Here’s a slightly different take on things....

Let’s say Sky don’t offer the golden egg anymore, Superleague doesn’t get the sort of TV money previously offered, gambling firms can’t sponsor anymore, so effectively the game struggles to stay full-time. What’s the big worry with that in reality?

The sport will still exist, the clubs will still exist, the history of the game will remain, we’ll all still be able to go and watch our teams, the players and facilities just won’t be as good long term. The players will likely have day jobs etc....

So, effectively, we’d be back to how the game looked in the 80’s in terms of financially - I loved my rugby league then (probably even more so as we didn’t have to soften the game), and I’m sure I’d love it again.

Obviously it’s better to have the Sky coverage and the full time athletes, but so what if we don’t. I’ll still go to Headingley every week to cheer on Leeds - and who knows, we might even get rid of the silly Rhinos name and return to the Loiners with our rightful hanging sheep badge....

I’m not sure it’s the disaster people think.

Christ

Indeed, we could wake up in a world where penecillin, space flight (or even flight itself) was a dream. The earth was flat, the kids went down mines, imagine the eutopia, none of that modern day internet rubbish, pah, tws better when I were a lad...

I’m not saying it was better, or that it would be better.... but would the game survive? Would we still go watch our teams?

I love playing rugby league, I love watching rugby league, at all standards. A big part of my enjoyment of it is the family and friends who I associate with the game, the history of going with my dad, my grandad, uncles etc the fact they went with their fathers, that I now get to do the same with my lads - that family tradition being passed down, the emotion of the wins/losses, the away day trips, the banter with the fans, all those memories made with family and friends all having the same emotional tie to a club. I just don’t see that we would lose the thing that makes our sport so great if it didn’t have the money it does now.

tradition doesn't pay the bills, people can yearn for yesteryear all they want, it is why RL and the UK are stuck in the dark ages. (imho)

tradition doesn't pay the bills, people can yearn for yesteryear all they want, it is why RL and the UK are stuck in the dark ages. (imho)

I’m not yearning for yesteryear, I’m saying it’s not the end of the world if the sport had to go part-time again. It would force the clubs to be more pro-active with their attraction of fans, though they’d have a marketing budget of a smaller shoestring that most have currently, but the game would survive, and people could and would still go and see their teams - the sport would just have to cut its cloth accordingly. Young lads would still grow up wanting to play the game (yes we’d probably lose the elite athletes to other sports), but there’d still be a sport, and we could all still go watch our teams with the same pride and passion.

But obviously, I’d prefer expansion to work and the sport to thrive globally and financially. But if it doesn’t, we’ll probably still all be here, having similar inane conversations on here, I’d still be on here rather than doing the actual work I’m being paid to do by my employer

I agree with a lot of what you are saying, A lot of today’s problems in the game stem from treating rugby of both codes as a business not a sport. If all sides were amateurs or part time the sides would on the whole be equal & it is the equality of class across the sport that makes for the excitement. I don’t care if I am sat in an expensive seat under cover or stood behind a rope on a council ground as long as the teams are a fair match in skill levels. What has stripped our game & other sports is the belief that it is right to splash cash on your team to the detriment of the game. This started in our game when Wigan just spent more than any other side could & my team (HKR) tried it & just about finished us for good. I suspect that a lot of sports wish they could put the gene back in the bottle & be amateurs again even the Aussies?

I’m still waiting for the “ news on the new television deal” like the op stated. There hasn’t been any

You would be left with an amateur sport, with all of the better players doing "other things".
During the 80's RL was plundering players with alarming regularity from RU, with them (Union) in no position to defend themselves.
If League went amateur, I would expect Union to seize it's chance and try to asset strip our sport completely.

It's not beyond possibility that they could "encourage" some of our top clubs to swap codes, leaving our game, although still breathing, in very poor shape indeed.

Having said that, you would expect that there will be a TV deal of sorts and it's down to our new supremo to earn his corn.

Interesting/worrying times ahead ?

Absolutely get that, and agree with everything you’ve said - the best case scenario is of course that we get the best possible deal financially and that the sport gets richer and more successful in time.

I guess my point is that I don’t find it worrying if that doesn’t happen. I’ll still enjoy the sport, we’ll still go as a family and create those memories. It wouldn’t be the end of the world.