That [i"suburb of Wigan"[/i you speak of must be Leigh.
The same Leigh that average attendance almost the same per season & often sometimes far better in a given round than both Salford & Wakefield Trinity Schoolgirls.
The same Leigh that pro rata of it's population is far better supported than Leeds Rhinos.
The same Leigh who's away fans travel in bigger numbers than Salford & Wakefield do in [iSuper Dooper League[/i
The same Leigh that does it week in week out with little to no away support to boost our home attendances.

Tell you what ....
let's go back to franchise & put London straight back in .....
their 403 [ihard-core fans[/i will surely bring huge benefits to other SL Clubs when their army descends en mass.

Or let's give that giant of a Club Wakefield 30 more years of dreary apathetic RL in SL.

Banish both Bradford *who have a better following than half of SL* & Halifax who would no doubt be better supported than Salford & Wakey to the lower reaches of the RL echelon.

Mind you, you would be saying what you did when it is most definitely [iTwitchy Bum Time[/i for your lot.

To a certain extent I agree with what you're saying but do we really need 2 extra Yorkshire teams in SL?

We need to expand the game and to do that we need to promote it further afield. The only way to do that is with cold hard cash to pay for marketing. We need someone to market the hell out of it like they have the darts. Look at how that sport has come from nowhere to where it is now.

I wouldn't want HKR to lose their place in SL but for the good of the game they along with a few others may have to.

The RFL shouldn't have shared the new TV money out the way they did. They should have taken a percentage and used it purely to market the game. I bet their current marketing budget wouldn't even cover Terry Campese's wages.

Brilliant post, you may want to go back and see just how well Leigh were supported last time they were in the top flight


The main problem that you have, is that you have all of the arrogance of a big club but, you are just a small town on the outskirts of Wigan and using the same logic that you are trying to apply to Wakefield and Salford, Leigh would not offer anything to SL either.

You might want to see just how few of your fans were interested last time you played in the big league and while you are at it take a peek at Halifax's crowd numbers (they were less then yours).
Of all the clubs in the Championship, only Bradford can generate decent crowds, when things are going well. None of the rest would offer any improvement on what we currently have.

Where is it?

As someone who loves watching the darts, I think I know what you think you mean, but in fact, they have done and are doing exactly what most on here seem to be railing against.

Darts has to make any money it does from stuff like broadcasters and sponsors. That is because they have no crowds to speak of. Even in a world championship, at the Lakeside, the capacity is maybe 1,000. Now, bear in mind that is the TOTAL people watching live darts that day. As the games are only in one venue.

The average UK wage is £26,500. There are hardly more than 50 darts players IN THE WORLD earning (gross) appreciably more than that.

This is why darts has tried to go international, and get games in places where frankly there is no darts at all, or not as we know it. Their international circuit is huge, but most of those places it is very much a novelty.

And, for what they are trying to do, it works. If selling a fair few seats to a few hundred bums, and getting some airtime on limited TV is the criterion.

Basically there is the darting international circuit where a fairly tidy income is available to the elite, and then there is ... nothing. Amateur / club darts. I'm struggling to see any sensible comparison for us.

[iNeither would I[/i

Here's how I would restructure if going down the licensing route.

SL1 + SL2, 2x Leagues of 10 with no real cache in being in 1 over 2.

Mix them up a bit so something like

[iSL 1[/i

Catalan
Leeds
Bradford *mandatory requirement for New Stadia*
Halifax
Warrington
Widnes
Wakefield *mandatory requirement for New Stadia*
Castleford *mandatory requirement for New Stadia*
Toronto
Vancouver/Any given Canadian Club.

[iSL 2[/i

Wigan
St Helens
Salford
Leigh
Toulouse Olympique
2nd *French* Club
London *insert current name as applicable*
Cardiff
Hull FC
Hull KR

Endon of season - No P&R *not required*

Top 4 from SL1 & SL2 play 2x semi finals & 1 Final *based on League Position in their own Group then ....

SL1 Champions v SL2 Champions for the title of *& for a laugh* let's call it [iGrande Campione[/i

Bottom 6 of both SL1 & SL2 play off for a minor Comp prize.

Top 4 of both SL 1 & SL 2 get a monetary award on a sliding scale based on placings with Grande Campione receiving a further sum for being good eggs.

All monetary awards are 'bound' solely to be spent on Academy & Affiliate Clubs
*for Leigh these would be Leigh Miners & Leigh East*
*for Wigan Ince Rose Bridge etc*

Affiliate Clubs to become feeders to Parent Clubs *just as they do in Oz*.

An arbitrary/nominal/moderate increase to Salary Cap in SL 1 & 2 up to £2m increasing to £2.4m over 5 year period, (£2m year 1 then + £100k p/a over next 4).

Significant increase to Salary Cap for new Championship member Clubs *with conditions* & new expansion Clubs to be blooded via Championship & Championship 1.

Edit.

Room for Cumbrian RL Club & Featherstone or Batley + Sheffield + 1 A.N.Other RL Club to join at later date following restructuring & development at a later juncture if sustainable.

[iLet's see who's heads explode !!![/i

The only exposure Darts had was the yearly BDO world championship. Now they get very healthy crowds on a weekly basis for premier league Darts. It takes the SS1 primetime slot on a Thursday while RL gets SS3 or 4 so they must be doing something right.

I see a lot to compare between the sports. Only their elite players get press and tv coverage just like our elite players. However their elite players get prime time TV slots on a weekly basis and a generally good coverage in the press. Our elite players get a couple of games a week on whichever channel Sky can be bothered to put it on and virtually no press outside the M62 corridor.

It is through their marketing that Phil the Power Taylor and MVG are names known outside their sport. Until recently, one of the best players of the SL era (Kevin Sinfield) wasn't hardly known to anyone outside RL

er so its pretty clear you are talking about the BDO which is an utter mess when it comes to making money.

bit strange that you basically ignored the PDC. anyone would think the PDC doesnt exist from reading this post.

you and I both know that the PDC is doing remarkably well, huge crowds, lots of sponsors, multiple TV contracts and players getting paid great money.

premier league crowds are off the charts.

Darts is a game not a sport.

And if it wasn't for beer and the carnival/chav atmosphere most of those people wouldnt give a cr ap about some fat blokes throwing some darts. Does anyone really want that type of marketing in Rugby?! Most RL fans can't even put up with a drum in the crowd!