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?

I'm personally convinced we could get a big main sponsor if we picked a brewer. As probably THE main thing that defines your average rugby fan is drinking a lot of beer, it mystifies me why it was deemed verboten. What is the RFL - a subdivision of the Dept of Health?

Beats me FA. I can understand not having the tobacco companies involved but booze is different. Guinness sponsored the Tri Nations IIRC or it may have been a test series. They're a more credible brand than FoxyBingo.

In the recent past we've had Engage, Powergen and Tetley's. Big brands. the game needs to aim higher than where they are. The climate is as difficult as it's ever been but that's no excuse for settling for what we have.

I agree also about the need for stability in the way the game is structured. The proposed new structure with a middle 8 teams seems so needlessly complicated and full of pitfalls that it'd be a turnoff for fans and sponsors. Just what we don't need. The game's biggest problem is the lack of money coming in. We need to raise the profile. Internationals are the best way of doing that. I so hope the World Cup is a success. After that we need an international programme set out for the next 4 years so sponsors can be wooed. Beneath that we need a solid league structure that is easily understood that fans and businesses can get behind.

I would have less problem with a brewer, though the chances of an organic, zero carbon, real ale micro-brewery deliverying by shire horse outbidding what Guiness pay yawnion are slim, than I would tobacco or gambling. Though the latter 2 are preferable to lager. But don't Tetleys still sponsor us, so breweries are not totally verboten?

Although I am happy enough with 14 teams or 12 Teams with a top 4 or 6 or 8 play off, I don't think the permutations of league or play off matter a jot to your floating punter. Yawnion is a mystery to 99% of the population with its unfathomable laws & lack of excitement, with endless cup competitions; cricket is becoming crass & vulgar apart from test matches; yet it doesn't put crowds or sponsors off because they just want to be associated with something regarded as trendy & successful. The level of corruption in cricket & horse racing would have led to RL being banned from TV.

And that's another weird thing, having sponsors like Tetleys seems to be a bit like a dirty open secret, everyone knows you do it, but you don't like to publicise it. I agree it is totally ridiculous that they can sponsor a stand, or whatever, but not be the main shirt sponsor. Nobody even attempts to explain the mad reasoning behind this. If they ever did.

I'd just get on to the brewers and to hell with it.