Quote: Nothus "Not sure I agree. How are you supposed to enter into future negotiations for broadcasting rights etc. and try and paint your sport in the most positive light if you've been giving broadcasting rights away for free in the past?
If the BBC really did want it for free then I can see why the rfl might have said no / asked for a fee.'"
It would be far easier to go to the BBC and say, "we got C2m people watching the last game, you need to pay for this one" than " we got 5000 people paying a fiver last time, give us money"
There is nothing wrong with investigating streaming as an option but the infrastructure isnt there yet, the market isnt there yet, and the game isnt set up to have all that much to sell. The FA tried it with England v Ukraine in 2009 and it was a disaster.
If the RFL are looking at streaming long term the problems and hurdles are many. They will take on the risk because they will need to outlay the costs of broadcast, they will need to take on responsibility for marketing, nobody is going to stumble upon the game, casuals will be put off, advertising revenue would be less, the value proposition is lower. We are nowhere near ready for that switch (and actually can't do so for another 5 years anyway) which leaves this as nothing more than a short term money grab that will make a relatively miniscule amount and will cost the huge free advertising of a game live on the BBC