Expansion....get it right.

Quote: gutterfax "OK.....Wakey are saved, Fax feel shafted and Crusaders are to drop down.

I would hope that after the various experiments in the ESL, such as PSG, Sheffield, My own club in London (yes roofs...I said experiment) and the Welsh lot, the RFL will now see that the only true way to expand the game is to follow the example set by the NRL in 'stralia.

When faced with the realisation that their TV deal was always going to be dwarfed by the AFL, they accepted that they had to expand into another state....they chose Victoria, an AFL heartland and the team, The Melbourne Storm were owned by the 50% owner of the NRL and the media partner, News Corp.

David Hughes has pretty much ensured that the London ESL team has never had to go down the route that the welsh now find themselves in, but it is unfair of the RFL to expect him to continue to shoulder the financial burden. For many years, RL Fans in the north have suspected that the RFL have been bankrolling the London outfit, but in reality, if it were not for some fanatical fans in the capital and DH, there would now be an ESL with Catalans and the M62 Mafia.

I would suggest that [sizeIF [/sizethe SKY TV deal is conditional on there being a London team, that the RFL take 10% of each clubs money from the new deal and plough it into the London Club. If each club gets 1.2 million a year, this would mean that the London Club would receive an additional 1.5 million a year....removing the main burden from David Hughes and providing much needed revenue for marketing, promotion and the continued developpment of the game in the South East.

Before the fans of "traditional" clubs spit their dummies out, I only suggest that the RFL do what these fans have been saying is already happening. The game does need to expand....it, in all probability ,would die out as a professional sport without the TV revenue and [sizeIF[/size london is key to this then the SPORT has to take responsibility for it.

10 years of ESL teams getting about 100k less in TV money.....if London can't stand on their own after that, then it will be time to cut the cord.........I make no apologies for suggesting either the 10 year of less money for the "traditional" clubs or for saying that London should be gone in 2022 if they can't stand on their own, but something has to change.'"

Great post!

This is the right way to expand, follow the same model as the NRL and make it a success.

I would like to think that most RL fans in the UK want to see the game grow. If you do accept that the game needs to grow beyond the M62 then agreeing with the above post shouldnt be too much of a problem. Yeah it is a bit unfair on the heartland clubs but you just have to accept that for the game to grow it has to be done this way.

Are there any fans who wanna see an M62 exclusive competition?