I would agree - and I'm of your view that a significant number of fans would do the same thing; watching WT play the Giants twice is bad enough - 6 or 7 is too much to bear.

I wonder what the issue is with expanding the league to add 2 more teams - is it simply that there aren't 2 more teams who could make a decent fist of it, or is there some protectionism around Sky money for SL clubs behind that school of thought?

This proposal seems like the worst of all worlds.

The worth of boast worlds.

trying to keep the money all for themselves, but when they are hemorrhaging crowds they will lose more than the loss of revenue from sharing the tv money over 14 teams. tragic greed that could be the start of a decline in the game.
is it 1.8 million each club gets, going to 14 would be a loss of 300k surely only a minor increase in average with flat home away fixtures would cover that. Thats like an extra 1000 supporter per match that is all. wigan lost like 2k against against wakefield and average attendance way down, across the whole league.

You really need to ask?

This is a self-fulfilling prophecy. The clubs only "need" 14 games because they're not working hard enough to generate more income from the games they have. It's easier / cheaper to flog the talent and to keep tapping into the captive market than it is to find new revenue sources and new audiences. We don't need more games. We need new fans and new revenue models.

This is a perfect example of the club chairmen ruining the sport through their own laziness.

Their worth is worth… you know…

An imbalanced fixture program helps justify the play offs and Grand Final.

Having said that, why the hell dont we go with a 14 club super league, it's such an obvious solution.
It really hacks me off when, so often, we are being told of the great benefits that Toronto (and Toulouse) will bring to the game.
Let's have them in SL next season and find out just what they do bring to the game.
IF there is increased exposure and investment / sponsorship opportunities then lets just get on with it and if "we" cant persuade Sky that they will benefit, then, we may as well get rid of the folk in charge as they really cant be up to much.
Either they have been over egging the benefits of Toronto being in SL or they should be able to improve the TV deal.
No if's and no buts. Get it done.

Well said

Agree.
Surely if Toulouse comes up, Bein is it, will be able to offer something to the TV deal pot you'd think, plus maybe Toronto can sort something out as well if they get in SL. Just need an extra £3.6m a year between them to keep everyone happy. I'm not sure how this would all work with Sky though. I'd have thought though that they'd be happy for the extra exposure and new teams to watch if it can be done and maybe up the deal themselces by that amount a year to accommodate the teams.

We have loop fixtures now. The problem is that they are unknown until July, so affecting clubs finances - how can you market or sell hospitality for an fixture list you don't know.

One element of the proposed new structure, is to know what the loop fixtures are at the season launch.

No different to now, some teams play each other 4 times already.

So, pray tell me how clubs sell such for cup and play off games?

Out of interest, which chairmen do you think would vote to cut their club's income from the existing TV deal by c14%?

Cup & play-offs don't equal 25% of the league fixture list!

That's 25% of your saleble product whic is unknown until 2 weeks before it happens.

I'm not advocating any cut in income from the TV deal, quite the contrary.
Since the inclusion of Toronto (and Toulouse) we've been hearing about how much they will bring to the game in both advertising, sponsorship and TV revenue. Now, either this wasnt true or we have the opportunity to renegotiate the Sky deal.
I know there is still time before the current deal expires but, this didn't stop us extending the last deal (before it expired) and nor should it now.
It's time for those who run the sport to earn their overblown salaries and get back to the negotiating table, with all of the possibilities that an additional club in France and a "new" club in North America bring to the sport and gain a decent increase in the TV deal.
I konw that it wont happen, primarily because we've been sold yet another pup but, it bloody well should.