If you're going to shift existing money from SL to Championship clubs I'd ring fence some of it for running junior development at all Championship clubs. Get rid of the dual-reg system (or severely limit the numbers) and you've got more clubs providing juniors for their side with a realistic chance of progressing to their first team. Hopefully that gives those players a better link with the fans rather than a collection of SL reserves. The odd gem will progress to SL but as long as the Championship clubs are properly compensated I don't see that as a problem.

Pretty much took the words out of my mouth.

What do SL clubs contribute? = Matches on TV

What would a revised Championship contribute? = Matches on TV

RL must rank fairly high compared to some of the sports already shown. Admittedly a revised Championship may draw less viewers than a top of SL clash but why should it draw less support than a bottom of SL clash?

IMO if the sport is to get stronger and spread outside the M62 Corridor we need a strong championship for new teams to cut their teeth in without the shock of being plunger directly into the top flight - we have possible expansion teams in the championship now.

I would suggest that we have no way of knowing how many people would watch Leigh in a revised championship V a demoted SL club on Sky.


It will if its the vehicle for bringing through expansion teams.


On the contrary it will get more youngsters playing, and the stronger competition will bring forth more players for SL.


SL has had plenty of chance to do this and yet only one club can be said to be truly strong, three clubs are doing OK and the rest are no better (if not worse) than they have ever been.


As I understand it this is only one option and will only be passed if SL wants it. It will be brought about because of the inadequacies of the current set up and Championship clubs "bitching and whining" will have nothing to do with it.


That's what the big SL clubs want, isn't it?

We can make an educated guess. A rebranded championship is still just the championship. More people than watch Leigh now would probably watch Leigh V Demoted SL club. It will still be less than what Leigh would get against that same club if they were playing in SL.
It wont be a vehicle for new clubs. Nobody should think it should even try. The very best contribution to expansion it could possibly make is as a proving ground for expansion clubs. Nothing more. It wouldn’t be the determining factor over whether that expansion club thrived or failed, it would barely be an important factor. Im not denying it would be better to have strong championship as a proving ground than a weak one it just wont be a huge part of it.

But there will be less young players playing at a higher level, and more playing at a lower level because kids who would come through at lower SL clubs would now come through at championship level. This will harm the player pool.
Whether SL has had chance to do this or not is irrelevant. They are still more important things to spend our money on than bringing up the level of the championship to that of the clubs we don’t think are good enough for SL

Who has suggested nothing back, extra monies spent ON the Championships would be expected to improve those competitions and the performance of the clubs in them

Exactly as the money provided by SKY is expected to improve SL and the clubs in it

What complete and utter rubbish

Quite possibly, I'm sure you'll be chuffed when it happens

thats an impressive level of misguided nonsense. Even for you.

When you go to a shop and by your ale and some stout as treat for the wife, do you do it because as an investment in the local spar in the expectation it will improve? or do you pay money for a product which you then own? Sky pay money for the SL product, not as a gift to the RFL because they like RL you great wazzock.

It is fundamentally different to what you are asking for which is a gift from SL to the championships (on top of the gift they are currently given every year) and an improvement in the championships as a competition has a very limited direct benefit to SL.

So you are saying that giving free money to the championships is a better use of our money than youth development, amateur facilities, youth coaching, development officers.

Its funny when you pretend how much you care about the game

No, the arent. SL money goes to SL (europe) it is then distributed by the RFL to the SL clubs (and 1/16th to the championships and 1/16th to the RFL) the RFL cannot just decide to give more elsewhere. Sky dont care where it goes. They pay for a product, they have criteria in their contracts. After that they couldnt give a f@ck.

it would be the SL clubs making that decision.

I simply can't be bothered to enter into multiple, multi point posts to answer you, suffice to say that I don't agree and most of what you put is speculation to fulfil you viewpoint.

What I found rather alarming is the statement "Whether SL has had chance to do this or not is irrelevant"

But that isnt Sky's view though is it. Improving SL for the sake of improving SL is actually counter-productive for them. Sky would only want to invest in SL if that was going to improve their bottom line. Which means that for whatever they increase our funding by, the need to make more money back from that. Slightly improving the championships isnt going to do that. Frankly slightly improving SL wouldnt do that. The only way that RL will get a majorly improved TV deal is one of three possibilities
1)market forces force the price up. If BT want us, and they agree with us that we are currently undervalued, then that will force the price up
2)we improve ourselves massively making ourselves a better product. This would mean 15k to every game, big sponsors, and a profile which made us massively more attractive to advertisers and loads more people were watching on TV
3)in return for a major change that benefits Sky, i.e changing to summer to fill a gap in the schedules for which Sky paid a premium.

These incremental changes arent going to make a big difference to it, and Sky certainly arent going to pay a penny more than they have to on the basis that it will put the game in a better position.
We arent a spear. We arent a pyramid right now. We dont have a thread running through the entire game all working toward a common goal. If we did i have no problem with that money filtering down more. But we dont and championship clubs dont want us to.

What they want, and what Starbug and yourself are suggesting, is a system where SL clubs who arent exactly awash with cash, take some of that cash and use it to invest in the tier below, specifically with the aim of getting them in to a position where they can replace the clubs who they have just given money to. That makes no sense.

And ill repeat what I said before, i can see no reason why the lower leagues are any more deserving of any 'free money' we can afford to distribute than youth and amateur RL. In fact I would say in the list of priorities there is daylight between Youth and Amateur RL, and then the championships.

As i say I have no problem with investing in the lower leagues, but that always should be on the basis that the lower leagues give something back.