Quote: Donnyman "See above.
It's insane that the game doesn't work hard enough to get Bradford back in Superleague, and the fans don't cut them any slack.
I can appreciate the purists idea of "fair play" and "this is sport". However I don't think it really is just a sport. It's a business that has to find the best way to survive and prosper.
As a "sport" shorn of the SKY deal and BBC money I honestly think our audience would shrink badly, and that top Rugby kids would be looking to play Union, who themselves would probably look to create another Sale RUFC in west Yorkshire.....Recreating Leeds RUFC.....'"
No, it's insane trying to bring back a club that have proven they can't operate within the rules set from a financial POV, the begging bowl passed round for Bradford 1964 that were piddled away was duplicitous, the RFL should have let them fall by the wayside instead of wasting money and effort, it could have gone into supporting other clubs that weren't completely bankrupt. I'd rather have London in SL than a Bradford.
The example you refer to attendance wise simply proves my point, by the play-off there was a 30% drop off in fans, that was a huge game, 10% drop off by the third league game, the CC final attendance is meaningless, neutrals make up a significant number.
Look at it another way, two top teams with a combined city population of well over a million (never mind outlying areas) only mustered 21,000 at its high point that season (3,000 less than the 24k high point in 1999).