Quote: bramleyrhino "Nobody is saying that we don't. However, we are now in an environment where broadcasters are becoming more and more discerning about what sports they pay for, and how much they pay for them. This week we have seen BT Sport drop UFC and NBA, they have already dropped Serie A, whilst Sky has dropped La Liga in recent months, all citing the cost of those rights as the reason.
All of the sports you mention have worked hard to ensure that their 'product' is delivering value for broadcasters. Cricket has invested massively in limited overs and T20 cricket (arguably at the expense of the Test team) because that's what appeals to TV audiences. The PL is carving out more and more slots in its calendar for TV (Friday night football, additional Satuday slots, etc).
If Super League wants more from it's TV contract in this environment, it needs to start offering more. At the moment, we offer a sub-standard competition, where the best players flock to the other side of the world, an audience that is hard to sell to advertisers, and we have clubs actively diluting our own TV audience by playing at the same time as our TV games. Gee, why wouldn't Sky pay more for that?'"
The flip side of your argument (as far as Sky are concerned) is that we now have Thursday, Friday and Saturday games compared to the one night offering that was there at the outset plus, magic etc.
You probably know the TV audience figures for the 3 nights, compared to the days when there was only one.
The other aspect about RL fans is that @we@ are difficult to sell to. However, taking the stereotypical view of your "average" RL fan, Gambling, drinking, sporting, dating etc should be obvious targets for where to pick up advertising revenues plus, the usual pay day lenders etc
Btw, I apologise in advance for the above, which is not meant to cause offence, merely to demonstrate that there should be plenty of companies in these categories that may wish to advertise to RL fans.
c