I remember 20+ years ago, when SL was still in it infancy, we had gone from 6,500 attendance to 7,500, but we had already seen a drop in annual TV revenue from SKY from the initial £17,000,000 a year to just £11,000,000......it would then drop to £9,000,000 a year not long after.
At the time, there were Hundreds of threads on various forums saying the game was being sold short and was heading for oblivion....but hey, 2 decades later, we have survived and we are now seeing threads downplaying a deal that is apparently worth between £25 and £30 million a year........

in 2001 the average cost of a Pint of Lager was £2.00, it's now £3.90
in 2001 the average cost of a house was £164,000, it's now £260,000
In 2001 I paid £14.00 to watch the London Broncos....that figure is now £22.50.........

Is the game in need of some changes? Quite possibly, but not at the expense of the grass roots. The Likes of London (Skolars and Broncos) Sheffield, Coventry and the welsh sides are looking down the barrel of obscurity or worse if the SL chairmen get their way and pull up the drawbridge.
They've become too used to the "free money" from SKY, but in reality, they are all a whisker away from being the next Bradford or Widnes.

The game Needs SKY, but to what extent? If the owners had concentrated on their match day offerings, then the reality is that 8,000 extra fans per home game would cover the ENTIRE bounty they get from the trough each year.

What they need to do is stop being "addicts". If Sky saw a 20% hike in attendances in 2022, they'd be hard pressed to come back with another "insulting" deal.

This "fan engagement' lip service the RFL are engaging in is to be of any use, they need to understand that SKY aren't the lifeblood of the game...we are, the Fans. So let's stop fiddling with structures and concentrate on the real issue......filling stadiums and making RL a must do event in 2022.

I seem to have attracted a self proclaimed defender of the RL faith and part time troll hunter. I apologise if I overstepped the mark, but EVERY post starting with a critique of imaginary trolling is tiresome. He really needs to get a life.

Back the subject in hand.

The game isn't in the rudest of health but it is by no means on its deathbed. My personal belief is that clubs like the London's and Wales's as well as Coventry need to be nurtured. If the money isn't there, then it's up to those clubs to find a way, but the money is there.....just the SL clubs are hoarding it in total disregard to the reality that these smaller clubs are where the future talent often start off.

Londons conveyor belt of talent is paying dividends....I hear great reports about the kids coming through at Coventry.....these may never be top tier teams, but they are as key to the game as Wakefield or Bradford......but there are some so called RL fan who think we shouldnt bother south of Widnes.....It gets their backs up that Catalan and now Toulouse are self funding clubs not relying on away fans or SKY handouts.....I'd hazard that Toulouse, Catalan, Wire, Leeds, Saints and Wigan are the top 6 next year, maybe the Hulls 7th and 8th and the rest scrambling to avoid oblivion.

In the 2nd tier, if Batley and Fev can maintain their 2021 form, I suspect theyll be hammering Wakefield and Salford in the SL2 or whatever its called in 2023....

Over to you Wakey and Bradford fans whadya think

I totally agree, they would be great. Sadly it will never happen again

thinking back you remind me two other posters call me god and axe2grind are you the mutation of these