Toulouse is the 4th biggest city in France.

Toulouse is one of the few areas of France that has a prosperous economy.

Toulouse is the only place in France where rugby union is supportive of, not trying to undermine, the development of a professional rugby league club.

Toulouse in Super League will in the short term greatly increase the number of youth playing rugby league in France, and in the medium to long term will greatly improve the playing standards of the French national team.

Toulouse in Super League will greatly increase public awareness of, and hence the corporate sponsorship of, rugby league in France.

Toulouse in Super League, alongside Catalans Dragons, will increase the value of a French TV contract for rugby league.

The decision about whether to admit Toulouse into Super League is a no-brainer for Nigel Wood and the RFL ....

...oh, hang on...

But what will it do for the benefit of the other Super League clubs?

Zip.

If French TV want to invest in something how about Toulouse and Catalan become the pioneers of a fully full-time professional French competition that French TV and sponsors can buy into.

That would truly create the next generation and improve the competition from France. And is a better proposal than inserting them into a predominantly North England competition where they would offer no notable benefit financially to a club that would bring much more support income and less in terms of costs for the return fixture.

I love that whenever a RL match in an expansion area gets a good attendance, it's because they 'gave away tickets'. You people are pitiful.

Good idea. Then we can keep Super League for real RL towns like Keighley and Featherstone.

You are right. Dynamic urban centres like Keighley and Featherstone, with their massive and growing populations of affluent young consumers, and with their important and innovative high tech businesses, are household names in the corporate and media world, and in the minds of general public, in Britain and across Europe.

'we'?

That turned out well didn't it?

One off attendances are no indication of future potential figures, having said that personally I think Toulouse could work in SL

I find it funny how you assume the RFL will just throw out 3 teams just like that? If there was going to be 3 teams chucked out it'd be through relegation only and with the expected recruitment plans Salford' have for next season and I suspect London will throw money at their squad, I'd look at the teams who are offloading their best players due to struggling fanacially. Then I'd add Hull KR and Wakefield to that list too. Will be interesting how next' year fairs.

that's nowt, we were winning 96-0 after about 25 minutes

Presumably the French TV money would go into the overall Super League pot to be shared amongst all the clubs. If the game has the opportunity to bring in a significant TV revenue from France, it will be worth more to the clubs than having a few hundred Fax fans visiting once a season.

Do you mean like Premier League football with outposts such as Blackpool, Norwich, Stoke in recent times who have all gone on to become successful?

The only way rugby league is ever going to grow as a sport is not through some European project where fans can't afford to follow their team. It's a strong domestic network of leagues.

I'm not a person that hates expansion or is against it - I was supportive of Crusaders and was proven wrong regarding Catalan.

But if you insert a second Super League side from France you're asking fans to pay up for long journeys to France twice, London and Magic Weekend. Equally, club costs are going to rise too from having to pay for hotels and flights and they'd also lose matchday income from travelling support when at home. On top of this, they'd lose ticket revenue raised through the club for the games in France. I know that Cas didn't get any tickets from Catalan this year!

It would be so much better if French TV put £X million into creating a fully professional rugby league which will strengthen the game and could also attract some top Australian players.

You definitely [icannot [/isay all those things about rugby league in (soccer mad) London.

The only city in Britain which is remotely analogous to (rugby mad) Toulouse, is not London but Cardiff. However Cardiff does not have the economic power of Toulouse, nor does it have a powerful local rugby union club and mayor that are supportive of the development of a professional rugby league club in the city.

I'd doubt it.

AFAIK French TV don't show every Super League game - just the Catalan games thus far so I'd guess the money that would go to clubs is going to be small and certainly nothing significant that would project Super League into the global powerhouse predicted.

Make a fully professional French league with a TV deal and then have an end-of-season tournament involving both the English and French divisions.

That option has been thought of by BeIN Sport, and has subsequently been dropped. There is simply not the player base nor the organisation nor the funds to create a fully professional French rugby league competition. A TV deal does not pay for all expenses of each club, not in the NRL, not in Super League, and similarly not in France.