull then that's 15-20k RL fans not watching the Hull game on Sky.

I think you miss an obvious point. Games can be recorded and watched at leisure later.

I don't think that's being realistic, rather the opposite.

The Challenge Cup QFs this year sees a 2/7 chance of getting a game against Sheffield or Widnes. It will NEVER be that easy to get within a game of Old Trafford.

We have several sponsors, not a main one, I heard Blake Solley (IIRC) saying they were not prepared to sell it cheap. I wouldn't know about Jeremy Kyle having not had the pleasure, but there are hundreds of channels of garbage all attracting advertising. It's what they are advertising & who they are aiming it at that is the key.

Or even Wembley.

On the issue of sponsorship it was rather shocking to compare Union with League a few weeks back. A pal of mine decribed the scene in a pub in Leeds that had the England vs Wales union game on. The place was packed, the game was pretty dire but afterwards the man of the match was interviewed. He was articulate and engaging and stood in front of sponsor badges like BMW and RBS. After that game my pal asked for the SL to be turned on. It was Hudders versus Cas in front of 3k at the Galpharm. The pub quickly emptied. The man of the match was Danny Brough who struggled to articulate anything in front of sponsors Big Soup, Brut and Foxy Bingo.

The games may be poles apart to watch but it doesn't matter. It's how they're perceived. Union is now miles bigger. League seriously need to look at how it's marketed as it's losing ground at a rate of knots.

Indeed. The big friday night game always comes across well in reasonably full stadiums with the better sides but the saturday evening game frequently looks as you describe. As Tigs suggests there's a balance between packaging the sport and getting the necessary resources to improve the standard.

Tony Smith has warned against this incessant changing of formats and I agree. The move to 14 teams doesn't look a success but they did it at the same time as reducing overseas players, a massive increase in money in the NRL and Union and a huge recession. When Lewis took over he turned a near bankrupt organisation into a profitable one and it needs someone of similar capabilities.

If only it occurred to the RFL we wouldn't be in this mess. All our problems will soon be over once they realise. The thing is, I am not sure there is an answer. I cannot see us ever being able to have the resources & glamour to attract the AB's necessary to attract the sponsorship. It is a catch 22. Cricket, which I like & watch once or twice a year live, is largely watched by pathetic crowds to a poor standard, where test players virtually never bother playing. But it is associated with AB's & the G&T set, so sponsors throw money at it, test matches between 2 countries from the other end of the earth are shown endlessly. Tennis is only watched live for 2 weeks a year but is minted, again due to the type of person it is associated with. Even a large number of public school & grammar school people in the north I come acroos look down their noses at RL, what hope have we got out of the heartlands when they control the media?