Why?

Lots of fans are moaning about these kick off times (not just ours) and I can understand to a certain extent, but it's pretty clear to me what the Championship clubs and the RFL are trying to do here.
You need to remember that when the next TV deal is negotiated, there is a very strong possibility that the central funding allocated to the lower leagues is going to be decimated. I believe the Championship will also have the option of trying to secure their own, separate TV deal from that of Super League.
With that in mind I think we would be in a much better position going into those inevitable negotiations with broadcasters if we can point to real, factual numbers of registered interest and viewing figures of matches. So it makes tons of sense to me for the RFL and the Championship to really push these OurLeague broadcasts as much as they can now. Get the numbers up, get the fans involved so that we are in the best position possible to really sell our sport (and division) when the time comes.

The Bulls pretty much came out and said as much in their press statement about the fixture changes the other day. If you haven't registered on OurLeague yet then do it, now, and make sure you flag yourself up as a Bulls supporter when you do. The mobile app is also completely free and works surprisingly well. The commentary last season was arguably better than what Sky were serving up for the SL games.

Amen. As a Rhino I love watching Championship rugby, as well as no doubt other fans of Super League teams. Just a shame Super League can't set one up similar without Sky saying something.

Because I have 3 kids. I've bought them all season tickets on the basis of 3pm kick offs.

Arriving home between 2030 and 2100 on a Sunday night isn't exactly what's needed on school nights so they probably won't go.

This!!!!! For once the RFL seem to be proactive. The way we consume sport is changing. It's no good the RFL rocking up to the party when everyone's on-board the streaming wagon and hurriedly trying to market an app. They will be gathering the data of what does and doesn't work (e.g kick-off times etc) even Amazon with all their billions of pounds and premier league facilities had some issues. They will eventually try and charge for the app once they have more knowledge of what works and doesn't and ironed out any issues, or as you say Nothus, been able to go to broadcasters with actual numbers and data.

As you say Nothus, if Elstone doesn't pull a TV deal out of the bag, the championship will get no funding. I don't want to sound like Chalmers (I'm certainly not anti-SL and fully understand that's the primary comp that attracts the money) but for a sport that doesn't have a lot of money, we've got someone who's earning Marquee player money and I don't see how we're getting value for money.

If you look at Elstones reign, he started off badly by causing a divide instantly when he announced the super 8s were going without the sport meeting about it. He had a PR disaster by criticising Wayne Bennett on the day we were promoting the international game. The attendances seems to have gone down despite a bitter structure change being rushed through. The second lowest attended magic weekend? How are we supposed to be confident he can get a good TV deal? These are issues the RL media should be challenging but unfortunately there's too many who appear on each others podcasts and seem frightened to ask tough questions that need asking in a crucial time for the sport. Chalmers contributed to that mess by trading petty personal insults that it made it almost impossible to challenge Elstone as it felt you were siding with motor mouth Chalmers. Elstone has to get this right(and I hope to go he does otherwise the sport is in trouble) but alarm bells should be ringing from the above I've mentioned.

Unfortunately, if that's going to grow the game spectator wise in the Championship then it has to be done. Just the same in Super League with Thursday night games trying to attract sports fans who are looking for some sort of game to watch. For example football fans when there's no Europa League. We are a sport that needs to work around broadcasters because we're not big enough to dictate when we play.

The problem with RL and these kind of things is always about timing and organisation. And yet the sport never seems to learn, or at least it doesn't in this country.

Had this been decided before the fixtures were announced, so that when they were, the kick off times were there for all to see, then I don't think many people could have much of an argument. Any free TV exposure is good, even if it's streaming, and people know what they're getting when the times and dates are announced.

It's this utter stupidity that the sport keeps on repeating of announcing all the fixtures and then changing a load of them shortly afterwards. Sometimes they even announce fixtures and then announce some have changed within a day or two. Organise it properly instead of giving people ammo to complain. Only the most pessimistic fans would find reason to complain about TV deals if it the ducks were all in a row, but instead they announce fixtures, let people plan around them, and then move them about again, infuriating fans.

Last year it was the 1895 cup being shoehorned in at the last minute and there not really being a place for it. And yet they seem to have done the same with it this year meaning there'll be more midweek games clashing with more important weekend matches, so teams will put reserves out for them. And yet again, nobody in power will learn from the mistakes.

The sport is so unorganised at times, it feels like the people arranging the calendar have never done it before.

I support what they are doing, just not the last minute delivery which is the usual RFL knee jerk reaction.

If they had announced before season ticket sales started I could have made a better decision. i.e. Not bothered because it means that combined with a summer holiday I now lose money on what was supposed to be a money saver.

Lets be fair, they've know the SL clubs are going to be on a tighter budget for years and known that would negatively impact the CH and L1 but as usual have done sweet FA about it until the last minute.

As anyone in marketing knows, stiffing your loyal and returning base to attract new customers is a dodgy endeavour.

Understand your point on the timing of it, but we don't know what's been going on behind the scenes. Wouldn't surprise me if Sky were taking the to decide whether to allow Our League to broadcast Championship games or they were waiting for a sponsor.

I'm also in agreement in general for the game to get visability. My point is partly around consistency - within 15 minutes I saw the same fixture advised at 3pm Monday (Bulls site), 7:30 Wednesday and 7:30 Monday (both on OurLeague and still are). Does make planning around public holidays and work commitments very challenging.

I know this might change but as of right now four of our games have been moved. Only one of these is a home fixture. So I'm really not sure how one home game being rearranged suddenly means you're massively out of pocket, or even out of pocket at all?

I'm sure that these decisions weren't left until the last minute on purpose. I criticise the RFL for a lot of what they do but I can at least appreciate when they are trying to be proactive in securing a future for the lower leagues of the sport.

Sheffield and leigh at home batley and widnes away could also be some more later in season

Yes.Fixtures are only decided up to the weekend of May 16/17th at the moment.

Ah you're right it is two home games. My apologies, I misread.