Sadler's just rung into 5 Live! David Davies is justifying Winter Olympics being dished. Have I missed his comments on RL?

The whole "Rugby" world cup will be free to air, so I can only assume that means us.

from the report

• However, despite the suggestion of including regional sporting events it was felt that the rugby league Challenge cup final did not meet the criteria of being of national importance or of major importance to society; there was a strong perception that rugby league was, on the whole only of importance to the North West of England.

The people who took part in the review

Interested in sport
Yes 47
No 46
Access to subscription based TV in the home
Yes 53
No 40
Children under 18 in household
Yes 41
No 52
Age range 18-34 29
35-49 26
50-64 23
65+ 15
Gender Male 47
Female 46
Ethnicity White 76
BME/ Other 17

12 group discussions took place across the UK:
Brighton x 2
Nottingham x 2
Rochdale x 2
Glasgow x2
Swansea x 2
Belfast x 2

I love that logic.

Only important in the North West of England.

Well that could be because ten of your twelve review panels were held in areas with no professional rugby league side, and you didn't even bother to include a whole swathe of the country from the Scottish Borders down to Nottingham on the eastern side of the Pennines.

You ask the right questions to the right people, you'll always get the answer you want.

cant's be bothered to read all 6 pages of this, but by 2016 does anyone think the internet may play a much more dominant role in sports braodcasting rather than tv?

also there may be advances in cetain areas we are no even aware of yet - including perhaps a dedicated RL channel

Has anyone yet managed to make a convincing case as to why the Challenge Cup final should be treated any differently in regard to its protected status than the Heineken Cup or Anglo-Welsh Cup which are its nearest sporting counterparts?

History? They haven't got a Don Fox moment, or the three quarters of a century at Wembley.

Yeah, not massively convincing, but that'd be the key difference.

We like to think that historically, the comparison is he FA Cup Final (they were the two big events at Wembley in May). I don't think a European or second-tier RU competition are the nearest sporting counterparts, fwiw.

I like to think there won't be a BBC by 2016 - the world of media and communications is changing faster than any other part of society (not always for the better though)

We may like to think it, but that doesn't make it true.

I doubt millions of people in numerous countries around the world necessarily tune in to the Challenge Cup final in the same way as they do the FA Cup one.

rlRFL doesn't think it's a good thing, officially at least...rl

I think it was more the way the process was done and the insulting and inaccurate reasoning that will annoy the RFL. David Davies just confirmed the fact that he is a lacky to footy and a bit of a dick-head.

news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/front_page/8358508.stm Funnily enough the only positive voices appear to be the free-to-air TV channels who will be grateful to not have to bid against Sky for the rights, and a couple of politicians looking to pick up cheap votes by getting the Ashes off pay TV.

news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/front_page/8358508.stm Funnily enough the only positive voices appear to be the free-to-air TV channels who will be grateful to not have to bid against Sky for the rights, and a couple of politicians looking to pick up cheap votes by getting the Ashes off pay TV.