Quote: McClennan "The reason why there isn't a Cumbrian team in Super League is because hardly anybody lives there. It has the second lowest population density in the UK, has a smaller overall population than Cornwall and is also several miles away from other significant population centres that they could draw upon to form support (both from fans and corporate sponsorship). There are several US states that are hot beds of producing talent in different sports that can't sustain a professional sporting set up because of similar issues. Sad but true.'"
Its simply not true that hardly anyone lives there. Cumbria as a county is not far short of a population of half a million people. As you have alluded to, the population density and spread is one of the real issues as its the transport logistics of the county in terms of getting from A to B.
(Barrow in Furness alone has a bigger population than Castleford, a similar population to that of Widnes and just a tad smaller than Wakefield.)
Under Promotion and Relegation Barrow would have been promoted to SL in 2009.
If Barrow could get Craven Park upgraded and attract more supporters then they would have a chance. Realistically though they are the only town with a big enough population to draw on to financially sustain a SL team.