Quote: BrisbaneRhino "Its to prtect the clubs themselves. The Titans were effectively going bust. The difference in the NRL is that the TV deal gives enough money to the NRL to do this. There's no way the RFL or SL or whatever could financially support a failing club, as we've seen in the past.'"
When SL was set up Paris and London should have received twice the cash of the other 10 teams. Each SL side should have received 7% with the 2 expansion clubs getting 14%. I have no doubt that the owners of the other 10 clubs would have preferred 7% of something to what they were currently receiving and if any of them didn't fancy it, they could always remain part time and living hand to mouth. If the current budget for 12 SL clubs is 18 million, this would mean 10 clubs getting 1,286 million each and 2 expansion clubs getting 2.6 million. It wouldn't be very fair in the eyes of the heartland supporters of a few teams and therefore, you have a 12 team SL camped predominantly along 1 motorway with a sole outpost in the south of France packed with Australians and of no assistance to French RL as a whole.
This is why the NRL have come to the rescue of the Titans, as they did before at the Knights. The "reach" or perceived "reach" is what keeps advertisers and sponsors happy. A quick glance at the siting of the 11 english top flight teams in SL points to where we are going wrong....