I think it's a disappointing development for the game and whatever extra Sky bid will only be short term gain for long term pain.

For those of us who live outside the heartlands/north of England then the Challenge Cup games were about the only exposure you ever get of RL down here other than brief mentions hidden away several pages inside the newspapers. I think watching the BBC coverage was a large part of actually learning to love the game for me, and I've no do doubt that I wouldn't have gone out of my way to purchase a Sky subscription without having been fed the BBC diet first.

Imo, free, easy access viewing is a must if the RFL have any serious thoughts of expansion to areas where coverage of the game is already minimal at best. To think that this will start a bidding war is crazy. The BBC only really care about Football, Wimbledon and to a lesser extent Union, they won't go out of their way to keep it and Sky will be happy to bid just above what they're prepared to.

Yep, lets scrap a competition which gets 70,000+ attendees for the final, because Rugby League gets that all the time, just look at that huge crowd for England vs Aus at the weekend.

One thing RL desperately needs above all else is some way to keep it in the public eye, Sky TV doesn't really do much for that as it is mostly preaching to the converted, the Challenge Cup certainly does because like everything else shown on terrestrial, you are talking an audience in the millions rather in the hundreds of thousands.

Another thing is that the whole thing about TGG, that is, the family atmosphere, the wonderful behavior of the fans, the ability of the players to knock lumps off each other then shake hands and smile when the whistle blows, this is the sort of thing that we should want the country and the world to know about, we are proud of it but what's the use if it is just our secret, it's a rare chance for folks that know nothing much at all about our game, to see and experience, even if only on the telly. the publicity must be worth millions.

And the CC Final being on a Saturday afternoon broadcast to the nation does give the Final, and on the back of that the game itself, a push up in status.

And last of all the Final is without any doubt a tradition now, and keeping it in the protected list means that a rugby league event is viewed as being of national importance. Whereas knocking it off means it is no longer seen as anything much.

I reckon we ought to try to get the recommendation rejected. Only a decent amount of public opinion can do that and if there isn't any objection then it will probably just be rubberstamped despite the protests of the RFL on the basis that nobody gives a sh?t.

There are a couple of petitions been started against the decision and if you agree then it'll only take a minute to sign uphttp://petitions.number10.gov.uk/RLChallengeCup/rl

Bump.
Well said that man, everyone should sign this

It really does.

Also IMHO (although I am not saying that the arguments for and against weren't complex) the RFL's decision to allow a switch of the Final from it's hallowed May spot to later in the year sent out the wrong signals about how importantly the RFL itself perceives the comp., and may have had a lot to do with the recommendation.

But still the day of the Final is our one true day of national TV exposure, and what a fantastic press it invariably gives us.

Even media that might want to, can't ignore a packed Wembley Stadium.