Not at all. Clubs like Leeds, FC, Wigan and St Helens and Wire already average over 10k and teams like Catalans and Castleford aren't far away, but then it gets interesting with HKR, Widnes, Hudds, Wakey, Leigh & Salford who are between 7 and 4k,,,,,,,then the rest at present are on minimal figures.

If we are to assume that the French and Castleford remain in or near that top 7 clubs, then it is from 8 to 13 where there is a real opportunity to strengthen the game AS WE CURRENTLY HAVE IT, with no need to fastrack any clubs based on the number of beer drinkers there are in the crowd or how much they are over the cap
I would concentrate on getting those 6 clubs up to the 10k mark....a SL with all the clubs financially viable is a good base camp to build from.

Halifax has a population of near 100,000 people and last season were one of 6 sides in the Championship from West Yorkshire, with a population of 2.3 million....so how come with 30 "local derbies" in the regular season we aren't filling The Shay, Odsal, Mt Pleasant etc? 2,027 was the average gate for the Championship in 2017 and now with HKR and Bradford elsewhere, I can see that dropping down again in 2018....Toronto might draw a few curious fans back for one game, but what are the clubs doing to attract more fans?
This isn't a pop at Fax or west Yorkshire clubs BTW.......just a genuine question. If we're not going to accept offers of new territories from "supposedly cashed up" owners in far flung cities, what are we going to do about the decline in interest in the heartlands?

Get where you are comming from
But, reading all these pages upon pages of how expansion is the saviour of Rugby League, can someone out there help me out with a few questions that dont seem to be answered - (I am but a simple man)

1. I have read: Catalans (Toulouse) bring more to the table than say Leigh or Widnes. What do they bring, what I can see is they have been in SL for many a year now. They bring no fans, they are covered by SKY, so what do they bring? do they actually put money into the RL?

2. Toronto apparently with there multi billion TV deal - well they were operationg last season on Premier Sports, does anyone know how much they injected into the RL if anything. Again another team with a taxi load of fans.

3. New York some on here have stated get them in Super League, they dont even have a team yet - If we think the Americans are going to travel to the North of England with all their equipment to show RL live - err dont think so.

4. Marketing again read loads about marketing - you can spend thousands of pounds on me trying to sell synchronised swimming to me, but if I dont want to go I wont.

5. Anyone remember these: gateshead who, Paris what, kent who, Scarborough err, yea all these made up clubs have been, tried it and gone.
We have been there wore the shirt, eat the stew before.
That is probably why a majority of us are sceptical.

6. Read Perez, cracking bloke, he will take over the world - again wasnt Marwan an early Perez, where is he now.

I am not a doom and gloom merchant, we have seen all this come and go before, My opinion rightly or wrongly is we are were we are, like it or lump it and I cant see it improving.

Thanx BR, still not entirely convinced, just got in off nights and going to bed. I will have a proper read tonight, thanx again

It keeps on coming up that away fans "don't matter". Of course they do. A healthy away support not only generates more much needed cash for the home team, but also creates a more vibrant atmosphere at the game. That in itself can generate more up-front interest in the match, and hence a few more paying spectators through the turnstiles.

I still fail to see what a rich benefactor pumping money into a club on the other side of the Atlantic/English Channel does for the game in the UK? They'll still take their share of the TV money after all.

In terms of this supposed decline in interest, crowds rose with the advent of Super League, but have remained fairly static for the last 10 years. Actually not that bad considering that we've been in recession and there are more and more leisure activities popping up for folk to do nowadays.

The game does need a re-vamp though. Professionalism in the sport has created a somewhat more sterile game to watch, with a big focus on following a "game plan" and not making mistakes. A tricky one to resolve, but remember that American Football has evolved from Rugby Union but bears little resemblance now.

One idea mooted elsewhere has been to distribute TV money unequally, with the lowest placed teams receiving the most cash for the next season. We don't like rewarding failure in the UK, so doubt it would ever take off, but it's a similar principle as used by American Football where the lowest placed teams get first dibs at selecting players in the annual draft system. This would help create a more level playing field that wasn't dominated by the same teams every year.

I'm not against teams in France, Canada or the US per se, but if they are to join our leagues then they should follow exactly the same operational rules as everyone else, without any favouritism whether financial or otherwise.

Careful Vastman, I'm beginning to like you.

I'm with you Sparky,but you're wasting your valuable time with these clowns mate.

It doesn't need to be one or the other. But I would sacrafice any so called Championship heartland club for the Catalan club.

All the while knowing your club is safe and sound in SL and will be for a long time.
Nice.

Whilst I agree with the pros of having Catalans in SL, they do need to give themselves a kick up the backside. The last 18 months compared to how things were looking like for them 5/6/7 years ago has been quite poor. We don't need the 2017 version of Catalans heading forward so they shouldn't be untouchable.