Quote Roy Haggerty="Roy Haggerty"The thing is, I don't buy the sponsorship rise argument. After all, the CC has been a guaranteed fixture on BBC for years, and despite audiences in the millions, we've really struggled to find a decent sponsor for it. I don't see why that would change. We also have an image problem - sponsors don't just hand over cash for exposure - they want to associate their brand with something they feel is appropriate to it. Big international companies sponsor RU because they see it - rightly - as a wealthy sport played and watched on the whole by above-average wealthy people. RL, like it or not, has a very different public image, and the sort of companies who want to market to that demographic don't have large sponsorship accounts.'"
we do have an image problem. and a that is a big problem for[i some [/isponsors, this rich demographic only really applies to aspirational products, ASDA for instance will have a huuuuge marketing budget and would probably find that RL was a better fit for its consumer base than RU
however, if you think about what the challenge cup really offers in saleability of the clubs its very very little, a club is only likely to be featured a maximum of about 3 times, with a fair few never on it. Its nigh on impossible to sell sponsorship on the basis that once a year a club may be on TV in the secondary competition, it hardly grabs the attention. Thats ignoring the fact that throughout sport most cup competitions seem to be on the wane, not just in RL
SL on FTA would be a completely different proposition
